Up Close and Personal

By Jiminy, what a 3 dimensionally animated interior this is. The  'Bug World Experience' in Liverpool designed by MET Studio in conjunction with American exhibition designers/fabricators - Academy Studios and Scottish Interior designers - Cubit3D. Forget The Beatles Experience or The Tate Liverpool just buzz up to Bug World. If I was a kid again I'd want my world to be just like this. Found under the magnifying glass of Arthitectural .

Health and Inspiration

"This recently completed project designed by Aziz AlHumaidhi (NHEC CONSULTANTS) is for an exclusive personal training gym in Kuwait city - INSPIRE pure fitness.

Spread over two levels, the design accommodates two main areas. The first is located on the ground floor. A large open and brightly lit cardio space that is directly accessible from the main entrance, along with client and trainer lounges, lockers and changing rooms.The upper level is reached by the staircase which, along with a ribbon of client consultation/therapy rooms, divides the upper floor into two distinct zones. The first of which is a large personal training area housing specialized "PT" equipment . While the second zone provides an open plan room which can accommodate several group class activities. When not in use, equipment such as spinning bikes and floor mats can be stored behind a series of sliding wooden doors along the edge of the room. 

The material palette for the project is limited to light wood, stone and white painted surfaces which help brighten up the interior.The grey stone is  utilized mainly as flooring in high traffic public areas and within the wet rooms.The rougher texture of the stone surface contrasts with the warm tones of the wood work and the smooth glass and mirrors located throughout the gym. 

The interior layout strategy  locates all main functions along the outer perimeter  of the property in order to maximize access to daylight.More private programmatic elements such as offices bathrooms and lockers are assigned deeper locations within the plan.

In addition to the inherent challenge of fitting an ambitious program into 4 small existing adjacent retail spaces, the design reinterprets the gym aesthetic to reflect INSPIRE's own holistic philosophy and approach to wellness of mind body and environment." 

Words and photography Aziz AlHumaidhi @ NHEC and thanks for sending the info. To view more see plusmood.

Interactive performance media

Spot the odd one out.......ha! gotcha, there isn't one!. As all this fine work is from the creative hands of Studio Uwe Gaertner, Hamburg. From top down - Performance Media, Stoer Interactive, and the very crisp looking Torre Fact Cafe.

Thanks to Uwe ( Interior Designer and Photographer) for contacting us, so view his Blog for further interior visual action.

Santa's Grotto

The last post this year here at Reception Desk World, and my penultimate bit of reception desk curation. So I thought the above images of a 'Medical Spa' to  be appropriate for this festive season, yes this is novelty yet it is craft too. Constructed by Palo Arte wood carvers and makers of quality timber interior products, based in Sylmar, California. The auroric hidden lighting accentuates artfully its cool glacial relief and the subtle colouring of the mock surface.Thanks to Palo Arte as they lead me to the architects of the previous post.

x MASS

An economically functional veneer paneled reception desk sitting within a geodesic based internal thoroughfare designed by MASS Architecture, Los Angeles.Obviously the emphasis is on the internal structures but it would have been great to have seen this reception desk constructed from a similar partial geodesic styled structure but I'm content with this unfussy realisation set within this walnutian haven. For me it has a more than a soupçon of Frank Haverman to its handling of materials and forms.

Reception Roulette

Don't dismiss this as mere novelty as this is a serious piece of cabinetry. Just look at the materials - Curly English Sycamore, highly figured Tamo and selected mahogony. 'A custom reception desk designed and built for a computer recycling company in Las Vegas, NV. Designed to be viewed from all sides aswell as above'.Designed by Doug Turner and Stephen Evens and fabricated by Doug Turner and Stephen Evens & Shop. Turner Custom Furniture of Atlanta (but will deliver throughout the US).I presume it is an American 38 pocket wheel but then I'm no croupier.

Counter Point

A Tom Dixon reception desk for The Paramount Club who occupy the 31st,32nd & 33rd floors respectively of Seifert's Centre Point. I  experienced the what seemed then teleportingly fast  lifts in this building a number of years ago . I can't remember why I was there other than that I'm a view addict and I never give up the chance to gawp out across London's skyline at such a height . Stephen Fry famously Twittered from a dysfunctional lift going no where at the 26th floor while visiting this swish club. 'Going up' with another Dailyicon.