To celebrate the 100th birthday of famed mid century furniture design great Oscar Niemeyer, R 20th Century Design will offer a 13 piece collection including the looping wood Rio Chaise Lounge and the Secs Hotel sofa. As you can see Niemeyer took full advantage of his architectural crafts, and bent wood which was widely used during that period to create furniture of “icon status“. The expertly crafted collection is literally “interior architecture” that stands out in a world of copied designs and redundancy to make a statement that is simply unlike anything else you will see. I personally have great respect for the mid century period that set the stage for the next sixty years of modern furniture, and gave future generations a benchmark of design and quality. The entire collection is innovative to say the least and is part of a wide variety of mid century modern furniture at R 20th Century Design.
Benchmark buildings for London’s Olympic development
Icona, the first scheme overlooking the Olympic Park is nearing completion. Telford Homes’ residential-led, mixed-use development is one of the first schemes in the area to hand over. It will overlook the Olympic aquatic centre and is within 300m of the proposed stadium. Telford Homes acted as both developer and contractor and architects and urban designers, Stock Woolstencroft, designed and oversaw the construction of this high profile, landmark development.
Telford Homes’ brief was for the architects to transform a derelict and decaying Brownfield site and deliver a landmark building, to act as a key driver for long-term revitalisation of the area. Stock Woolstencroft suggested a scheme clad with a brightly coloured façade to cement its prominent status. Inspiration for the elevations came from studying the work of artist Donald Judd, particularly his use of bold, regular forms, strong colours and industrial materials to create art that emphasised purity of colour, form, space and materials.
Icona comprises 249 units of which 87 are affordable housing for East Homes. The affordable homes all use the same materials and style as the open market homes making it a tenure blind development. There are three buildings that make up the development, an 18-storey tower and two other buildings at seven and four storeys. Underground parking (with 70 spaces) is provided, as is over 920sq m of commercial space, which includes a residents’ gym.
Stock Woolstencroft partner, Derek Jay said: “It is unusual for a residential scheme to have pre-fabrication to this extent on the external façade, demonstrating how Icona pushes technical boundaries as well as architectural ones. The outcome is a high quality, benchmark development that local people and London can be proud of.” Icona has already collected a Silver Seal of Excellence at the NHBC Pride in the Job awards.
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- Tags: Architect, Architecture, Icona, London, Olympic Park, Telford Homes, UK
