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News and pictures from the design sector

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New Mary Anning space for museum (main image)
Perched up in the eaves of Alfred Waterhouse’s Romanesque gallery, the Anning Rooms has been opened by the Natural History Museum as a dedicated space for members and patrons.

Its namesake, Mary Anning, was a pivotal figure in natural history, making a vital contribution to early palaeontology and geology in the 19th century. Existing on the fringe of the scientific community as a working-class woman, Anning’s work was often published by the same men who sought her advice on anatomy, classification, fossils and geology. Now, the museum celebrates her critical contributions, bringing the unused rooms back to life with Dannatt Johnson Architects.

A new restaurant, dining room and study are scattered with showcases of the museum’s vast collections, celebrating its work throughout. The dining room wallpaper takes botanical illustrations from its collections to create a vibrant backdrop for the dining areas.

A staircase wraps its way around a modern cabinet of curiosities, reaching up to the upper floor. Guests are able to encounter some 150 specimens and objects, showcasing the museum’s extensive fields of study.

The space boasts previously unobtainable views across the roofscape of the Grade I listed building. Visitors can see up close the terracotta creatures carved into the facade, with extinct species on the eastern half and living species on the western half.

BDG: read all about it

BDG architecture design has released a new book on the link between a well-designed workplace and a healthy, happy and productive workforce.

Work Transformed: People, Place and Purpose explores 22 of BDG’s workplace projects from across Europe, delving into the design and construction of the practice’s spaces, which form a bond between the people and places.

The book starts with a study of Sea Containers, BDG’s recent office

And the colour is...

These days we are inundated with trend reports. Each new season brings a host of predictions of the next statement pieces. But these bold choices soon tire.

We saw it in Millennial Pink, which has quickly been exhausted throughout interiors and fashion. Similarly, copper accessories are now so commonplace that they no longer have the exclusive look they once exuded.

This year’s Dulux ColourFutures offers something different. Announcing the Colour of the Year 2019 in September, Dulux presented Spiced Honey, a deep ochre, which can be both a neutral and an accent, chosen to capture the cultural landscape of 2019. Dulux has paired it with four colour palettes, each designed to evoke different emotions and bring out the warmth of Spiced Honey.

Think creates ‘spaces for calm’. The most transferable palette of all comprises calming neutrals, to allow a space to focus. These are accented by a sharp black and clean white.

Dream creates ‘spaces for succeeding’. A calm palette of soft pastels builds spaces to nurture focus and imagination. Spiced Honey adds depth to powder pinks and blues, creating a serene backdrop.

Love creates ‘spaces for sharing’. The boldest palette, it is rich shades of greens and reds but anchored with Spiced Honey and pale neutrals. It creates a welcoming space full of warmth and richness.

Act creates ‘spaces for action’. Here, Spiced Honey is the neutral. The lively selection aims to inspire creativity and invigorate a space. The vividness is balanced by pastel pink and blue and highlighted by fresh grey and white.

Petal power

As part of this year’s London Design Festival, ceramic artist Valeria Nascimento installed an immersive display of thousands of ceramic pieces, titled Rainforest. The installation presents a journey through different natural elements, combined to immerse viewers in a serene landscape, expressing the natural world through clean-cut, white porcelain. This was set among the backdrop of the Liaigre showroom.

The installation worked in harmony with the refined nature of the showroom’s bespoke furniture. The natural element of the installation was reflected in the variety of wooden finishes that pervades Liaigre’s collections.

History and more is on the move in St Albans

Seasoned cultural-sector practice Mowat has designed and delivered a ‘kit-of-parts’ for the St Albans Museum & Gallery. It follows St Albans Council’s decision to relocate the museum from the edge of town to its centre. Alongside conservation architecture practice John McAslan Architects, Mowat has helped transform the former Law Court into a space fit for purpose, to become a cultural offering ingrained into the public realm.

In order for the museum to be successful, it was established early on it must be more than just a museum. Mowat proposed a wide-ranging series of uses, calculating that the gallery could simultaneously host exhibitions of both historical content and modern art, as well as an event and reception in the same bustling, vibrant building.

To facilitate this Mowat devised a series of fixtures, a so-called ‘kit-of-parts’. This consisted of wall-mounted cases, wall displays, freestanding cases, education trolleys, graphic caption stands, display tables and plinths of different heights.

What has resulted is a public building that caters not only as a space for historical education, but also one for modern art, events, receptions and a civic building in the heart of the Hertfordshire town

Make mine a Danish pint

Deep in the Cornish woods, with only the power of a waterfall running through the site, creative agency Fold7, in collaboration with architects from New British Design, have created a modular, sustainable pub for brewery and brand Carlsberg.

Ben Huggins of New British Design, conceived the design to harness the abundant power at the head of a waterfall, powering its lights and beer pump via a turbine.

Constructed of sustainable larch, the design takes references from the classic British pub typology, but in construction it was entirely a celebration of Danish values and built by six young people with no prior construction experience. The participants were asked to embrace simplicity, directness and open communication in the process, taking away all smart phones and devices.

As a result, they were able to construct the pub in just five days.

Talking it up
VitrA and RIBA have announced a new talks series, partnering to curate a two-year programme to showcase emerging voices in architecture. Having already held discussions with Kazuyo Sejima, Sir David Adjaye and Lesley Lokko, the programme continues with Assemble discussing its recent projects, including Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art on 23 October. Additionally, on 28 November, RIBA and VitrA will begin their talks theme International Dialogues. In pairing an established seminal architect with a younger emerging architect, they hope to facilitate conversations on the past, present and future of architecture. This series starts with Kate Macintosh and Mary Duggan.

Gender themes
Bob and Roberta Smith RA has unveiled The Secret to a Good Life in the new Ronald and Rita McAuley Gallery at the Royal Academy. It is the first major project to take place in the new gallery space adjacent to the Weston Bridge, which links Burlington Gardens and Burlington House. The exhibition creates a dialogue between the artist’s new works and works by his family, all inspired by his mother Deirdre Borlase (1925-2018). A regular exhibitor in the RA’s Summer Exhibition, Borlase often omitted her first name from submissions to not reveal her gender. The exhibition explores these themes of gender at the Royal Academy, as well as in the wider art profession.

Work and learn
London South Bank has become the first British university to offer Level 6 (RIBA Part I) apprenticeships in architecture, with its programme starting this autumn. The apprenticeship will enable students to study for their RIBA Part I qualification, while still working in practice. Students will work in an architecture practice four days a week and as this will offset tuition fees and living expenses, it is expected that this will make the profession more accessible. LSBU will be the only university to host both Level 6 and Level 7 (RIBA Part II) apprenticeships.

Second London showroom
The Danish furniture manufacturer Carl Hansen has opened a second London showroom as demand increases for Danish mid-century design. In the centre of Pimlico, the flagship store will house the brands collection of modern classics, created by Danish designers such as Poul Kjærholm, Mogens Koch, Arne Jacobsen and Børge Mogensen. The design of the space takes cues from the brand’s history, using heritage colours such as dark green, burgundy, greys and navy blue. These work together with oak flooring and an antique-teak shop counter to create a truly mid-20th century space.

Talks by design
Sir John Soane’s Museum and Luke Irwin have announced their new public talk series, By Design. Starting this month and running until April, each talk will explore the profound impact of design on the lives of six acclaimed designers, in the context of one particular item that has informed their careers. Co-hosted by Will Gompertz and Alice Rawsthorn, the confirmed speakers include Peter Saville, Es Devlin, Sir David Adjaye, Martino Gamper, Edmund de Waal, and Olga Polizzi.

Back to black
Danish lighting manufacturer Louis Poulsen has unveiled two new products: black editions of Enigma and Flindt Wall. The original Enigma was released in 2003, quickly becoming a best seller due to its simplistic but original form. Originally in white, all three sizes are now also available in black. Flindt Wall builds on the success of Flindt Bollard, both by Danish designer Christian Flindt. The circular, wall-mounted fixture is seemingly carved out of the wall, creating a sculptural piece

Aedas for China take off
Aedas has been appointed lead design architect of the new Yantai International Airport Terminal 2 in China, as the airport enters its Phase 2 Expansion Project. Taking inspiration from the mountainous landscape of Yantai, the sweeping roof of the terminal is inspired by Yantai’s Kuntu Mountain, while undulating skylights brings light into the 167,000 sq m building. The new airport is expected to meet the rapid increase in demand for air travel as the Yantai and Shandong economy grows. Terminal 2 aims to provide an innovative and sustainable gateway to the city.

Gazetas for vertiports
Barr Gazetas has been appointed by Skyports to identify urban locations for cargo and passenger drone-landing infrastructure, known as vertiports, to develop a network to facilitate drone deliveries and passenger movements. Barr Gazatas will be identifying rooftops in dense workspace and residential catchments to add to Skyports existing portfolio of 15 rooftops.

With extensive experience of interventions into existing buildings, the practice is well placed to find suitable structures on which the drone infrastructure can be installed.

McAslan new Oz home
Architecture practice John McAslan + Partners has opened a studio in Sydney, as it develops its plans for the major regeneration of Sydney’s central station. Alongside Woods Bagot and Laing O’Rourke, JMP will be delivering the £538m Sydney Metro City and Southwest upgrade of the 112-year-old Central Station, following its success in restoring the 170-year-old London King’s Cross Station.

Similar to its central interventions at King’s Cross, JMP will seek to emphasise the existing key heritage qualities, while introducing bold new architectural elements.