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WOHA creates luxury lifestyle collection
Architecture and design firm WOHA has launched WOHAbeing, a lifestyle line of furniture, rugs, lighting, bath and tableware.
It consists of six collections: Bintan, Ulu, Corak, Oli, Diaspora and Sampan.
Bintan is a furniture collection consisting of tables, chairs and lighting. Inspired by the Indonesian island of the same name, it features tropical, hand-printed upholstery and is available with either slender metal bases or chunkier wooden legs.
Ulu features both indoor and outdoor furniture, originally designed for the Alila Villas Uluwatu resort in Bali; Corak is a collection of rugs incorporating traditional Asian patterns and textures; and Diaspora is a range of bone china tableware designed with ceramic manufacturer luzerna.
Sampan is a bathroom range that mimics the angular shape of traditional boats found in Singapore.
WOHA co-founder Richard Hassell says: “We have created objects for our architectural projects for a very long time but never made them available for a retail market before.”
more on CLAD-kit: WOHA
"WOHAbeing is the result of over 20 years of designing buildings and, as a natural extension of that, furniture and other home accessories" - Richard Hassell
Dornbracht’s LifeSpa launches
Dornbracht has launched an innovative new water treatment concept for at home and professional use.
The LifeSpa concept is a modular system designed to integrate adaptable ‘health-enhancing’ water applications into bathrooms.
Applications include the Aquapressure vertical shower and the WaterFan and WaterCurve jets.
Inspired by acupressure, Aquapressure features multiple outlet points and different flow modes. It is designed to deliver a variety of treatments, including water massage and contrast showers.
The WaterFan and WaterCurve are height-adjustable massage jets that provide targeted massage.
Andreas Dornbracht, managing director of Dornbracht, says: “Water applications can enhance a health-conscious lifestyle in a variety of ways – not just with regard to physical fitness, but also as far as mental performance and life energy are concerned.”
more on CLAD-kit: DORNBRACHT
"Water applications can enhance a health-conscious lifestyle in a variety of ways"
Moss Trend’s living walls complement spas and restaurants, says Francesco Meaolo
With a long history in creating decorative materials for interior designers and stage scenography, Italian firm Moss Trend has now ventured into public spaces, including restaurants and spas.
The family-run business creates preserved green walls designed to be maintenance-free, with vertical gardens created with moss that lives on the humidity naturally present in the air.
The company recently finished a project at the Erato Wellness Luxury Spa in Artimino, Italy, using Jungle Moss to create a living wall made of preserved plants that complements the existing décor. Customers choose between several types of plants, from reindeer moss to preserved leaves and lichen.
“Installation of moss panels is simple,” says Francesco Meaolo, managing director of Moss Trend. “A natural preservation process gives the plants durability. As they don’t require light and absorb moisture from the air, spas are convenient spaces for them.“
more on CLAD-kit: MOSS TREND
"They bring texture, energy and that final touch of design to the interior "
Dutch design firm Van De Sant’s sustainable furniture
Dutch furniture design company Van De Sant has launched its environmentally friendly outdoor furniture into the hospitality and spa markets.
The company, which is based on the Dutch-Caribbean island of Curacao, uses recycled materials, including plastic waste reclaimed from the ocean, to create sturdy furniture frames. These frames are then covered with foam and upholstered in weather-resistant fabrics to create a range of furniture that is both functional and stylish.
The range consists of chairs, sofas, tables and recliners suitable for both indoor and outdoor use in spas, in nine mini-collections: Maine, Madesimo, Wales, Toronto, Turrialba, Johannesburg, Amsterdam, Munich and Oslo, each inspired by the places they were named for.
Van De Sant founder Robert Milder says: “Our furniture is designed to prevent deforestation and reduce plastic waste. A sustainable vision can lead to design and comfort.”
more on CLAD-kit: Keyword: Van De Sant
"Our furniture is designed to reduce plastic waste. We’ve proven that a sustainable vision can lead to design and comfort "
AL_A designs stackable football pitches to revive fading communities
Amanda Levete’s architecture studio AL_A has created a unique concept to bring stackable five-a-side football pitches to derelict sites in London.
The project, called Pitch/Pitch, is designed to bring communities together through sport. Each three-storey carbon fibre structure is conceived as a temporary installation that is fast and easy to erect, meaning the pitches could be built to coincide with major football tournaments or to quickly bring life back to fading communities.
Developed in collaboration with Arup, each system is modular and can be stored in shipping containers to be transported to another venue once it has been dismantled. Platforms for spectators are incorporated into the design, and extra facilities such as changing rooms can be prefabricated and delivered to a site on demand.
AL_A director Maximiliano Arrocet says: “As an office we enjoy sport, and we’ve always viewed it is as a way of creating social cohesion.”
more on CLAD-kit: AL_A
Siminetti unveils sustainable mother-of-pearl collection
UK-based luxury tile company Siminetti has created a line of decorative mosaic panels. The mother-of-pearl mosaics are made from sustainable freshwater pearl.
The tiles are sealed with resin, making them exceptionally strong and suitable for both indoor and outdoor use, as well as wet or dry areas, as either wall or floor surfaces. They are available in a range of different colours and styles.
The company partnered with W Hotel and Residences on The Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. W is host to the Alef Residences, a lavish lifestyle destination that will be serviced by the luxury hotel. Siminetti has supplied 500sqm of its anthracite mother-of-pearl mosaic tiles, which have been featured throughout the property.
Simon Powell, director of Siminetti, says: “The new decorative panels are a development we have been working on for some time, as we look to find new ways to show off the natural beauty of our mother of pearl.”
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"We feel the designs truly reflect the luxury and beauty achievable with mother of pearl"
Ma Yansong on ‘out of this world’ furniture collection
Curation-led design company Gallery ALL has launched the MAD Martian Collection.
The collection, which launched at Design Miami in December, was designed by Ma Yansong, founder and principal partner of MAD Architects. It features seven distinct pieces and was inspired by the prospect of life on Mars. The collection consists of a dining table, a console table, a chaise longue, floor-to-ceiling lights and a candlestick.
The pieces feature contoured forms that are designed to resemble natural elements from an extraterrestrial environment and are finished in a reflective metallic skin.
The collection forms part of an ongoing series of in-house commissions by Gallery ALL.
more on CLAD-kit: Keyword: MAD Architects
"I want to bring the Earth landscape to Mars, as I imagined it in my room as a child"
Designworks Tiles releases Zen collection
Designworks Tiles has designed a range of professional use porcelain tiles for spas and swimming pools. The Zen collection is a series of mosaic tiles that takes inspiration from natural stone, marble and wood.
The tiles are available in a range of ‘tranquil’ colours designed to evoke a feeling of relaxation.
The range is made up of over 20 designs including Phyllite, a dark grey tile featuring subtle veining to look like marble, Pale Cherry, a grained, light brown tile designed to look like wood, and Bluestone, a stone-like cobalt blue tile.
The tiles have a matte finish and are compatible with Designwork’s JointPoint technology, an advanced system where silicone points are used to join individual mosaics together to form a single panel.
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"Our Zen collection is made of recycled glass, making it a beautiful and sustainable choice"
Dramatic wooden roof dominates Hurlingham Club racquet centre
One of London’s most exclusive sports and social clubs has opened a new racquet hall, featuring a dramatic curving green sedum roof.
The Hurlingham Club in Fulham commissioned David Morley Architects to create the sporting facility for its guests – who in the past have included men’s tennis world number one Andy Murray.
The roof measures 35 metres long and 55 metres wide and is made from curved steel beams and Kerto Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) panels provided by Metsä Wood.
The design team selected LVL panels as they are very thin, but strong, and would be able to support the landscaped top layer of the roof, without adding any bulk to the structure.
CLAD-kit keyword: Metsä Wood
"The roof was largely built off-site, which meant those involved had to work very closely without any issues on site "
Carlo Ratti reveals digital shading canopy for climate control and beautiful shadowing
International design and innovation office Carlo Ratti Associati, in collaboration with Dubai’s Museum of the Future, has developed a digitally-operated reflecting canopy to provide shading, climate adaptation and green energy generation in cities.
The canopy uses an array of mirrors that automatically track the sun. Each mirror moves on a double axis to reflect the sun’s rays away from the ground – allowing the control of the level of shading and natural cooling underneath. Reflected rays are then concentrated on a photovoltaic receiver that generates electric power.
“In developing Sun&Shade we were inspired by the Middle Eastern tradition of shadowing in architecture and public space allowing shadowing to be digitally controlled,” says Carlo Ratti, founder of Carlo Ratti Associati.
Ratti said the technology has the potential to significantly boost clean energy production.
CLAD-kit keyword: Carlo Ratti Associati
"Sun&Shade was inspired by the Middle Eastern tradition of shadowing in architecture and public space"
Matteo Thun Atelier creates
hospitality collection inspired by Capri
The studio of Italian architect and designer Matteo Thun has produced a new range of wooden furniture designed for everything from hotels to private suites, wellness centres, bars, restaurants and lounge areas.
The collection, called Capri, is inspired in part by the design philosophy founded on the island of the same, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples.
Here, in the 1960s, fabric designers such as Livio De Simone brought to life intuitive and simple pieces of furniture by using vivid and evocative materials.
Matteo Thun Atelier, working with Italian manufacturer Very Wood, has devised similarly fuss-free products, including a lounge armchair, dining chair, stool, coffee table, sunbed and sofas.
The collection is designed to integrate with numerous architecture and interior projects across the hospitality sectors, and the use of oil-treated iroko wood makes them solid and stable in outdoor environments.
“We aim for aesthetic durability as a main feature of a sustainable and timeless product that endures well beyond temporary design tendencies,” said the studio in a statement.
more on CLAD-kit: Keyword: Matteo Thun Atelier
Why shouldn’t sports facilities be beautiful? Across Asia, architects are creating landmark buildings for the public, discovers Christopher de Wolf
