Stories On Design // Inside Design & Architecture Studios.

All of us in the industry are well aware of the universal truth that designers & architects work really fucking hard. (Well, most of the time at least). The creative path is never linear, and despite looking glamorous from the outside, our work is all about solving problems and being able to make sense of complex issues, and turn them into elegant and effortless buildings, interiors, installations and products… that meet the budget and programme… within an allocated design fee… while also pleasing clients, councils, project managers, suppliers, contractors etc. Fun, right? No, dude – that shit is really, really hard to do well. Where am I going with this? I don’t know. I guess I just felt like I needed to vent. Soz.

Of course, we all know perfectly well we are profoundly influenced by the spaces we inhabit, and it is no surprise that people who design these spaces, are particular about their own workplace. Today’s Story takes a look at a diverse set of design & architecture studios around the globe, including our own back yard. Each studio is different from the next and speaks volumes about the breadth of design methodology between various practices, resulting in immensely different environments in which architects work.

What ties all of these studios together, however, is the fact these are all spaces where creativity comes to fruition – they are spaces of invention, idea-testing and collaboration. They are hot-beds of creativity, passion, inspiration, hard-work, blood, sweat and tears.

So without further ado, let’s take a look at the studios of some of the greats such as David Chipperfield, Tadao Ando, The Bouroullecs, Jaime Hayon, Studio Ilse, etc, as well as local superstars like Claire Cousins, Breathe Architecture, Woods Bagot and Bates Smart, amongst others. Thirty four projects in total. No, we definitely do not muck around with our Stories. Enjoy!

See More ‘Stories on Design’ Curated by Yellowtrace.

Photography by Frederik Vercruysse.

Hans Verstuyft Residence & Office in Belgium // Beautifully captured by Frederik Vercruysse, the residence and office of Hans Verstuyft Architects is the epitome of warm minimalism. Originally an 1960 office block in Antwerp, the architects have converted the building into a multi-use dwelling, with a penthouse that serves as an office and an apartment. Crisp, elegant and pure, the space perfectly reflects Hans Verstuyft’s refined aesthetic.

Related Post: Historical Residence in Gent by Hans Verstuyft Architecten.

Photography by Lisbeth Grosmann..

Clare Cousins’ Melbourne Office // Clare Cousins Architects have re-designed an 1970’s office block in North Melbourne into their own workspace shared with a construction company. The shared ‘Blackwood Street Bunker’ workplace retains the shell and reuses parts of the original fit-out, to create a non-corporate environment that evokes a sense of authenticity and capability.

Read the full article about this project & see more images here.

Photography by Mårten Ryner.

Swedish Architect’s MER Design Office in Stockholm // MER (MORE) is a leading architect and consultancy company that specialises solely in creating and changing offices for Swedish and international companies. The company has developed a new environment for their own office located in Stockholm, offering their staff and visitor an exciting journey of discovery amongst innovative solutions for a creative workplace.

“The office is a strategic tool that modern companies take very seriously for their success in attracting the brightest staff and most interesting customers. This also applies to MER,” says company CEO Cecilia Bejdén. The aim with the office was for the company to try our their own methods, test creative solutions and apply new research findings in their daily work. In MER’s office lab, the company continues to develop brand-building design and function.

Read the full article about this project & see more images here.

Images courtesy of David Chipperfield.

David Chipperfield’s Studio & Home // First his studio, then his home, David Chipperfield chose Berlin, after the city commissioned him to rebuild the Neues Museum in 1997. In the courtyard that contains both his house and his studio, Chipperfield also designed a canteen, a place where locals meet. The house is built of concrete, with large windows overlooking the street and the courtyard.

Read the full article about this project & see more images here.

Images via designboom.

Jaime Hayon’s Studio in Valencia, Spain // Located on the 5th floor of a residential complex in the city center, the workspace of Jaime Hayon is very homelike with its own kitchen, a common room with library and sofa lounge area; with floors covered original hydraulic mediterranean cement tiles that defines each room with different patterns. Throughout, random objects and art pieces add visual curiosity, complimenting his own designs – mostly prototypes that were conceived right in the workspace.

Very high ceilings and big windows let the spanish sun flood through the apartment, creating a very warm, comfortable atmosphere. The valencia studio is a work-in-progress – an adventure where furniture, drawings and sculptures are changing constantly, as well as the purpose of each room.

CN10 Architetti’s Workplace in Italy // The studio of CN10 architecs occupies three floors of a 19th Century house, located in a small village along the foothill road that runs along the southern front of the Monte Canto (Bergamo, Italy). The building consists of five levels, two of which are not visible from the street as they are recessed into the hillside. The studio spaces are available on the ground floor with direct entrance from the street and in the two lower floors facing the inner courtyard.

Images courtesy of Naturalbuild.

Waimatou Co-Working Loft by Natural Build Operation // Naturalbuild has always been fascinated with the issue of weathering in architecture, so in this particular project, the architects attempted to offer a close reading and a celebration of the weathered. “We have to reconcile the aesthetic appeal of the exposed roof framing and various degrees of enclosure for each programmed space, as well as corresponding placement of all the new equipment,” explains the design team.

The renovation approach was thus driven by the idea that, without taking any disruptive action, the existing weathered components should be exhibited and reinforced in their new spatial context. The worn and used elements here evoke a serene ambience, so by minimising the use of add-on materials, the architects have retained and reinforced the sense of old-world serenity.

Read the full article about this project & see more images here.

Images courtesy of CLS Architetti. Photography © François Halard for WSJ. Magazine.

CLS Architetti Studio inside 16th Century Church in Milan // Massimiliano Locatelli was searching for a new home for his architecture firm when he came upon a glorious 16th Century church in Milan. The “Firm in the Church” – a project created by the architects from CLS architetti at the end of 2014, is a structure located inside the church of San Paolo Converso on Corso Venezia.

The reception is located at the entrance of the front church, the library in the altar area, and a first meeting room in the area connecting the two churches. The partners of the firm decided to make the front church a place dedicated to creative disciplines, where international guests can organise their exhibitions, performances, and installations open to the public.

FAR. OUT!

Read the full article about this project & see more images here.

Images via Designboom.

Tadao Ando Studio in Osaka, Japan // Tadao Ando originally designed the building that houses his studio as a home for a young family. As it neared completion, the clients discovered they were expecting twins and the architect realised it would be too small for their needs. The studio was then extended three times, before it was rebuilt in 1991 to accommodate his own expanding team. The space features Ando’s trademark smooth concrete surfaces with carefully positioned apertures that channel natural light.

Photography by Peter Clarke.

Breathe Architecture Studio in Brunswick // Melbourne-based Breathe Architecture are clearly passionate about what they do, and we are clearly big fans here at Yellowtrace HQ as we’ve featured their work a number of times before. Breathe are celebrated for their genuinely ethical approach to architecture – this young practice cares about the city and its people, and the impact it’s architecture can have on them. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that their own studio marries ethic with aesthetic, featuring a multitude of sustainable, best-practice approaches to planning, materials and detailing.

The studio was an exercise in building more with less. Giving space, height, light and air. Data cables are curated in infinite lines on the walls. Five thousand pencils pixelate the skin of the double height meeting room. These spines give acoustic attenuation and hint at the architect’s endless search. The material palette is simple, natural, and unembellished – concrete, mild steel, raw brass, recycled blackbutt, cyclone wire and wild greenery come together to create a series of small yet delightful architectural moments.

See more projects by Breathe Architecture on Yellowtrace.

Images courtesy of Suppose Design.

Suppose Design’s Tokyo Office // Tokyo architecture studio Suppose Design Office has repurposed old scaffold boards to create flooring and furniture for the concrete interior of its own atelier space. The architects chose a palette of materials for their workplace which they sourced themselves. Keen to carry out the work in-house, Suppose stripped back the existing fittings in the 65-square-metre space to expose the concrete ceiling and walls. Galvanised steel beams treated with a paint finish were installed as a grid across the ceiling, providing a structure to contain uplighting along the top and spotlights beneath. Reclaimed scaffold planks were laid across the floor throughout the space and used to create surfaces for long tables positioned along the walls.

Images courtesy of SelgasCano.

SelgasCano’s Madrid Office // Silicon House is built on a plot of land with a gentle slope covered by Evergreen Oak, Elm, Ash, Acacia, Prunus and Plane Trees – all an important part of the design process. Each tree and their canopy perimeters were measured as a way for the structure to make use of the ‘gap’ that nature has left. The building is designed to fit in, creating an architecturally quirky space where the exterior was the focus – both structurally and in terms of the environment. Set beneath two platforms, the building encourages us to lift our gaze toward to sky and to the base of the natural environment.

Read the full article about this project & see more images here.

Photograph by Bruno Almela.

Masquespacio’s Colourful Valencia Studio Interior // Bright colours and geometric forms used by the 1980s Memphis Group influenced the interior design of Masquespacio’s studio space in Valencia. The designers aimed to create a space reflective of their Postmodern-influenced products, hence the studio include their signature use of bold hues and contrasting material combinations. Marbles, birch plywood, oak plywood and lacquered MDF feature on various surfaces and storage cupboards.

Related Post: Stories on Design // Modern Memphis Movement.

Photography by Ossip van Duivenbode.

MVRDV studio in Rotterdam // MVRDV‘s studio in central Rotterdam features multicoloured meeting rooms, a plant-covered chandelier, an oversized dining table and a staircase that doubles as a seating area. Located within a post-war building complex called Het Industriegebouw, the 2,400-square-metre office aims to combine some of the most successful features of MVRDV’s previous space with a selection of new, quirky details. The concept was for a series of rooms inspired by domestic interiors, with areas for dining, lounging and socialising, as well as more traditional work spaces and meeting rooms.

Images courtesy of Freunde von Freunden. Photography by Philipp Langenheim.

Olafur Eliasson’s Office & Studio in Berlin // In 1995, Olafur established his eponymous studio in Berlin as a laboratory for spatial research. Freunde von Freunden, the awesome Berlin-based independent publication visited the artist and took these magnificent shots of his incredible studio.

Read the full article about this project & see more images here.

Photography by Leslie Williamson – Image courtesy of Stockholm Design Week Press Office.

StudioIlse’s London HQ // It is not surprising to discover that Studioilse’s HQ is every bit as charming as Crawford’s other work – the studio has plenty of inherent character, it is flooded with natural light, and filled with many beautiful peaces of furniture, lighting and objects, creating a distinct feel this interior has been lovingly put together over time. Apart from looking incredibly beautiful, the spaces are comfortable, elegant and sophisticated, and at the same time feel utterly natural, unpretentious and authentic.

Read the full article about this project & see more images here.

Images via Freunde von Freunden.

Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec’s Paris Studio // Jam-packed with awesomeness and personality, the three storey atelier studio is located in Paris’ tenth arrondissement. The Bouroullec brothers’ studio is a museum of their creative work, with mock-ups of furniture products and design prototypes on display, including models, supplies, materials, and drawings plastered everywhere.

Photography by Tanja Milbourne.

Assemble Office in Melbourne by Assemble // “Our aim was to create a low cost, flexible workspace that would be an inspiring home for our varied creative projects,” explains Giuseppe Demaio, director of Assemble. “As a design-obsessed organisation, we felt our own studio was the perfect opportunity to showcase for our design sensibility and skills.” The timber installation was constructed by Localspaces and was made of sustainably-harvested plantation pine with minimal waste. Battens measuring 45-by-90mm and 20-by-40mm interlink to form the mirrored triangular structure. 10 points from us.

Read the full article about this project & see more images here.

Photography © Nick Hughes/ Yellowtrace.

3XN Architects Studio Tour, Set in a Historic Canon Boathouse in Copenhagen // During RISING Architecture Week 2015, we had an opportunity to tour the incredible studios of 3XN architects and their research arm GXN. After outgrowing their old studio in the colourful Christianshavn neighbourhood, 3XN’s recent move saw the practice undertake a transformational renovation of a historic and listed canon boat sheds on Holmen in Copenhagen, resulting in a spectacular new environment.

The studio is entered at the highest level, providing an immediate overview of the entire space – it’s imposing rustic timber structure, skylights flooding the space with natural light, and the impressive huge full-height windows at the lower level overlook the canal and give glimpses of colourful houses in Christiania on the opposite bank. The office now measures 2,000 sqm allowing plenty of room for an in-house model-making room.

Read the full article about this project & see more images here.

Images via desibnboom.

Renzo Piano’s Building Workshop in Paris // Located in Paris’ 4th arrondissement, Renzo Piano‘s workshop can be seen through the glass storefront exterior, with a variety of tools surrounding the machinery. The office itself is accessed through a separate doorway and once inside, the bustling studio has long open tables where mini models, books and drawings are viewed alongside the architects who work in their specified project teams.

Photography by Nakul Jain.

Harsh Vardhan Jain Architecture Workspace in Haryana, India // The design of this office space by Harsh Vardhan Jain was conceived as a system of layers or layering of systems. The first is the insertion of an infrastructure piece that acts as a flexible frame. This frame behaves as an organising grid for the required activities and functions that needed to be incorporated within the space. The focus was on achieving a high degree of craftsmanship for woodwork, stonework and in-situ concrete and their interface with pre-fabricated custom manufactured steelwork. It is the friction between the systems that generates a degree of curiosity within the observer.

Photography by Nacasa & Partners.

Nikken Space Design’s Osaka Office // The Osaka office of Nikken Sekkei’s interior design studio features a bookcase conceived as a “stand in a stadium”. For its fourth office, the team decided to install a bleacher-style seating structure that faces floor-to-ceiling windows to offer views out over the city skyline. Constructed from recycled scaffolding planks, the steps are hollow to store books and magazines. When looking for a publication, staff members are encouraged to clamber up the five-level structure.

Photography by Kunal Bhatia.

Architects Home Studio in Bangalore, India by BetweenSpaces // Built on a North facing plot in the city of Bangalore, the building accommodates the Architects own house on ground and first floor, with BetweenSpaces studio space on the upper two levels. The two levels of the studio have been visually connected with a central cut out over the waiting area. The entire width of the studio space in the Northern side has 10 desks, which have been interpreted as a covered veranda thinning the line between the inside and outside.

Photography by Sam Noonan.

Treetop Studio in Adelaide, Australia by Max Pritchard // Rather than undertake a difficult addition to a heritage listed, iconic 25-year-old elevated steel and glass house, the Max Pritchard chose to build a separate structure for his own studio.

This garden structure is a two level circular tower wrapped in golden plywood sheeting, with hardwood battens covering sheet joints and expressing the timber frame structure of vertical wall studs and radiating roof beams. The dynamics of the structural expression is carried through to the interior, by repeating the detail of pine plywood and hardwood battens. Views of the tree tops and the sea beyond enhance this peaceful yet vibrant workspace.

Courtesy of Scott and Scott Architects.

Scott & Scott Architects’ Vancouver studio // A year after the launch of their practice, architects Susan and David Scott have completed the refurbishment of the historic commercial space in their 1911 East Vancouver residence. Once a butcher shop and a long running grocery store, the space has been stripped back to a simple volume lined with Douglas fir boards and completed with black stained fir plywood millwork.

The architects favour materials and approaches that wear in and appreciate over time, taking on warmth with maintenance. The interior fir boards are finished with a variant of a warm applied 19th century bee’s wax floor finish with the solvent replaced with Canadian Whiskey.

Photography by FG + SG.

Architects office in portugal by Nuno Sampaio Arquitetos //Well… If this isn’t the quintessential architects office then I know nothing about anything! Seriously, this workplace literally screams “architects” to me, which is a bit of a paradox given it so understated and restrained. Designed by Portuguese architects Nuno Sampaio Arquitetos as their own office, the overall warehouse space is divided in the middle to make room for another architectural practice.

Some things I like – smaller freestanding dark metal pavilion housed within the larger white space creates a lovely contrast and a dramatic “spatial compression”; generous central skylight which illuminates the space during the day; clever use of indirect lighting (gets me every time!); original timber ceiling structure etc.

Read the full article about this project & see more images here.

Photography by Christoffer Rudquist.

Ochre Barn by Carl Turner Architects // Ochre Barn is a multi purpose development that houses a retreat, studio space and a private residence for Carl Turner, principal of London based studio Carl Turner Architects, and his partner Mary Martin. Despite it’s rural setting at Norfolk in England, let me tell ya there is nothing remotely “agricultural” about these buildings. No sir!

I like the way the OSB elements are executed – pure and crisp forms sit quite comfortably with polished concrete floors, exposed brick, black pre-finished plywood boards, high ceilings lined in white plaster etc.

Read the full article about this project & see more images here.

Particular Architects’ Melbourne Studio // The flexible studio of Particular Architects features fold-down desks and mobile workstations, allowing the team to regularly reconfigure the layout of their space.

The studio is split in half by a stained timber divider. One half comprises the formal work zone, with two banks of workstations facing in opposite directions. A communal work bench is sandwiched between the two and has an LCD screen embedded into its surface. This layout allows the team to work individually at computer screens, but also to engage in group projects and informal meetings by simply turning their chairs around.

The other part of the office is described as “the shape shifter”. Here, track-mounted plywood cases serve as storage and display units, but also feature concealed deck panels that can be folded down to create extra workspace or meeting areas during busy periods.

Photography by Shu He.

Spark Architects’ Beijing office // The Liang Dian Design Centre on Dongsishitiao is home to the Spark Beijing office; occupying 500-square-meters of an a late 1980s office building.

An annex glass box had been added to the second floor of the existing building, allowing for the exterior brick façade to be experienced as an interior space. The space is loosely zoned into a main work area, kitchen and gathering space, a large meeting room area, a model making room and smaller meeting room.

Alongside the main work space, a continuous wall of metal cladd swivel doors allow for a playful and flexible configuration of “open and close”. The flux of the reception area, meeting room and kitchen can be discontinued via floor to ceiling swivel doors whenever activities require it.

Photography by Nieve/Productora Audiovisual.

Zamness’ Co-Working Office in Barcelona // Pods built from yellow chipboard and glass provide meeting spots inside this co-working office in Barcelona, created by local studio Nook Architects in Barcelona’s Poblenou district. Nook Architects joined forces with another local business to create the Zamness co-working office space, which is set within a 1970s building in a former industrial area of the city. To provide pockets of privacy and quiet within the transitory workspace, the architects inserted a pair of enclosed meeting spaces. Each metal-framed pod has a pitched roof, with opaque yellow chipboard walls and panels of transparent glass that frame views of the office.

Photography by Paul Raftery & Tobi Frenzen.

Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners London Studio // Well, well, well – what do you know? Another example of architects going sick for Green (remember this post?). Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners studio is housed in London’s Cheesegrater tower, featuring brightly coloured furnishings, exposed steelwork and a big central meeting space. Intended to foster a more collaborative working style, the studio brings together 200 staff on one floor, completed at the end of 2014. The layout is left as open as possible, eschewing individual offices in favour of a plan where everyone sits together. This allows plenty of daylight to pass through the space, but also promotes the “democratic philosophy” of the firm.

Related Post: Stories On Design // Why Are Architects So Sick For Green?

Photography is by Peter Bennetts.

Woods Bagot’s Melbourne Studio // Located on Little Collins Street in the city’s central business district, Woods Bagot’s timber-dominated, two-storey office has been organised to promote collaboration and socialising.

While the design team had these objectives in mind from the start, Adrià’s cookbook ‘The Family Meal’ helped to refine their ideas. This resulted in a large area of tiered timber seating being installed in the middle of the floor plan. Running alongside the stairs, the amphitheatre-like area provides an informal assembly space.

Photography by Brent Winstone.

Bates Smart Sydney Studio // The original building, located at 80 Commonwealth Street in Sydney’s Surry Hills, was, in its glory days a hub of glamorous film activity and a spectacular example of the art deco kind. Unfortunately, like so many of the screen idols that had helped make 20th Century Fox famous, the building itself, had fallen on hard times. Bates Smart took on the challenge to transform the building, bringing their signature clean, timeless and restrained aesthetic, while simultaneously creating a comfortable and stimulating environment in which to conduct business. The lighting design throughout the office was undertaken by PointOfView.

Concept’s Creative Studio in Hong Kong // Hong-Kong based design house AB Concept have opened their newly renovated creative studio in the city’s vibrant Causeway Bay. Past the front door lies the living room and lounge area, dotted with garden plants, bicycles and book shelves.

The heart of the studio is The Garden, being the focal point for discussion on all projects. Like the rest of the atelier, the space is completely open plan featuring a bespoke and innovative Pages Cabinet, the design of which is extremely flexible and can be adapted from open shelving to closed cupboards, changeable over time.

Read the full article about this project & see more images here.