Desai Chia Architecture perches black Ledge House on rocky hillside

New York practice Desai Chia Architecture has wrapped a house in Connecticut situated on top of a rocky ledge with charred cedar and large windows that overlook the hilly landscape.

Ledge House is located in Cornwall, Connecticut on a site that is occupied by a large boulder deposited on the hillside hundreds of thousands of years ago when the nearby Appalachian Mountains were forming.

The 2,400-square-foot (223-square-metre) house features a gabled roofline that takes cues from traditional barn architecture and the historic covered bridge in West Cornwall.

Its facade is clad with charred cedar, which is darkened using the Japanese technique shou sugi ban, and it is topped with aluminium roof.

"The Ledge House clients asked us to design a new home that would resonate with the history of the Connecticut Valley, include a material palette that is environmentally friendly, and work with the challenging site on a large rock ledge," Desai Chia Architecture said.

"The boulder is a rugged companion to the house and acts as a muse for the uphill forest views," it added.

To construct the one-storey structure the studio removed an existing cabin on the property, leaving only its foundation that was then expanded to bring the house closer to the rugged ledge. Reusing the existing foundation saved the project money and also reduced construction waste.

To eliminate the need for cross bracing the studio has used balloon framing, a method that involves long studs spanning foundation to the roof that are fixed with nails instead of joinery. It takes its name balloon from being lightweight.

Large rectangular windows and glass doors span the length of the house on two sides providing views of the hilly landscape and boulder, while also allowing for cross-ventilating breezes to cool the house.

A wood deck attached to the back of the house overlooks the valley and is surrounded with grated metal fencing and railings. The space is furnished with chairs and a picnic table for enjoying the view from the outdoors.

On the opposite elevation, an additional terrace faces a wooded forest and has pale gravel stones.

Inside, Ledge House comprises an open-plan living and kitchen painted white with light hardwood floors that contrast the black exterior cladding. Tall vaulted ceilings make the space feel larger.

Black track lighting wraps around the open-plan room and connects to the outdoor terraces that overlook the forest and valley.

The master bedroom is situated at one end of the house, and two smaller bedrooms are at the other end.

"The nucleus living area between [the bedrooms] allows the owners and their guests to merge and socialise together in a lofted, open area that connects across the ledge to a forest terrace and a valley terrace: indoor and outdoor living flow seamlessly through," the studio said.

In the kitchen, a long island counter with black stools faces a wall of white cabinetry.

To separate the cooking and dining area from the sitting room, Desai Chia Architecture inserted a tunnel fireplace into a rectangular concrete volume. A black chimney pipe extends out from the long structure and up to the ceiling.

Desai Chia Architecture was established in 1996 by Arjun Desai and Katherine Chia. Other residences by the studio also use blackened wood, including a holiday home on Long Island and a dwelling on Lake Michigan with an angular roof.

Photography is by Paul Warchol.

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Project credits:

Lead architects: Katherine Chia, Arjun Desai
Design team: Katherine Chia, Arjun Desai, Troy Lacombe, Brad Isnard
Structural engineering: David Kufferman
Civil engineering: A.H. Howland Associates
Landscape: AB Landscaping
Builder: Classic Renovations LLC
Fireplace: Get Real Surface
Kitchen joinery: Bulthaup

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Seven dental clinics designed to take the pain out of check ups

Architects and designers have created these seven dental offices with bright and colourful interiors to offer patients a more enjoyable and worry free experience.

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Dent Protetyka, Poland, Adam Wiercinski

The pick-up window inside this Polish denture clinic designed by Adam Wiercinski is outlined with green lines that form the shape of medical services cross.

Located inside an old tenement building in Poznan, the 10-square-metre space is modelled after the city's small kiosk shops. Steel mesh separates the waiting room and shopfront from the tiny consultation room situated in the rear of the space.

Find out more about Dent Protetyka ›

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The Urban Dentist, Germany, Studio Karhard

Studio Karhard designed The Urban Dentist in Berlin to mimic the flashy interiors of Berghain, the electronica nightclub in the German city also completed by the firm.

LED lights border the edges of the fluted glass walls, while in the treatment rooms the sink and supplies are stored inside a pink cabinet that is topped with a colourful speckled counter.

Find out more about The Urban Dentist ›

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Sou Smile, Brazil, SuperLimão

Brazilian studio SuperLimão inserted a pink polycarbonate volume inside Sou Smile, a dental health treatment centre in São Paulo that manufactures dental appliances.

The rounded structure houses a consultation room, while the rest of the converted warehouse building is outfitted with open-plan workstations and a laboratory for manufacturing dental appliances.

Find out more about Sou Smile ›

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Waiting room, China, RIGI Design

A rectangular "dining" table and play area for children feature in this colourful clinic in Tianjin, China designed by RIGI Design.

The play space is framed in the shape of a house and decorated with animal-shaped furnishings. Treatment rooms are located along a corridor fronted with glass walls. Large black digits painted on the hardwood floor designate the room number.

Find out more about the waiting room ›

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Ortho Wijchen, Netherlands, Studio Prototype

For this office in Wichen, Netherlands has inserted the treatment areas between translucent glass partitions. To ease patient's comfort each the of chairs faces a wall of windows that provide a view of a grassy pastoral landscape.

"The open setup of the plan and the large panoramic view towards the garden create a light and spacious place in which the patient feels comfortable," the studio said.

Find out more about the Ortho Wijchen ›

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Go Orthodontistes, Canada, Natasha Thorpe Design

Slatted timber panels clad the walls and reception desk in this orthodontist practice in Quebec, Canada designed by Natasha Thorpe Design.

The boards of Douglas fir wood cover storage cabinets and form shelves in the office. In the consultation room there are several dental chairs and a row of black cabinets. Translucent glass spans across the laboratory and instrument sterilisation room concealing its interiors from the outside.

Find out more about the Go Orthodontistes ›

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Impress, Spain, Raúl Sanchez Architects

The curve of a smile informed the design for Impress, a dental clinic in Barcelona designed by Raúl Sanchez Architects.

Large rounded boards crafted using pine wood form partitions in the office. The studio chose the material to add warmth to the typically white and sterile environment. Red, blue and grey accents add a playful element to the design and tie in with the company's branding.

Find out more about the Impress ›

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Luigi Rosselli Architects creates wave-like facade for Bondi Bombora house in Sydney

Turquoise and sea-green tiles wash over the undulating facade of this family home in Sydney, designed by local practice Luigi Rosselli Architects.

The Bondi Bombora house is occupied by three generations of a family and their gang of dogs, cats and chickens.

The swelling ocean waters of nearby Bondi beach informed the design of the three-storey home, which Luigi Rosselli Architects has named after bombora – an indigenous Australian term used to describe a wave which forms over submerged fragments of reef or rock offshore.

"It's an homage to that surfers' haven; to the swell and the waves that have formed a rich intertidal culture for millennia," said the practice.

Elements of the home have been made to emulate the shape of a wave, like its undulating front elevation.

Slim turquoise and sea green-coloured tiles arranged in a herringbone pattern cover the bottom third of the elevation, which the practice hopes will "shimmer in the daylight like the surface of the ocean".

Ripple-edged frames made from black steel also surround the windows and doorways.

Black steel has additionally been used to clad the top third of the house, which the practice likens to an "armoured battleship".

Inside Bondi Bombora are a series of airy, light-filled living spaces with high ceilings, which Luigi Rosselli Architects created with the help of interiors studio Alwill.

The practice had been inspired by the lofty proportions of piano nobiles, or "noble floors" – the first storey of grand Italian palazzos where main reception rooms and bedrooms would be placed.

One side of the home accommodates an open-plan kitchen with bright white cabinetry. Inhabitants can eat at the marble-topped breakfast island, or around the more formal wooden dining table.

Where possible, Alwill has incorporated practical features for family living. For example, a sideboard that runs along the rear of the room includes a fold-out desk where the kids can do their homework.

Expansive glazed panels can be slid back to access the garden, where landscaper Michael Bates has planted an abundance of fruit trees and pollen-friendly plants for the bees the inhabitants keep.

A double-height void accommodates a small study area and a stairwell that leads up to the Bondi Bombora's sleeping quarters.

Cocoon-like pendant lamps made from black and white mesh cascade down the centre.

The entire back wall of the stairwell has been in-built with a towering bookshelf. More books can be stored in the stepped shelving unit that's been built to sit alongside the steps.

A deep-set window on the first-floor landing has also been transformed into a cosy reading nook.

Luigi Rosselli Architects has been established since 1984 and works out of offices in Sydney's Surry Hills suburb.

The practice has designed a number of dwellings around the Australian city. Among them is Peppertree Villa, a 1920s home that features a dramatic spiral staircase and contemporary glass conservatory.

Photography is by Prue Ruscoe.

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Project credits:

Architects: Luigi Rosselli
Project architects: Sean Johnson, Diana Yang
Interior designers: Alwill Interiors
Builder: Building With Options
Joiner: BWO Fitout and Interiors
Structural consultant: Geoff Ninnes Fong and Partners
Landscaper: Bates Landscape
Windows: Evolution Window Systems
Metal roofing/cladding: Traditional Metal Roofing

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IKEA and Lego release Bygglek storage boxes that double as toys

IKEA and Lego have collaborated to create Bygglek, storage boxes that aim to turn tidying into a game with stud-covered lids kids can top with their own creations.

The Bygglek storage collection comprises one set of three small boxes, two sets of larger boxes – each with lids and fronts lined with Lego studs – and one set of Lego bricks.

The collaborative collection aims to "encourage play and infuse more fun" into tidying up and organising the home by giving children a box of lego that is both a building platform and a place to store the pieces or display them as sculptures.

"At IKEA, we always believe in the power of play," said Andreas Fredriksson, designer at IKEA Sweden.

"Where adults often see mess, children see a stimulating creative environment, and Bygglek will help bridge the gap between these two views to ensure more creative play in homes around the world," added Fredriksson.

"Plus, the Bygglek collection matches perfectly with other IKEA products, making it possible to have your children's creativity becoming a nice and unique piece of decoration at home."

The collection can be used with any existing Lego parts. Each of the boxes can also be stacked on top of one another and secured together with the Lego studs.

Both children and adults can benefit from the designs, said the designers, creating an alignment between how grown-ups perceive organising and how children perceive creative play.

IKEA and Lego also hope it will prevent parents from feeling the need to tidy up while the kids are still playing, as the two will coincide.

"Bygglek is more than boxes. It is storage and play intertwined," said Rasmus Buch Løgstrup, designer at the Lego Group.

"Bygglek provides families with a product range that helps create space for more play in their everyday – fuelling creativity, making it possible to have more fun together. It's a possibility to play, display the cool creations and return to it to replay, remake, recreate or start over."

The new Bygglek collection will be available to purchase from IKEA stores and online from 1 October 2020.

IKEA's Japanese arm recently launched its first branded line of clothing and accessories, called Efterträda, which currently includes t-shirts, hoodies, bottles, umbrellas, towels and tote bags, all printed with the company logo and the barcode of its iconic Billy shelving system.

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Clothing racks move along wheeled tracks in Los Angeles athletic store Reigning Champ

Vancouver studio Peter Cardew has designed this store in Los Angeles for an athletic wear clothing company to allude to the aesthetic of a gym.

The Reigning Champ store at 115 South La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles features walls covered in white glazed tiles, concrete floors and wooden clothing rails – simple materials chosen by Peter Cardew to follow the style of a gymnasium.

"In order to connect the customer with the product the design of the Los Angeles store obliquely alludes to the domain of a gym, providing an harmonious setting appropriate for the display of athletic clothing," the studio explained.

"The choice of materials reinforces the relationship to sporting activity with the use of functional and utilitarian white glazed tile as wall and bench surfaces, polished concrete floors, and display fixtures fabricated using western hemlock, a plentiful economic wood with a straight grain efficiency," it added.

"All culminating to convey a functional place of activity akin to any effective sporting milieu."

Piles of folded clothes are stored in the base of the wooden clothing racks that are suspended on rails from the ceiling.

The wooden structures, which are braced with metalwork, have wheels fitted the top of the wooden structures so they can be easily moved around the store.

"In keeping with this active rather than passive environment the display fixtures are infinitely mobile being suspended from concrete beams attached to wheeled tracks which easily allows for changing seasonal configurations," the studio added.

"In addition, to facilitate yet more changes these fixtures are simply bolted together so that they can be removed for special events, celebrations, or exhibitions."

Photograph by Andrew Latreille

The materiality continues into the changing rooms, whose doors feature an opening with a built-in wooden shelf so customers can swap clothes with Reigning Champ salespeople.

Reigning Champ spans the ground floor of its building with two large windows offering views and natural light into the space.

The project, which is longlisted in the large retail interior category of Dezeen Awards 2020, marks the first in the US for the Canadian clothing brand. It is its fifth in total following two in Vancouver and two in Toronto.

Other shops recently completed in Los Angeles include a marijuana dispensary Commune designed to be airy and luxurious, and a dramatically narrow, runway-like space Bernard Dubois designed as the first store for sneaker brand APL.

Photography is by Mike Kelly, unless stated otherwise.

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