The Business
News and pictures from the design sector
Virgile + Partners launches the latest H beauty premium destination in Bristol
Virgile + Partners has worked with Harrods to launch H beauty Bristol, located in The Mall, Cribbs Causeway. This marks the fourth H beauty location to open as part of a wider beauty experience roll-out by Harrods.
Virgile + Partners’s design uses a free-flow design approach guiding consumers along with a bespoke pale grey and blush Italian terrazzo tile floor.
It also designed H beauty Champagne Bar: a circular counter with both elegant soft lounge seating.
The concept was developed and executed by Virgile + Partners, the Harrods internal team and construction consultancy Kendall Kingscott.
Ewald Damen, creative director and managing partner at Virgile and Partners, said: ‘Following the successful openings of Lakeside, Milton Keynes and Edinburgh, we’re pleased to see the fourth store open in Bristol. Staying true to the H beauty concept, H beauty Bristol has been further refined and tailored to its location, giving an added layer to the original design. The facade has been developed to be a dynamic and changing element within the design and creates a strong and welcoming entrance. The development and roll-out of these stores show how the retail sector is continuously evolving – particularly in destination and focused retail with added services.’
www.virgileandpartners.com
FX Awards entries now open
Entries for this year’s FX Awards are now open. More than a dozen judges are lined up to select winners from each category, which will be announced at the Gala event at the Grovesnor House Hotel, London, this autumn.
You have until Friday 29 July to submit your entries, with 22 categories to choose from, including new for 2022: UK Workspace (of any size).
FX Awards entries now open
Remember you can enter more than one category and each category will be judged by a different panel – so if you don’t win in one category you could win in another.
FX Awards entries now open
Table bookings are now being taken so do join us then as we party through the night. Book early to avoid disappointment.
FX Awards entries now open
Head to the website to book your place or to enter into the awards. Good luck.
www.fxdesignawards.co.uk
Arper announces new CEO of Arper Americas
Image Credit: SCOTT R. KLINE
Amy Storek joins Arper as CEO of Arper Americas. She will lead the company in its strategic growth plans within the North America and Latin America markets. She joins the company with over 25 years of experience in the design and manufacturing industry and has worked in various positions for global companies such as Herman Miller, Vitra and Haworth.
www.arper.com
Hansgrohe: On the path to climate neutrality
Shower and tap manufacturer Hansgrohe has detailed progress on its sustainable strategy. All German sites are now climate-neutral with international sites also switched to green electricity. This enables annual savings of over 26,000t of CO2. This means that by the end of 2022, all international sites will have switched to green electricity and achieved climate neutrality in terms of direct emissions and energy consumption. In addition, Hansgrohe expects all A-suppliers to sign a green company agreement in the future – a commitment to comply with environmental management requirements. Hansgrohe supports the 1.5°C target of the Paris climate agreement. ‘Our plan is to successively decarbonise the company,’ commented Steffen Erath, head of innovation & sustainability at Hansgrohe. ‘This process is costly and requires a lot of effort, but compensating for climate damage would probably cost us more.’
www.hansgrohe.co.uk
Radisson Individuals expands to Turkey
Radisson Hotel Group has opened Royan Hotel Hagia Sophia Istanbul, a member of Radisson Individuals and the group’s first hotel in Turkey. The hotel is in the heart of the historic peninsula and within walking distance of the Hagia Sophia, the Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar. Its opening introduces a fifth Radisson Hotel Group brand to Turkey and brings the group’s portfolio, across the country, to more than 40 hotels in operation and under development.
www.radissonhotels.com
WilkinsonEyre designs a new landmark on Toronto’s skyline
Developers Ivanhoé Cambridge and Hines and WilkinsonEyre have completed the first of CIBC SQUARE’s two towers. The Toronto skyline will be further transformed when the second tower is complete in 2024. Once complete, the two office towers will total a staggering three million sq ft.
WilkinsonEyre designs a new landmark on Toronto’s skyline. Image Credit: JAMES BRITTAIN
Centred around connectivity and community, the development is integrated closely with Toronto’s public transport system and the development’s inclusion of publicly accessible spaces and tenant exclusive collaborative workspaces. The 250m landmark high-rise completed in phase one and located at 81 Bay Street features a lightly folded diamond-shaped facade that adds a vertical scale and modulation, creating a very different atmosphere from the rest of downtown Toronto.
www.wilkinsoneyre.com
KI’s Colonnade creates new collaboration zone for IFF Research
Sketch Studios has specified KI’s Colonnode system to help create a new flexible work area for social and market research agency IFF Research.
KI’s Colonnade creates new collaboration zone for IFF Research
In need of a space that would act as an ‘in between’ to the overbooked meeting rooms and the ‘too casual’ kitchen, the product avoided booths and major structural changes.
The free-standing modular system is incorporated into the design of the workspace with IFF able to upscale and accessorise as needs evolve.
www.kieurope.com
Apt completes City of London 656- bed student housing and office scheme for Urbanest
London-based architecture studio Apt has completed Urbanest City, a 656-bed student accommodation and office scheme achieving BREEAM Excellent.
The mixed-use building offers a new, high-profile destination in the City of London and includes high-quality student housing, incubator and flexible office space, as well as a café and a public exhibition space that houses a preserved section of the original Roman London City Wall that once delineated the Roman city of Londinium.
Apt completes City of London 656- bed student housing and office scheme for Urbanest
Following planning approval for the scheme, which was designed by Hopkins Architects in 2017, client Urbanest appointed Apt to develop the design.
The building’s construction responds to the unique challenges of the location.
The building features a variety of construction methodologies to respond to the specific requirements of the brief and the constraints and challenges presented by the site. The Roman Wall and Bastion exhibition area demanded a large column-free space with the structure designed to protect the important heritage asset.
Other key design features that respond to the unique challenges of the location include post-tensioned slabs for the office space to maximise column-free spans with clean soffits, reinforced concrete for the student accommodation on an efficient 5m grid and a lightweight steel frame for the Crosswall building that allows the reuse of the previous building’s foundations in this area.
www.apt.london
North Wharf Gardens completes with BREEAM rating
North Wharf Gardens scheme for Concierge 3 has reached practical completion, with BREEAM Excellent.
The project is part of the Paddington Basin Masterplan, restoring the location between Paddington and Edgeware Road. The scheme is constructed on a two-storey basement car park with 19 floors sitting on a reinforced concrete frame.
North Wharf Gardens completes with BREEAM rating
Real estate consultancy Concert was involved in the pre- and post-contract works, overseeing the cost consulting aspect of this new build development. White Ink Architects worked alongside Design & Build Contractor McAleer & Rushe to develop the design by Powell Dobson Architects.
www.weareconcert.com
Jason Bruges Studio creates digital remedy
Created for the Museum of the Future in Dubai, Jason Bruges Studio has made The Centre: an inhabitable media artwork that uses water, light, vibration and sound to reawaken the senses. An antidote to an ever more digitally saturated reality, the installation offers a visceral experience inspired by historic ritual. For more information or to book tickets, see the website.
www.jasonbruges.com | www.museumofthefuture.ae
WDO concludes 32nd World Design Assembly
World Design Organization (WDO) concluded its 32nd World Design Assembly, which was held online. The three-day event welcomed participants from across the globe to exchange insights. As part of the event, the organisation announced the appointment of its new board of directors for 2022–23.
www.wdo.org
Thonet launches new look book
Famed furniture pioneer Thonet has a new look book, rounding up all of its product updates and latest launches, plus a glance at the history of moulded plywood in design. The book also includes its icons, which span a 200-year history, as well as highly popular contemporary pieces by Sebastian Herkner, Studio Irvine, Formstelle and Werner Aisslinger.
www.thonet.de
Oliver Peyton joins Wellbrook Hospitality advisory board
Oliver Peyton OBE, of BBC2’s Great British Menu fame, has joined Wellbrook Hospitality’s advisory board as the company expands its global footprint. Timothy Griffin, PJ Kenny and Shanthan Balakrishnan joined forces on their new venture, Wellbrook Hospitality in 2020, with the aim of harnessing their experience to develop and operate challenger brands in the hospitality field.
www.well-brook.com
New lease of life for Crystal Palace Academy Training Ground
Crystal Palace Academy Training Ground has recently undergone a refurbishment with the help of Rainbow and KSS. The academy secured Category 1 status in summer 2020, meaning that it can provide a more challenging and extensive programme for players. Previous graduates of the academy include England manager, Gareth Southgate, Kenny Samson, Vince Hilaire, Victor Moses and Wilfried Zaha.
www.rainbowdesign.co.uk | www.kssgroup.com
Planning for retrofit of City fringe Building
Arney Fender Katsalidis (AFK Studios), has secured planning consent for the retrofit of 38 Finsbury Square, an existing post-modernist building on the City of London’s fringe. The retrofit’s ambitious remodelling and refurbishment will reposition the building to meet contemporary office standards and tenant requirements.
A key element of the retrofit includes the replacement of the existing facade to Wilson Street, with a high-performance anodised bronze-clad structure. The new contemporary facade creates a new identity for the building, while also recalling the classical proportions and language of the building’s Portland stone facade fronting Finsbury Square. It will enable better light penetration to the office floorplates, while also releasing more internal space and rationalising the building’s floorplates.
Planning for retrofit of City fringe building. Image Credit: AFK STUDIOS
Another key intervention is the relocation of the entrance, which also negotiates complex level changes, a re-conceptualised ground floor space, increased floor to ceiling heights, improved lift efficiency and tenant interconnectivity, and the introduction of outdoor amenity space. All frontages will also be upgraded with refinements to the existing openings and fenestration details.
A new rooftop extension will create additional loft-style office space and provide healthy outdoor amenities for all tenants with soft landscaping and areas to sit and relax.
www.afkstudios.com
New leadership team for TTSP
Architecture practice TTSP has unveiled a fresh leadership line-up that reinforces the practice’s commitment to growth in 2022.
Anna Rigoli is promoted to director of architecture, while Nick Simpson is now director of mission critical. Rosie Richardson-Prescott, who has joined from Gensler, is director of interiors, leading TTSP’s interior design team.
Together with managing director Bill Ryan, and fellow director Ian Miller, the new directors form the senior leadership team for TTSP.
Ryan said the recent appointments mark the start of an exciting new era for the practice, which recently took up its new residence in The Loom, Aldgate, and has undertaken a wholesale revamp of its vision, mission and business strategy.
‘TTSP has its eyes now firmly on the future,’ said Ryan. ‘We welcome the injection of fresh thinking and new perspectives they collectively bring to ensure we are consistently delivering positive impact through creative design.’
www.ttsp.com
Teague teams up with NORDAM to create a ‘floating bed’ in the sky
Teague has unveiled Elevate, a single-aisle aircraft cabin that uses floating furniture to reimagine the in-flight passenger experience. Working in collaboration with NORDAM, one of the world’s largest independently owned aerospace firms, Teague has created a cabin that offers passengers more personal space, privacy and comfort in a home-like interior – without compromising existing passenger numbers.
Teague teams up with NORDAM to create a ‘floating bed’ in the sky
The design features sidewall attachment points that enable the creation of a lighter and more efficient suite environment. By utilising mounted fixtures in the sidewall, it eliminates restrictive structures around the monitor, side-furniture and ottoman. The Elevate concept increases the bed size, living space and stowage capacity for every passenger – providing a larger floor space and promoting an expansive living space.
Elevate will be showcased at the Aircraft Interiors Expo 2022 (14–16 June) in Hamburg.
www.teague.com
