c.Luna

The new D&G headquarters in Milan contains the showrooms for the collections, offices, a restaurant and a series of image spaces, ina total area of 5.000 square meters. Two buildings dating back to the 1920s and the 1960s, facing three streets, are combined in a complex with five floors above ground and two basement levels. The project is based on an architectural principle of great rigor, with the use of natural materials like white Namibia stone, glass and unfinished steel sheet.

Architects: Studio Piuarch, Fresa, Fuenmayor, Garbellini, Tricario
Location: Milán, Italy
Constructed Area: 5000 sqm
Client: Dolce&Gabbana

Collaborators: Miguel Pallares, Luca Lazzerotti, Fortuna Parente, Magali Roig Liverato
Entrance furniture: Ron Arad Associates
General furniture: IT frames, MDF Italia, Vitra, Moroso, Arco Arredamenti
Lightning: Flos, Modular
Interior Stairs: Grazi Cristalli s.r.l.
Structure: FV progetti s.n.c – Ing. Filippo Valaperta
Foundations: Gtec s.a.s. – Andrea Zanotti
Exterior Façades: Sicef S.p.a.
Technical Services: IT impianti Tecnologici s.r.l.
Elecatrical Services: ELteknica s.r.l.
Contractor: Sice Previt S.p.a.
Construction year: 2006
Photographs: Ruy Teixeira

Architects: Klein Dytham architecture
Location: Shibaura, Tokyo, Japan
Client: TBWA/ Hakuhodo
Team: Astrid Klein, Mark Dytham , Yukinari Hisayama, Yoshinori Nishmura, Joe Keating
Contractor: D Brian, Masaya Tanimoto Totem
Project Year: 2007

The finished design for the new T/H office space was a creative adaptive reuse enterprise and a joint venture between TBWA, a global advertising company, and Hakuhodo, Japan’s second-largest advertising agency.

Their new office space is located in a rather atypical and unique building: a large, eight-story amusement complex in downtown Tokyo. The building, functioning primarily as a bowling alley and driving range on the upper and lower floors, had two vacant center floors available.

Once serving as a bowling alley, the long, column-free space selected by KDa provided some incredible design opportunities. Rather than negating the original use of the space, KDa embraced the linearity of the architecture and designed the office layout in conjunction with the predefined alleys.

The ceilings are double-height, with two-meter tall beams rhythmically running the length of the space. Lighting and air-conditioning were integrated seamlessly into the ceiling and between the beams, creating a smooth, clean white finish and soft, indirect lighting. Workspaces were also arranged between the beams, with white central walkways mimicking the overhead framework.

Truly the most delightful feature of the T/H office space is the design of the whimsical project rooms, meeting rooms and directors’ offices that are scattered throughout the space. They emerge from the wooden floor like small grassy knolls covered in soft moss. The shelters are also accessible from the top, allowing for casual and pleasant breakout spaces.

The office’s main entrance is on the sixth floor, acting as reception, gallery and meeting space for visitors. A wide staircase descends into a central park that runs down the center of the building. This large area offers stepped seating and a large plasma screen for presentations. The space itself is quite flexible as it is also used “for collaborative events with their clients such as receptions, fashion shows, [and] product launches often resulting in happy parties. Especially on ‘Beer Thursday’ when after hours all at T\H come together for a drink, a chat and a mingle!”

Although sections of the T/H office space adhere to the conventional needs of an office, such as the need for privacy, overall it is a very socially oriented space. The use of trees, exterior furniture, and materials and forms that reference nature give the space an amiable atmosphere. The design engages employees and visitors in spontaneous interaction within a relaxed and welcoming environment, as if you were strolling through the park and happened upon a friendly stranger.

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A driving factor in selecting this space was TBWA’s mantra of “disruption.” KDa comments, “We felt that locating the new agency here would be a wonderful way to disrupt the agency’s clients’ expectations when they visit the space. It suggests that the agency “thinks different” even for themselves!”

Architects: joão tiago aguiar - acarquitectos
Location: Lisbon, Portugal
Principal in Charge: João Tiago Aguiar
Project team: Renata Vieira, Ana Caracol
Project year: 2005-2006
Construction year: 2008
Engineerings: espaço energia
Photographs: FG + SG - Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

The restaurant is placed on the ground-floor of an old building in bairro alto, lisbon’s city centre. By hosting different commercial uses, it suffered some changes in order to respond to different functionalities throughout the 20th century. Its last known use was an internet café and tea house, both functioning at the same time. Since the program was to design a restaurant, our intervention estimated a new interior reorganization.

The space itself is divided in two separate parts - the 1st corresponds to the two dining-rooms and the 2nd one to all the services inherit to its well function. The entrance is made by two separate doors, each one of it sided by two huge windows. The original façade was partially recovered but totally kept.

Although each one of the rooms has a separate entrance, and besides the apparently separation caused by the central volume that corresponds to the access and staircase to the house building above (underneath who the storage is placed), they both work as one single spatial area. The unity of the two spaces is given by the wooden material (osb) that fully coats the space (floor, walls and ceiling) in both rooms with a height of 2,85m. Some square holes were here and there made in this wooden coating in order to illuminate the space by showing the light that is placed behind.

The separation between the eating area and the services area is made by a Portuguese black tile wall, which marks the change in materials and draws the line to where the kitchen, bar and toilets are. This wall doesn’t touch the perimeter in both ends in order to be read as a volume and at the same time creating two entrances - to the bar on the left and to the toilets on the right. There’s an extra re-entrance in the same material which leads to the kitchen.