Mim Design uses perforated metal to brighten Melbourne construction office

Perforated metal screens, glass walls and an open-plan layout help to maximise light throughout this Melbourne office, which has been overhauled by Mim Design.

Located in the small inner-city suburb of Cremorne, this office interior was created by Mim Design for Melbourne building company Cobild.

The construction specialists asked the local design studio to create a space that reflects its core values of communication, connection, honesty and teamwork.

With a comfy living-room-style breakout area and a communal kitchen, the resulting space is meant to look more like a penthouse apartment than a typical office.

In order to communicate the company's ethos of honesty and connection, the studio chose to use various translucent materials to create an open-plan layout that allows for easy circulation and clear sightlines.

Spread over two floors, the office now revolves around a central staircase made entirely from perforated metal.

"A considered curation of textured materiality in the open-plan environment encourages transparency and authenticity, both literal and philosophical, acting as a device to guide a clear path through the space," explained the studio.

"The white perforated screens [that feature] throughout not only afford an abundance of natural light but also reflect the transparency that underpins Cobild's core values."

The use of perforated metal in the office's interior also nods to the expansive use of mesh cladding on the building's exterior, which was designed by architects Fieldwork.

A clean, tonal palette of grey and white realised in materials such as natural stone and terrazzo concrete forms a backdrop for fixtures crafted from leather and timber.

These warmer materials which are used to highlight breakout areas and to create focal points, such as the hand-stitched tobacco leather wall behind the reception desk.

Throughout the space, the designers said they took care to temper straight edges and hard angles with curved lines. For instance, the monolithic reception desk is softened by a curved, polished plaster ceiling that is stepped and inset with lighting.

In the kitchen, two custom stone-island benches are paired with rounded leather stools and sculptural ceramics.

"This highly personalised realisation of Cobild's ethos has resulted in an environment that inspires, long after the business day is done," said the studio.

"A space that encourages openness and authenticity, it encourages productive collaboration and enables employees to thrive."

Mim Design is based in Melbourne's affluent South Yarra suburb and is headed up by Miriam Fanning. The studio doesn't only deal with office interiors – earlier this year it designed a deli to reflect the cold meats and cheeses that are on offer.

The post Mim Design uses perforated metal to brighten Melbourne construction office appeared first on Dezeen.

from Dezeen https://ift.tt/2rMPxzy

Japanese illustrator Sabu is influenced by the nostalgia of old adverts

Instead of looking to the latest trends in the creativity industries, the illustrator looks to the old. Influenced by the old knick-knacks in her granny’s house and yellowing vintage ads, Sabu’s original work takes us a step back in time.

Read more

from It's Nice That https://ift.tt/2ReQpYh

BIG's Friday Smart Lock is its smallest ever product

Danish architecture firm BIG has branched into smart home products with the Friday lock, which combines a minimal form and enhanced security features.

Controlled via smartphone, the Friday Smart Lock can automatically unlock a door when it senses the resident approaching, lock it as they leave, or allow them to remotely control who has access to the property.

The Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) designed it to fit on the inside of almost any door in place of the traditional thumb turn, and it is the smallest such retrofit lock on the market. It is also the smallest product that BIG has produced to date.

The device enables users to easily issue "keys" to family, friends, Airbnb guests or delivery people, and to easily revoke them.

They can give access for a limited window of time via the app, and they can do so from the other side of the world if they wish.

The product comes from BIG Ideas, the R&D division of the architecture practice behind such buildings as Google's London campus and Two World Trade Center.

BIG Ideas head Jakob Lange told Dezeen that doors were one area of the home that clearly benefitted from the addition of connected technologies.

"I think it's a little bit strange that we are still running around with metal keys that we can lose," said Lange. "I read a number yesterday that 20 million keys are lost every year in America alone," he continued.

"And for one standard key there is only 1,000 combinations, so it's actually a super un-secure system that can be lock-picked."

The Friday Smart Lock promises the same high-end encryption and security as internet banking, making it very difficult to hack.

Unlike similar products on the market, such as the Yves Behar-designed August lock, BIG Ideas intends Friday's look to be unobtrusive and low-tech. This was a deliberate choice, which aims to design objects of "beauty and simplicity".

"It's kind of a reaction against all of these smart products that you see out there that almost compete to scream out about how smart they are, with blinking lights and small melodies playing and so forth," said Lange.

"In the end I don't need to know that my light switch or that the stove is smart, I just want the normal buttons, and all the smartness can happen in the background."

Friday's outward form is a 2.75-inch-wide tailpiece that replaces the existing thumb turn on the inside of a door.

It comes in five finishes – steel, brass, copper, bronze or gun metal – and has a shape supposedly inspired by the architectural form of the saddle roof – a form which follows a convex curve about one axis and a concave curve about the other.

Users can choose to keep the existing keyhole on the outside of their door or cover it over. Installation is simple and requires only a screwdriver.

While automatic locking and remote access are attractive features for users, Lange says the lock's full potential could be realised as part of a suite of home security products.

"If you pair it up with other smart products like cameras and surveillance, you can have a very secure alarm system that means everybody entering into your home can be identified and stored," he said.

His team is now working on a smart doorbell with a keypad for code access. BIG aspires to "push the frontier" of connected home products, according to Lange.

The practice would like to include Friday smart locks on all its buildings in the future, but it will require convincing clients that the extra cost is worth bearing.

Friday is named after the companion character in Robinson Crusoe, from where the English language gets the expression "his man Friday" or "his girl Friday" for a personal assistant. It is rechargeable and compatible with Apple HomeKit and voice assistant Siri.

It is made with heritage Danish hardware brand d line as a manufacturing partner and developer Brinno as a tech partner.

Currently the Friday Smart Lock is compatible with North American and Scandinavian deadbolt and cylinder designs. BIG will release versions for other markets in 2020.

The post BIG's Friday Smart Lock is its smallest ever product appeared first on Dezeen.

from Dezeen https://ift.tt/37Yc6lr

Reading nook and a hidden room added in London house extension

Architecture practice Thomas-McBrien extended a London house, adding a oak-lined reading nook and a utility room hidden behind a secret door along with a kitchen and dining space.

Pale, mortar-washed brick and lightly washed oak joinery were used, said the studio, to create a "calm and relaxing" space.

Called Dollis Hill Avenue, the project occupies a site that slopes down a total of 1.2 metres towards a rear garden.

The extension's design takes advantage of this by stepping down from the main house to create a split-level floor plan.

Running the full width of the existing property, the extension is one and a half floors below the existing ground floor.

A sliding, wood-framed door in the extension opens out onto a terrace formed by a set of wide, white steps that run is entire length.

In addition to the kitchen and dining area, the new extension provides a utility and storage room concealed behind a deep, timber-lined partition.

This room is accessed via a hidden door that blends in with the wooden wall finishes.

This partition doubles as a seating alcove, which wraps around the western end of the room to create a window seat overlooking the garden.

"The insertion of a deep seating alcove in the joinery offers a comfortable, sheltered enclosure – a perfect place to read and relax," said the studio.

The pale white bricks have been left exposed at the two ends of the new space, working with the pale oak joinery and wooden floors to create a "calm and relaxing everyday space."

The front of the home has been opened up to match the warm, muted palette of the extension.

A sliding door opens the living room onto a corridor that leads down a set of steps wooden into the new spaces.

Above, the bedrooms now overlook the new flat-roofed extension, creating a visual continuity from the white-rendered walls of the home down to the garden terrace and steps.

East London-based Thomas-McBrien was founded in 2017 by Barry McBrien, and the studio is currently working on a range of residential projects as well some temporary installations.

London architect Larissa Johnson recently made similar use of built-in wooden fittings for a home in Islington, which centred around a plywood core.

Photography is by Ståle Eriksen.

---

Project Credits:

Architects: Thomas-McBrien – Barry McBrien, James Barber and Dominic Walker
Main contractor: NWL
Structural engineer: Constant SD
Building control: Assent Building Control
Party wall consultant: Roger Oakley & Co

The post Reading nook and a hidden room added in London house extension appeared first on Dezeen.

from Dezeen https://ift.tt/2OHYEdX

New York City buildings to receive "energy efficiency grade" in 2020

New York City has introduced a bill that will rank and grade large buildings according to energy efficiency.

The Local Law 95 implemented by the New York Department of Buildings will require structures that are 25,000 square feet (2,322 square metres) and over to report publicly on their data energy and water use.

The protocol, which will come into action early 2020, is intended to encourage buildings to improve their energy efficiency standards. New scores will be produced every year taking into account any amends made to structures.

Buildings to be graded from A to F

Information on the building's energy use will be processed by an online tool created by the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star programme and turned into an "energy efficiency grade", rated from A to F, as reported by the New York Times.

The system will also take into consideration a building's size, type and number of occupants.

Buildings will then be required to post these grades in a clearly visible location, similar to how the city's restaurants are graded regarding cleanliness and code violations.

NYC tightens "energy efficiency" scoring

The rules of Local Law 95 stems from the 2018 city bill Local Law 33, which has since been revised with a stricter scoring system.

If a building score was equal to or greater than 20 but less than 50, then it would be graded a C. However, now the range is from 55 to 70.

Before, a D grade was given to those that scored less than 20, but now if they are less 55. An F, meaning failure, is given if the building owner has not complied in accordance with the rules.

An A grade, however, is now easier to get with the revised bill as the energy emission score is 85 or above rather than 90 or above.

Buildings responsible for 71 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions

Buildings, which are reportedly accountable for 71 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in New York, have become a focal point of the city's efforts to tackle greenhouse gas emissions in the face of the climate-change crisis.

Earlier this year, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled his proposal for the Green New Deal, which called for a ban on glass skyscrapers and fines for energy-guzzling high-rises.

De Blasio's announcement came shortly after the city passed the wider Climate Mobilization Act, comprising a series of bills to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate global warming. The goals include reducing the emissions by 40 per cent by 2030, and 80 per cent by 2050.

The city also launched a Zero Waste initiative, with guidelines encompassing construction waste management, recycling, composting and energy consumption for buildings.

Forms part of wider ambitions to tackle climate crisis

Environmental issues have similarly taken centre stage in the architecture industry across the US. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) stated the climate crisis was a "top priority" among its community and released a five-point plan to drive climate action.

The goals of the AIA have come at odds with US president Donald Trump. Last month, the AIA denounced Trump's decision to withdraw the US from the Paris climate change agreement – which commits the world's nations to actions that could reduce global warming.

In 2018 the US organisation also called on its members to sign an open letter to Trump as a means of voicing its opposition to his climate change policies.

Image is courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post New York City buildings to receive "energy efficiency grade" in 2020 appeared first on Dezeen.

from Dezeen https://ift.tt/33HyqfR