Birch wood

This typical apartment in Barcelona's Ensanche Cerdà had already been renovated, eliminating all the original wooden carpentry, the floor was covered with a glued cork carpet. Despite the possible risk of finding damaged pieces, it was decided to recover the pre-existing hydraulic mosaic floor and opted for a much more open floor plan, with a kitchen-dining room flooded with light from the courtyard and looking for diagonal views that would visually expand the space. Judith Casas sayós As the hydraulic pavement is very varied and with intense colors, it was decided to give it the maximum prominence, so that the walls and ceilings are completely white, only the light birch wood brings warmth and texture. No new partitions... More

The site was an old office setup working within a typical roomed residential plan. In contrast, the handed design programs prompted to have a more collaborative behavior of work. Hence, the design demanded liberal planning.   Challenged by the existing room structure, the first move was to strip down all feasible internal walls allowing the space to breathe. Doing so would allow in getting a sense of the actual floor available to deploy a design program, enabling dialogue across the floor, visually and literally. Later, along with walls, many other existing elements were taken down, which need not support the collective design aspect. All the existing cluttered windows having busy metal grills were replaced with solid teak wood frame... More

The redevelopment of these spaces, previously used as offices, involved the inclusion of two small tasting rooms, both having an area dedicated to the display of all organic farming products of the agricultural social cooperative.   The design idea is inspired by nature, as it should be in a context like the one that surrounds this reality.   The first room on the right is characterized by a large exhibition wall made up of eleven horizontal plates of painted iron and one hundred vertical lamellae in birch wood. This effect aims to simulate the blowing of the wind, which moves, tilts and bends, with the aim of creating new perspective games.   In the center, a rectangular table with eight seats. The chairs simulate cut... More

New ways of working are here to stay and need different approaches to the spaces in which they’re developed. The project generates new interactions between users and the workspace through a combination of different types of spaces and levels of privacy. Leonardo García This project is the first within a process that elastiko undertook with Cloudworks in 2018, with the aim of defining a common and personal aesthetic for all the brand’s coworking spaces. Cloudworks Sant Joan occupies two floors of an office building in the Eixample district of Barcelona. The 7th floor is organised around a central open office space while the 10th floor houses offices for teams with shared spaces. In the case of this former office buil... More

Designed for a young couple Mr Vivek and Aditi Bali, The Bali Residence is a minimalistic apartment that combines casual living with Eastern European aesthetics.  For our studio this project has been a great exercise in establishing a strong clear design concept and then following it through to create a pertinent spatial aesthetics. When the clients approached The Design Chapel for the complete overhaul of their newly bought 2BHK residence, a conceptual and a contextual design process was explored where every decision gets governed by a robust underlying design language. The clients being fans of the school of Modernism and having travelled to Northern and Eastern Europe were great admirers of the Scandinavian Aesthetic. We therefore... More

This project is particularly about the limited space. There were almost only 6 square meters with water supply and electrical connection placed on one side of the room. Despite the small space several devices had to be stowed. The 2.5 meter kitchen unit contains these appliances: Oven, induction hob, washing machine, sink, dishwasher, fridge and freezer.   On the opposite side of the room is a sideboard with plenty of space for plates, glasses, pots, cooking utensils and much more. In order to increase the spatial impact, the sideboard is mounted on the wall and free-floating above the floor. In addition, this top is an extension of the worktop.   In contrast to gray linoleum and clear, straight design the kitchen f... More

This is a complete renovation of a 90 sqm flat in the centric “barrio de Chueca” in Madrid, with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The aim of our client was to rent the flat, so we created an open layout that integrates the different uses. The kitchen is not only open to the dining room, but its the same space.   Also, corridors were eliminated, so we cross from one space to the other directly, concentrating in the uses relation. So as to make this relation consistent, we can cross from the social area to the most private area – the bathrooms – via the bedrooms, so the bedrooms are the connections.   Due to the small size of the flat, we decided to have concrete for all the floor, in order to eliminate barrie... More

The former post office building made of red brick in Berlin’s Skalitzer Strasse, a historic listed building, has become a new and lively site for innovation. When designing the Co-Working and Event-Space Digital Hub SPIELFELD, LXSY ARCHITEKTEN focused on revisiting the history of the building. Selected historical elements have been incorporated into the design, in cooperation with the heritage protection agency. For example, the original colour scheme was restored and beams were exposed to reveal the supporting structure of the building. The main focus of the heritage protection agency in the Digital Hub SPIELFELD was the former hexagonal post office counter hall. As the new location emphasises exploring digitalization, the interior... More

SO BING, a brand that specialize in the curation of Korean desserts, opened its first branch at the heart of Tel-Aviv. The brand offers its clients a wide array of indulging deserts, all based on -wait for it -snow! Shaved ice is being poured into a bowl and is topped with fruits, ice cream, sauces and other delicious toppings.     This type of desert is very common in Korea and therefore the wall cover at the entrance of the space is made of birch wood plates that resemble the looks of classic asian dividers. On the wall are two screens displaying pictures of different dishes and international brand images.   Above the wall and around the entire space hangs a round AC tunnel that was painted in the brand’s signatur... More

Recreating a local architectureThe house is situated in a vast field and the clients requested it be largely open to the surroundings. Therefore large French windows are found in every room and a 200 m² terrace extends every side of the house. The surrounding field is a former meadow in the villageof Saint-Sauveur, in the Dordogne departement. Special care was taken with the building volume and the shape of the roof, in order to better blend in with the regional heritage. The geometry of Périgord roofs with four sideshas been recreated in a new way. Accordingly, the deep roof overhangsprotect from the sun and the harsh rain. The skin of the building is made of dark grey metal cladding, which is a reminder of local tobacco dryer... More

Situated within Columbia Circle, the recently completed OMA-designed commercial development in Shanghai, Neri&Hu has created a flagship store for Jview, a new multi-brand retailer. Specializing in garments and accessories made from the highest quality silks, wools, cottons and linens, the interior design for the shop is an homage to these natural textiles, their material authenticity, visceral tactility, and textural richness.   For the façade and entry, the strategy was to enhance the architectural elements already in existence with additional subtle layers. To balance the coldness of the steel structure and metal mesh canopy above, a wooden deck is added to the ground for hint of warmth, as well as to give a stronger str... More

Bridge House is located in Coves Noves, a residential area in the north-east coast of Minorca island, Spain. Its generous plot of 2400sqm allows the dwelling to stretch horizontally to capture the surrounding’s best landscape views. At the same time, its rotating volumes create surprising interior spaces and never repeating outlooks.    Based on the assembly of squared and pentagonal plans, these small polyhydric volumes stack and hover over the existing landscape with playful lightness. Their bridge-like composition gives the house its name. Breaking down the program into smaller units seemed a more respectful way to place a large program onto the site. The outer terraces and pool are designed as a direct extension of the... More

The new project consists of the preparation and redistribution, for the creation of new exhibition spaces within a small commercial building, located in Via del Sole 24r in Florence, for the creation and sale of miniatures. The implemented interventions have given new life to the old building, creating three-dimensionality, new perspective points and illuminating the environment, so as to make it more visible. Making the most of the verticality, custom-made furniture has been created at full height, functional and practical.   The horizontal elements, like the display shelves, run on a curve created in plasterboard, ideally creating in plan, the shape of the "typical lens" used just by the artisan property to recreate its detailed an... More