The interior program at the Drake was reconfigured to include 19 guest rooms and several new functions, which allowed guests to enjoy an intersection of “Hospitality, Culture and Community”.  The cohesiveness of the concept and brand identity has continued through subsequent renovations of the hotel.  Charm is found in the details throughout the hotel and in the guest rooms, appointed with custom luggage racks reminiscent of the area’s railway history and handmade dolls that patiently await your arrival.  Since the re-opening of its doors in 2004, the Drake hotel has established itself as more than just a trend.

With the mélange of activities at the Drake, you really could spend an entire day there wandering from one space to the next.  Start the day off right by getting centered at the yoga gym, then stop into the cafe for an espresso and pastry.  For lunch, try some innovative sushi at the Raw Bar and then head up to the Sky Yard to mingle in the afternoon sun.  Relax in the Lounge for pre-dinner drinks before meeting with friends to enjoy private dining in Room 222.  A day at the Drake wouldn’t be complete without checking out a new band at the Underground before returning to the Sky Yard for a warm apple cider by the fire pit.  If you feel as though you haven’t had enough upon check out, pop into the General Store on your way out for some Drake-to-go.

Signing off, Drake enthusiast.

Photos via Drake Hotel, 3rd Uncle Design Inc, and George Whiteside

The design solution was to maintain its iconic neighborhood presence, while also  reaffirming its welcoming feeling. GAD (global architectural development) designed a triangular shaped concrete shell covering the entire site with large openings at street level. The concrete shell provides a column-free interior space, optimizing the project’s programmatic needs. the new design injects a contemporary and pragmatic solution, at once preserving the fish market’s history.

Via Designboom. All images courtesy GAD.

Via Dezeen.

Lucky 7 describes itself as a ‘canteen’, which refers to its understated “distressed’ ambiance.

The interior design that Surface ID did for Lucky 7 is very rustic with exposed wood and brickwork, mess hall benches, concrete columns, long wooden tables and distressed wallpaper that is stylishly peeling in pales, which has been mixed together to construct this unusual and fascinating interior.

The distressed wallpaper gives a worn and decayed appearance, producing a unique wall effect. Adding a little softness to the interior are the cushions even though the octagonal shape of the cushions are quite hard, the fabric makes it softer, these are found attached to the wooden benches..

Generally the colour theme throughout the ‘canteen’ is very neutral and earthy but there are a few splashes of bright colours, which draws your eye towards the object such as the stalls at the bar, the vibrant red on the seat of the stall.

The menus in Lucky 7 have been printed out on brown paper, creating a recycled and eco-friendly appearance that co-ordinates with the interior design.

Lamps that sit on the table have been made from cast concrete which adds to the rustic and urban form of the ‘canteen’.

In Lucky 7 there has been a vast amount of attention to the detail making the interior design to this canteen very exceptional to most due to its unique character.

Furniture was developed by the product design students for a 48 square meter apartment, with the intent of “questioning and twisting preconceptions of home styling”. In response to this work, the advertising/graphic design students developed a killer campaign for the exhibit, creating the concept “Same but Different,” described below:

Is a chair always a chair, an apartment always an apartment? Tilt your head for awhile, and the world will emerge in a different light. Up is down, objects change appearances, the unclear becomes obvious and problems meet their solutions.

The campaign includes a two meter long exhibition catalogue (excerpted top), four promotional films (below and after the jump), and an exhibition in a reconfigured 48m2 apartment.

Rather than getting patients back to a ‘zero’, a neutral starting place, the traditional model for mental health care, the clinic aims to provide patients with something extra: a further richness in their daily lives that they did not have before starting treatment. The interior design is an attempt to express this philosophy in space. The ‘doors’ that line the walls of the clinic do not open, and ‘ordinary’ parts of the walls open up into new spaces. The consultation rooms are entered by sliding the bookshelves sideways. The door at the end of the hallway opens onto a window; the amount of light in the hallway is controlled by opening and closing the door. By providing alternate perspectives for viewing the world, and avoiding being trapped by pre-existing perceptions, the interior allows visitors–and staff members–to experience opening new doors in their hearts, one after the other.

Via Dezeen

Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka will exhibit a glass window made of 500 crystal prisms at MUSEUM. beyond museum in Seoul this May. Called Rainbow Church, the eight metre-high installation will create rainbows within the space as the light is refracted.

I experienced a space filled with the light of Matisse: Being bathed in the sunlight of the Provence, the stained glass with Matisse’s vibrant colors suffused the room with full of colors. Since then, I had been dreaming of designing an architecture where people can feel the light with all senses.

Our aim is to show the quality of pressed wood by using the material as a three dimensional shape. Our design process is driven by function, where the function becomes the construction. One Pallet Kitchen’s stackable nature makes it a flexible kitchen for a flexible Lifestyle.