Bloomsbury’s in Abu Dhabi \ Carbon

London based creative + boutique studio, carbon, have recently completed their award winning project in Abu Dhabi for Bloomsbury's. A free standing cupcake kiosk in Al Wahda Mall, the designers took on the language of theatre to create a stage of baking, a performance of icing, and the customers creating the drama. The architeture and components was designed as a "kit of parts" to cater the design for future roll out locations across the Middle East and India.

The Brief

Carbon was approached to design Bloomsbury's, the first international branch for Bea's of Bloomsbury, a London based fresh food cafe. The offer was to be a cupcake kiosk in a mall that also had a fully functioning production baking kitchen that was on full display.

With a logo, a basic material palette and the general site identified, Carbon was asked to translate and elevate the UK brand into a Luxury Cupcake offer that translated the Victorian Charm and Sophistication into a modern and sleek international brand that was scalable and affordable and instantly recognizable in the crowded UAE cupcake market.

Sited within Al Wahda Mall in Abu Dhabi, the site location was within a triple height mall atrium with shops and kiosks on all sides. The site conditions had restrictions on circulation space, unobstructed views from existing shops, maximum heights, safety and security (day and night), and limited construction hours (non mall operation hours).

The Solution

Carbon approached the design knowing that a great customer experience starts with the right Customer Journey and an immersive customer experience… "We knew it had to be more than a simple servery counter with stools."

Carbon's solution was to enclose the kiosk in order to focus the attention to the branded area. A tall simple portal that allowed for framed experiences, framed views and framed functions allowed Carbon to create a simple yet rich architectural language in the middle of a busy mall. This would allow customers to experience the Bloomsbury's cupcakes in a true retail lead built environment. To future proof the concept, the portal established a modular 'Kit of Parts' for Bloomsbury's to adapt per site for future Roll-Outs across the Middle East.

All sub-components were designed as secondary modular units to be configurable based upon the site constraint, user requirements and conditions.

Carbon, when designing the Bloomsbury's 'Kit of Parts', pitched to the client that the 'Bloomsbury's Experience' would be one of 'Theater'.

We see the built environment of Bloomsbury's to be The Stage in which the Baking and Icing of the Cupcakes will be the Performance. The Display of the Cupcakes will be the Main Feature and the coming and going of your customers will add to the drama and spectacle. To be seen buying, to be seen eating, to be seen carrying a bag or box of Bloomsbury's will be what creates buzz and word of mouth, but when your customers sit and enjoy a Bloomsbury's Cupcake in your built environment, we believe they will have had and experience that they will repeat and enjoy time and time again.

The construction process was engineered with modular portal elements that link together with integrated services, creating the stage. The supporting counter, display, storage and kitchen components get dropped in place and sprinkled with the cast of cupcakes. Whilst maintaining a sense of transparency with existing site-lines across adjacent shops and avenues in the mall. It was crucial to maintain a tight palette of materials and colours that related closely to the offer of Bloomsbury's; but also not detract from the colourful cupcakes. Lighting, be it natural or artificial was also carefully considered in order to enhance the sense of space, atmosphere and views through.

The Success

To see Bloomsbury in the mall has established the brand overnight in Abu Dhabi. The success of the design lies in having created a free standing object that demands presences from the approach, but has intimate, controlled spaces within an open mall environment. Overall, the kiosk stands as a dramatic theatre set for the colourful cupcakes which are the star of the show. After launching in May 2011, cupcakes are still selling out. Daily, customers can be seen socializing intimately within seating niches of the portals, gathering in groups in larger sofa areas and enjoying a brief moment within at the touch down counter spaces.

+ About carbon

carbon is a London based multi-disciplinary design practice. Established by Go Sugimoto and Ahmed Ansari, the studio engages in the design of human social spaces in retail, residential, commercial, education and cultural projects.

Currently the studio is working on retail projects in London, India, Dubai, residential projects across London, the Middle East and Africa with a strong focus on the integration of brand as it relates to the individual expression.

+ Project facts

Project : Bloomsbury's

Location : Al Wahda Mall, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Number of floors : one

Total floor area : 93 sq m

Timescale : 5 months

Client : Tablez Food Company

Designers : Carbon | 

Photographer : Issa Saleh AlKindy

+ All images and drawings courtesy Carbon | Photo by Issa Saleh AlKindy

Studio Lofts \ Pott Architects

Pott Architects is delighted that through finishing the project Studio Lofts in Hamburg new space for creative companies has been created. On a 7,000 square meter business park site, in a green space between inner city and airport, the studio has realized a modern office concept. Under ecological and energetic aspects the main building of the existing complex has been renewed and extended sensitively. Thereby convertible lofts have been generated which can react flexibly to the individual space requirements of young, dynamic developing creative companies.

+ Project facts

Project: Studio Lofts

Location: Hamburg, Germany

Architect: Pott Architects | 

+ All images courtesy Pott Architects

The Saguaro Hotel \ Stamberg Aferiat

Stamberg Aferiat recently has completed the Saguaro Hotel in Scottsdale.

The architects, Stamberg Aferiat, are known for their bold use of color in architecture, and their ideas about color theory in design. This is their first hospitality project. The hotel's vivid façade features hues of white, green, yellow, orange and pink, which are applied to the structure so that it highlights the natural rhythm of the building. The hotel's furniture draws on Scottsdale's cultural context, featuring simple pieces paired with traditional designs inspired by Latin / Southwestern influences like the work of Mexican architect Luis Barragán.

The Saguaro is a Joie de Vivre property (the largest boutique hotel group in California), and this is their first hotel outside of the state where they have 30 other properties. The hotel is developed by Sydell, who own the ACE Palm Springs and New York, and are known for pairing interesting collaborators together.

+ All images courtesy Stamberg Aferiat

BIG + OFF Win the Competition to Design a Research Centre in Paris

BIG + OFF WIN THE COMPETITION TO DESIGN THE RESEARCH CENTRE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF JUSSIEU IN PARIS

BIG + Paris-based architects OFF, engineers Buro Happold, consultants Michel Forgue and environmental engineer Franck Boutte is the winning team to design the new 15.000 m2 research centre for Sorbonne's Scientific university Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris.

The new multidisciplinary research centre, Paris PARC, located between Jean Nouvel's Institut du Monde Arabe and the open green park of the Jussieu Campus will become a significant addition to the campus, strengthening the international appeal and openness of the leading French University for Science and Medicine. The facility will bring together academic scholars and the busi¬ness community, while re-connecting the university physically and visually with the city of Paris. The winning team was honored as the best design among proposals from MVRDV, Lipsky Rollet, Mario Cucinella and Peripherique.

Paris PARC is located in the visual axis of the Notre Dame Cathedral in a dense context of university buildings from different historical periods. BIG proposes a building geometry that adapts to the specific conditions of all adjoining sides, optimized for daylight, views and accessibility. The three-dimensional envelope retracts from the neighboring facades, opens up towards the square of Institut du Monde Arabe and the park, and folds into a publicly accessible rooftop landscape, resulting in an adapted sculptural building volume situated between the emblematic architectural monuments of the university.

As a form of urban experiment the Paris PARC is the imprint of the pressures of its urban context. Wedged into a super dense context – in terms of space, public flows and architectural history – the PARC is conceived as a chain of reactions to the various external and internal forces acting upon it. Inflated to allow daylight and air to enter into the heart of the facility, compressed to ensure daylight and views for the neighboring classrooms and dormitories, lifted and decompressed to allow the public to enter from both plaza and park and finally tilted to reflect the spectacular view of the Paris skyline and the Notre Dame to the Parisians.

Bjarke Ingels, Founder, BIG

A central canyon provides daylight and a visual connection between laboratories and offices. In the atrium a cascade of informal meeting spaces lead to the public rooftop terrace and faculty club. A public stair to the rooftop offers glimpses into the activities of the laboratories which are divided by transparent walls throughout the building to ensure visual connections between the working spaces. The upper levels have panoramic views towards the Notre Dame and the skyline of Paris.

We propose a building that creates the optimum conditions for encounters and exchange among the academics and visitors of Paris PARC. Like a scientific incubator the new building will provide the physical environment for nurturing growth of cultures and sharing of ideas – through the internal mix of laboratories, research facilities and informal meeting spaces, and through a reunification with the public life of the city.

Andreas Klok Pedersen, Partner-in-Charge, BIG

The Paris PARC becomes the interface between campus life and city life by reuniting the Jussieu Campus with the city of Paris. The iconic view of the Notre Dame Cathedral is brought into the daily life of the building through the large panoramic windows while the façade towards the entrance square is slightly tilted, hence, a mirrored image of the Cathedral becomes visible at eyelevel on the square, connecting the building to its iconic location.

+ Project credits / data

PROJECT: Paris PARC

TYPE: Competition

CLIENT: UPMC University

SIZE: 15.000 m2

LOCATION: Paris, France

STATUS: 1. Prize

BIG

Partners-in-Charge: Bjarke Ingels, Andreas Klok Pedersen

Project Leader: Daniel Sundlin

Architect: Gabrielle Nadeau

Team: Camille Crepin, Edouard Boisse, Tiina Liisa Juuti, Alexandre Carpentier

OFF

Partners-in-Charge: Manal Rachdi, Tanguy Vermet, Ute Rinnebach

Project Leader: Daniel Colin, Antonio Rovira

Team: Akram Rachdi, Olfa Kamoon