Golden cinema in France by Antonio Virga evokes the age of "monumental" movie theatres

French practice Antonio Virga Architecte has used perforated brickwork and gold metal to wrap a cinema building in Cahors, France, which filters light onto the surrounding public square at night.

Antonio Virga Architecte's aim for the building, named Cinema Le Grand Palais, was to reunite a complex of historic buildings originally used as a convent and then a military base – the east wing of which burned down in 1943.

The project is shortlisted in the civic building category of Dezeen Awards 2021.

Antonio Virga Architecte designed the Cinema Le Grand Palais. Photo is by Pierre Lasvenes

"In recent years the space between the buildings, poorly defined, was used as a parking lot," described the Paris-based practice. "With the [cinema], the basis of our project was to find the lost urban city that the site once had or could have," it explained.

"The architecture of the cinema reaches out to old Cahors, to the history of the square and to the lost concept of old monumental movie theatres."

The brick box resembles surrounding buildings

The seven-screen Cinema Le Grand Palais, which also includes a museum space, is designed as a blank, pale brick box.

It is an almost uncanny copy of the surrounding 19th-century blocks, echoing their height and roof shapes but with bold golden doors and no windows. 

One block has a brick facade

"It was important to have a timeless architectural expression," explained the studio.

"We wanted something that would connect strongly with the existing – maybe as if it has been there for a long time, avoiding all pastiche or faux vieux [fake old]."

The second block is clad in perforated gold metal

As Cinema Le Grand Palais required more space than the brick building would provide, it is enlarged by a more contemporary volume clad in perforated gold metal. This is intended to appear as a modern extension to the "timeless" brick form.

"We opted for this 'false' extension, a second building in golden metal, a material that again blends well with the colours of Cahors," the studio said.

Perforations that reference latticed mashrabiya screens, most commonly found in traditional Islamic architecture, have been created in large areas of the brick facade and cover the metalwork.

During the day these perforations allow light to enter the cinema, while at night they are illuminated from within, revealing their location on the brick facade as a series of rectangular areas that appear to glitter.

Screens are accessed through a double-height foyer

"We tried to play with mass and lightness, an idea also expressed through the facades, with their mashrabiya that 'receive' light throughout the day and irradiate by night, making the building lighter," described the practice.

Internally, the brick and metal forms are connected seamlessly, with two cinema screens located on the ground floor and a further five screens above.

There are seven screens inside

A double-height foyer and adjacent cafe space occupy the front of the brick form, accessed via a run of glass doors signaled by a gold-lined cut made in the facade.

Another recently completed cinema on Dezeen includes the renovation of the historic Blauer Stern Cinema in Berlin by Batek Architekten, referencing its original mouldings with neon lights.

Other projects shortlisted in the civic building category for this year's Dezeen Awards include an all-timber school in Denmark and a garden-like preschool in Vietnam.

The photography is by Luc Boegly unless stated. 

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Max von Werz merges old and new at Baja Club Hotel in Mexico

Historic brick walls and a spiral staircase feature in a Baja Peninsula hotel that was designed by Mexican firm Max von Werz Arquitectos to embrace its seaside context.

The Baja Club Hotel is located in the historic centre of La Paz, a coastal city in Mexico's Baja Peninsula. The 32-room property, which is owned by the boutique hotel company Grupo Habita, was longlisted for a 2021 Dezeen Award.

The Baja Club Hotel is located in a colonial-style villa

The 3,623-square-metre project entailed the adaptive reuse of a colonial-style villa dating to 1910 and the construction of a new, four-storey extension. The site was once used for oyster pearl harvesting.

Mexico City's Max von Werz Arquitectos designed the architecture, while the Parisian studio of Jaune oversaw the interiors. Mexican firm PAAR worked on the landscape design.

For the new addition, the team designed an L-shaped building

"Baja Club's central question is the age-old one of how to build on a site's rich history and character, but at the same time update it in order to give it a new lease on life," the team said. "Our response is a nuanced one."

For the new addition, the team created an L-shaped building – the same shape of the original villa.

Tiered massing breaks up the hotel's external appearance

The two buildings are loosely organised around a central courtyard that is dotted with fragrant frangipani trees. Tranquil gardens and patios were incorporated into the perimeter of the site.

The extension – which encompasses guest rooms, a spa and a rooftop bar – is meant to look modern yet be in "respectful dialogue with the old villa." Stepped massing helps lighten its visual appearance.

The helical staircase can be seen from the swimming pool

"The tiered massing of the extension reduces its visual bulk and provides generous terraces enjoying panoramic views of the Bay of La Paz, once the setting of John Steinbeck's novel The Pearl," the team said.

Certain design elements take cues from the hotel's nautical context. Horizontal lines, curved timber partitions and large built-in tables draw inspiration for the nearby Sea of Cortés, which was coined the "aquarium of the world" by French explorer Jacques Cousteau.

Blown-glass lamps feature inside

The addition's upper levels can be accessed by elevator or by a helical staircase, which sits at the meeting point of the extension's two wings. The stair is meant to serve as a sculptural element.

"Due to its comfortable tread-to-riser ratio, it sweeps visitors up to the upper guest-room levels and the rooftop sunset bar with an ease that disincentivises the use of the elevators," the team said.

To help reduce energy consumption, the team incorporated passive design solutions such as screens along open-air corridors. Moreover, concrete floor plates extend beyond the facades, providing shade and reducing the need for indoor air conditioning, the team said.

The site also has numerous water elements that help cool outdoor spaces – an important factor given the region's hot and dry climate.

Original brick walls were preserved in their entirety

Throughout the hotel, the team incorporated finishes and decor – such as hand-finished carpentry, blown-glass lamps and Talavera tiles – that draw upon local culture and the site's original detailing.

"Baja Club Hotel aims to give a modern twist on Mexico's rich tradition of colours, textures and craftsmanship," the team said. "By using local materials in a fresh and streamlined manner, it creates a bridge that ties together the identity of the hotel's old and new components."

Local craftsmanship was intrinsic to the project

For the landscape design, much of the existing vegetation and architectural features were retained. An old pergola in the courtyard was restored and is now used as a dining area. The property's original brick walls were preserved in their entirety.

In one of the perimeter spaces, the team created a new swimming pool lined with brick terraces that continue the language of the historic property walls. Chukum, a type of Mexican stucco, was used in the pool area.

A guest room within the extension

"For us, using local craftsmanship was a way to anchor the project in its locale, to achieve a certain authenticity and to build a strong connection with the history and identity of the place," the team said.

Other properties run by Grupo Habita include the Círculo Mexicano, a hotel in downtown Mexico City that is housed in a 19th-century building, and The Robey Hall in Chicago, which was formerly a hostel called The Hollander.

The photography is by César Béjar.

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Plant-covered mesh panels surround preschool in Vietnam by HGAA

Screens of metal mesh allow plants to climb up the walls of this steel-framed school in Ha Long City by Vietnamese studio HGAA, which has been shortlisted in the civic building category of Dezeen Awards 2021.

Called My Montessori Garden, the preschool is designed to support the Montessori education system, which encourages children to develop natural interests instead of using a formal curriculum with grades and tests.

The site of the preschool is surrounded by a white mesh fence

Due to a maximum lease of 10 years on the land, the building was designed to be easy to dismantle and relocate, with the structure based on a simple two-storey steel frame.

The site was previously being used as a community vegetable garden, which HGAA used to inform their concept of a "garden school", infilling the steel frame with wire mesh that allows climbing plants to gradually take over.

The studio used materials that could be easily taken down once the school's lease ends

"We hope to bring a simple, effective and practical model that contributes to a positive improvement in the educational environment," explained the studio.

"Although the land area is not large, the investor was determined to dedicate more than 50 per cent to the garden, to create a learning space close to nature in which children can connect and interact."

The structures were constructed using corrugated metal and glass

Two large classrooms are housed in a pair of corrugated steel blocks with butterfly roofs, surrounded by mesh panels that enclose an open paved garden on the ground floor and elevated planted walkways above.

Forming a canopy over the ground-floor garden space are alternating panels of mesh, metal and transparent plastic in the grid of the steel frame, creating patches of light and shade with some spaces left open for trees and plants to grow through.

Three metal staircases lead up to the wooden walkway above, with a T-shaped form that crosses between and in front of the two classroom blocks below and balustrades finished in further metal mesh.

"In this garden, children can learn how to plant and care for fruit vines, seasonal vegetables and their favourite flowers," said HGAA.

An upper level is an interconnected space of bridges and footpaths

Inside the classrooms, windows and sliding glass doors continue the close relationship to the nature outside, with upper-level openings creating views in from the elevated walkways and overheating prevented by shade from the trees.

The steel frame is left exposed internally and simple panels cover the interior walls, allowing the teaching areas to be as flexible as possible.

Full-height windows provide views out to the gardens

Other plant-filled educational projects in Vietnam include the VAC Library by Farming Architects, which aims to demonstrate the benefit of self-sustaining ecosystems through its incorporation of vegetation and animals.

Buildings also shortlisted in the civic building category of the 2021 Dezeen Awards include Tautem and Bmc2 Architectes' Antoine de Ruffi school in Marseille and ReVærk's all timber school building in Denmark.

Photography is by Duc Nguyen.

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Yatofu applies festive hues to post office in Zhejiang

A gift shop and events space lie inside this post office in Zhejiang, China, which design studio Yatofu has decked out in red, green and white.

Bund Post Office – which is shortlisted in the small retail interior category of this year's Dezeen Awards – is situated in Ningbo, a city in northeast Zhejiang.

When Yatofu was tasked with designing the interiors, it first examined the duties of post offices and the ways in which different communities use them.

The post office occupies a double-height space

"Initial research led to the realization that post offices are often seen as most necessary during times of celebration – this means holidays, festivals, birthdays, and of course the culturally significant, Chinese New Year," said the studio, which is based in Helsinki.

This encouraged Yatofu to make Bund Post Office more than a destination where Ningbo residents can simply send mail – the building also includes a gift shop, as well as an events space that doubles up as a children's play area.

Pendant lights dangle above a fluted timber counter

Postal facilities are in a double-height room on the ground floor, which is illuminated by a series of spherical pendant lights suspended from the ceiling.

On one side of the room is a fluted timber service counter that backs onto a wall lined in the same light-hued wood.

A gift shop can be found on the building's first floor

The remaining walls feature in-built shelves and are painted a deep shade of red, while white and green terrazzo has been used to create the scallop-print flooring.

Together the colours are meant to form what Yatufo describes as a "festive palette" that references the often celebratory occasions that require a trip to the post office.

Surfaces are in-built with shelving that display gifts and souvenirs

A staircase with a perforated white-metal balustrade leads up to the shop on the first floor. Here there is more crimson-coloured shelving where gifts and souvenirs can be presented.

The same metal from the stair balustrade has also been used to contruct full-height display columns; each one curves inwards to form an arched shape that echoes the pattern on the floor.

Shelves have been painted a deep shade of red

Finally, on the second floor is the events room that can be used to host seasonal parties, workshops, kids play sessions and more.

In keeping with the colour theme of the post office's lower levels, the upper half of this room has been rendered green.

The lower half is lined with timber and fitted with tiered seating, which is inset with boxy red cushions.

Additional floor cushions and cylindrical wooden stools have been scattered throughout.

The post office's second floor has an events space

"In its completed form, the Bund Post Office delivers a fresh perspective on the role of the post office in the modern setting," the studio explained.

"It reaches beyond its founding purpose of sending and receiving mail, and offers a hub where visitors can connect with one another through the sharing of gifts, memories, and events."

Tiered seating flanks either side of the events room

Yatofu was established in 2017 and is led by Angela Lindahl and Yihan Xiang.

The studio's Bund Post Office will compete head-to-head against four other projects in the 2021 Dezeen Awards. Among them is the Flamingo Estate Harvest Shop, a pop-up in LA which features rammed-earth display fixtures, and Rookies, a children's opticians in Munich covered in geometric patterns.

Photography is by Wen Studio.

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The 2021 SEGD Conference Experience Philadelphia focusses on reconnecting, rethinking and refueling

Dezeen promotion: the 2021 edition of SEGD Conference Experience Philadelphia provides a chance to explore experiential design through a three-day conference with a programme of workshops, talks and tours.

SEGD Conference Experience Philadelphia is titled Reconnecting, Rethinking and Refuelling and will celebrate experiential design, focussing on the themes of education and inspiration.

The experiential design conference takes place in Philadelphia

It takes place from 4 to 6 November and features workshops, design tours, networking, skill, and teaching sessions.

The conference hopes to explore what the future of experiences will look like. This includes changes to our environment post-covid, whether the dialogue around inclusion and equity has altered storytelling, and how people's perception of space has changed during the year.

The event is tailored to attract experiential design communities, including experiential architecture, experiential and environmental graphic designers, landscape architects, interaction designers, branding and strategy experts, makers, fabricators, and clients.

The conference includes talks, networking sessions, and tours

"There is a tremendous sense of anticipation for this year's SEGD Conference in Philadelphia," said Cybelle Jones, SEGD CEO.

"This is an outstanding opportunity to reconnect, network and refuel!" Jones continued.

"We have three days of activities with an outstanding lineup of visionary speakers and keynotes, as well as curated experiences aimed to reunite our community."

The event aims to attract experiential design enthusiasts

Co-chairs and speakers at the event will question what designers can do to overcome the challenges of today, including global warming and pandemics.

This year's edition includes three co-chairs, Exit Design's studio director Amy Rees, Crafted co-founder Nick Vincente and Bluecadet founder Josh Goldblum.

The SEGD Conference Experience Philadelphia has raffles and auctions

Conference speakers are from a number of design studios and will deliver talks that interrogate the themes of Individual, Community and Universal set by this year's chairs.

This includes talks by brand strategy company Collins founder Brian Collins, the founders of arts organisation Meow Wolf, architectural firm Gensler, and a keynote session led by Jo Bailey Bryant from Lord Cultural Resources, Aki Carpenter from RAA, and Dayton Schroeter from SmithGroup.

"I'm excited for the themes and the topics that we've put together for the conference," said conference co-chair Amy Rees.

"We're looking at what we can do, as individuals, in moving the industry forward, but also looking at it more holistically, thinking about how our work individually, communally, and universally can make an impact."

There is an awards ceremony at the conference

Project tours during the event will give visitors a glimpse behind the scenes of some of Philadelphia's notable cultural locations, including the Barnes Foundation, Eastern State Penitentiary, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Mutter Museum, the Franklin Institute, and Mural Arts.

A reception and presentations from the winners of the 2021 SEGD Global Design Awards will form a series of events that celebrate experiential design across the final day of the conference.

Design tours take visitors to some of Philadelphia's iconic cultural locations

"It's an extraordinary pleasure to gather some of the greatest minds in experience design in Philadelphia, to explore our craft and opportunity to thoughtfully design a more interesting, equitable and better world," said Bluecadet founder and Conference co-chair Josh Goldblum.

"We're planning tours of the city and projects here, so really looking forward to giving our conference attendees a chance to get to know our city and see some of our great assets and some of the great work being done here," said Rees.

Conference attendees at the President's Reception during the first night of the event

Dezeen readers are offered a special discounted rate of $800 to attend the conference. Use this link to receive that rate.

Photography is by Nadia Adona.

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Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for SEGD Conference Experience Philadelphia as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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