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Helsinki, Finland - Travel Destination for Design

If you're a keen traveller and have an interest in design or architecture, you might enjoy a visit to the Capital city of Finland. An interesting city in terms of history, modern architecture as well as design, there's something for everyone in this idyllic city.

Helsinki is not a very large city so taking a walk and seeing what you can find is a great way to get around. If you get tired you can always jump on a bus or a tram - it's not too hard to find your way around and it's nearly impossible to get lost!

Architecture:
The Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art
Design by Steven Holl in the 1990s, the building strikes a controversial note in contrast to the otherwise traditional architecture around it. Whether you agree with its juxtaposition or not, it's a beautiful building and definitely worth a visit.



Alvar Aalto's Finlandia Hall
The absolute definition of modernist architecture by Finland's most loved architect. The building is clad in white Carrara marble, an unsuitable material considering the harsh weather extremes - which have caused the slabs to bow in an unusually beautiful way.



The Lutheran Chapel of Silence
You may not have an interest in seeing a lot of churches but trust me, this is no ordinary church. It is an absolutely beautiful 'egg' shaped wooden structure, sitting precariously next to a luxury shopping centre (Kamppi, the Harrods of Helsinki) Designed by K2S Architects, the building is a fine example of finish Minimalism.



... and many more.






Eating:
Restaurants in Helsinki have idiosyncratic hours and book up quickly, especially in peaks seasons in summer. It's best to check online or to give them a call beforehand.

Atelje Finne
14 Arkadiankatu
Modern Finnish cuisine in what used to be a sculptor's studio.

Kolme Kruunua
Liisankatu 5
A little slice of Finland circa 1950. Try the meatballs or the salmon soup.

Putte's
Kalevankatu 6
Pizza and drinks with grad students and cool kids.

Things to Do:
Kulttuurisauna
Hakaniemenranta 17
Relax in Helsinki's newest (and best) wood-fired public sauna. Like none other.

Ateneum
Kaivokatu 2
Go for the paintings by Finnish masters Akseli Gallen-Kallela and Hugo Simberg.

Suomenlinna
Pohjoisesplanadi 39
Have a walk around this island fort just off the cost. Public transport takes you there and back from Kauppatori, the market square.

Design Shops:
Design Forum
Erottajankatu 7
Selling a wide variety of products by local designers.

Artek
Eteläesplanadi 18
Classic finnish furniture shop founded by famous design couple, Alvar and Aino Aalto.

Iittala
Pohjoisesplanadi 25
Glassware and other things for the home since 1881.

Sources:
http://www.helsinkidesignlab.org/blog/things-to-do-in-helsinki
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2012/jun/10/walking-tour-helsinki-architecture

Inspiration

Random images on pinterest often inspire our creativity. Sometimes the inspiration doesn't need to be in the form of another interior or a product - we often find inspiration in photographs, artwork and architecture. Just like these images below!








Ardesia's 10 Rules in House Design

1. Design Inside and Outside
Most relevant to houses, lower ground floor flats and any build where the exterior is affected - always consider the interior's relationship to the exterior. It's great to add large, modern windows that let in light and look great from the inside - but how does it affect the exterior appearance? Walking around London is a great exercise in considering the exterior appearance as often period properties are ruined by the addition of too many mismatched skylights, different styles of window frames and a patchwork of different extensions, roof terraces and other modifications. No wonder borough councils are so strict! This is not the only reason for considering the outside - it's important to consider factors such as orientation, sun direction and views from the windows when choosing the layout of the interior - it's not always easy to add windows retrospectively so utilise those rooms with windows the best you can.



2. Consider Room Relationships
Some rooms have a natural relationship with each other in terms of circulation and ignoring this can lead to impractical design that doesn't work. For example, it's clear that bedrooms should have private entrances through a hallway (you'd be surprised how many times I have seen bedrooms that you have to enter through kitchens or even through other bedrooms). Using hallways improves circulation and minimises the amount of space needed purely for travelling from room to room. When designing open plan, it's useful to design a small lobby, hallway or even a corner of a room as an entrance into the house, as a 'buffer' before entering the main living space.



3. Work with the Space you Have
Often there is the urge to over design or crowd the space you are working with. Many clients we talk to in the Briefing stage want 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms both with showers and bathtubs, an open plan living room / kitchen with a separate family room, guest bedrooms and of course plenty of storage in every room (the list is endless) and only have 80sqm to work with. Whist it's usually possible to 'fit everything in', we often advise our clients to perhaps forget the guest bedroom in favour of a more comfortably sized second bedroom with more storage, or to partition living spaces to create more private spaces rather than decreasing bedrooms size in favour of a separate family room, for example. A house with many bedrooms is not as good as a house with comfortably sized, balanced living spaces.



4. Zone Open Plan Space
An open plan layout can be the most efficient way to utilise space. Instead of breaking space up into several individual rooms, a single, multi-functional room allows more of the space to be occupied and viewed, creating an airier atmosphere. Daylight can travel through the entirety of the space without being obscured by partition walls. Well designed open plan space should be 'Zoned' - each function within the open space, such as living room, dining room and kitchen, should be clearly organised as a separate entity. A sitting area could be arranged around a fireplace or television, a dining area might be defined by a long pendant light and different ceiling or floor height and so on. Each zone should speak to each other, so the dining space and kitchen space should be adjacent and the floor material and general interior scheme should be unified throughout.



5. Balance the Accommodation
The number of bedrooms needs to correspond to the living space. This tip is similar to working with the space you have but relates specifically to the number of bedrooms because the number of bedrooms defines the number of people who will live in a property. For example, three double bedrooms with a 3x3m living space means 5-6 people will share the tiny living room, where you will barely fit a two seater sofa. Two double bedrooms and a 6x3m living space means 3-4 people can share the living space, where you will comfortably fit at least a 3-seater sofa and an armchair.



6. Utilise Natural Light
The quality of light entering a room can transform a space so the main rooms should be given priority in terms of location in relation to natural light. Where possible, light should enter from more than one direction and where windows aren't enough, consider installing roof lights. If privacy is an issue, it's better to have the window and use obscured glazing than to leave the window out. High-level interior windows or interior glazed partitions can be used to allow light into windowless rooms. Priority should always be given to the living room, kitchen, main bedrooms, dining room, study/office, over less major rooms like bathrooms, dressing room, gym, playroom, cloak room etc...



7. Define Public and Private Space
Hallways, living rooms, kitchens and dining rooms are considered public space, where visitors are openly invited to and should feel comfortable and at home without feeling like they are invading the privacy of the occupants. Bedrooms, bathrooms, shower rooms and dressing rooms are considered private space, where the occupants of the home make it clear that guests should not stray without invite. These definitions are obvious but it's important to consider them when deciding on the layout. Guests should not have to cross through private space of the occupants to get to a bathroom, the family bathroom should not be accessible through a bedroom and a bathroom should not be located directly off a living room or kitchen, unless entirely unavoidable. Although having a bathtub in a master bedroom might be an acceptable combination of private spaces, this would not work in a guest bedroom and the toilet should most certainly always remain separate!



8. Avoid Bad Pastiche
When renovating or extending a period property, it's important to keep in mind the age of the building and to remain true in some respects to the original architecture. However, that's not to say that when building an extension, one should always make it mimic the original - sometimes a 'copy' of the original looks fake and in bad taste, especially if some details are built incorrectly. If you want to stick to the original style of the building, make sure you carefully study the period features, keep the size of the new build relative to the original (don't overpower the original architecture) and make sure you use the same materials, not cheap, modern imitations. Another, more modern build route is to design something entirely separate from the original, such a glass cube extension. Whatever the style of the new addition, it should be quite simple so as not to look offensive or overpowering adjacent to the original.



9. Add 'Wow' factor
A great house should always have a few features that let it stand out from the rest. With a large budget, adding wow factor is easy because anything is possible, such as frameless glass structures, cantilevering architecture, double-height spaces, elegant staircases and so on. However, on a modest budget, it takes more creativity to come up with a few clever design features that make a house special. Some ideas could be floor to ceiling glazing, a statement staircase, vaulted ceiling or architectural lighting. Each of these could be done on any sized budget with a bit of planning and a creative choice of materials. For example, even a simple staircase with a unique choice of cladding material can become a feature that makes your house truly memorable.



10. Make it Your Own 
The most important factor in any home is that it feels like home to the occupant. Whatever style of property or taste in interior decor you go for, add something that makes it home - for example, objects from your travels or family portraits. If you are working with an interior designer, it would be helpful to decide these items early on so that your designer can help you place them in the best location, they could even influence the design!








Deltalight

Deltalight is a great high end residential and commercial lighting supplier. They offer an incredible array of different types of lighting, beautifully designed for every type of setting. They supply us with a 'Lighting Bible' - a full collection of their products, every new season, and we almost struggle to keep up with the amount of new products they release every year. Their prices fit in the high-end spectrum of the market but the vast choice and the quality of the finish is definitely worth the money.

From their Website:

Deltalight is a global company and we are recognised as being one of the worlds' largest and most prestigious architectural lighting manufactures. We have been operating worldwide since 1992 and in the UK since 1997.
With our architectonic approach to contemporary and innovative lighting creations, Deltalight has quickly established a name for itself in the world market and we have grown to be a trendsetter and market leader. We work with individuals, architects and design professionals alike on projects both large and small.
Deltalight UK has a Head Office in Surrey and a Design Studio in London's bustling Waterloo. The studio offers an interface between the innovation, concepts and momentum between Deltalight and the design community. The studio is a forum to discuss projects and lighting specification; showing products from the Lighting Bible and offering complimentary lighting design and technical assistance, with the capacity to provide lighting calculations and project visualisation.

Deltalight UK has a team of knowledgable lighting specialists that operate throughout the UK.







Battersea Power Station

The first stage of the £8 billion redevelopment of Battersea power station was approved in December 2013 and was due to start early in 2013.
Residential development will make up 57 per cent of the regenerated site, with retail, leisure, office and other commercial uses taking up 43 per cent.
After several failed proposals to redevelop the site since the power station’s decommissioning in 1983, Malaysian investors SP Setia, Sime Darby and EPF have made a swift start to regeneration since buying the site last autumn.
Wandsworth Council has approved plans for 800 homes and a hotel as well as space for restaurants and bars, offices and a six acre park on the banks of the Thames.
Chancellor George Osborne confirmed in his autumn statement in December that the extension of the Northern Line to Battersea and Wandsworth would be underpinned by a £1 billion loan guarantee.
The proposal would create two new Tube stops - one on Wandsworth Road, the other at Battersea Power Station.
Berkeley Group’s St James is already on site in Riverlight, in the heart of Nine Elms, building a high-end new residential development.
There's been a little bit of controversy surrounding the proposals to renovate this iconic London building but I think people are finally coming around to accepting that the best way to preserve this building as part of our London skyline heritage is to give it a new lease of life. Although some of the proposals we saw were not quite in keeping with the style of the building and make somewhat of a parody of it, I feel the chosen design will do this great building justice. See below for details on how you can visit the popup park that has opened temporarily at the power station.
Sources:

Battersea Power Station is one of the world’s most famous buildings and it is now at the heart of Central London’s most visionary and eagerly anticipated new development.

The iconic Power Station, one of the finest surviving examples of art deco architecture, served London’s energy needs from 1933 through to 1983.
For 30 years the Power Station site has lain dormant but work will shortly get underway turning this riverside venue into a vibrant new community. It will be served by its own Battersea Power Station tube stop and offer shops, cafes, restaurants, bars, hotels, offices and residences. At the heart of the community will be the Power Station itself, fully restored and open to the public, accessed via a new High Street and Town Square to the south, and opened up on the riverside with a new 6 acre public park.

As you’d expect, all of that takes time, but we wanted to give people an opportunity to get up close and personal to the Power Station as soon as possible. That’s why we’ve created this temporary park for visitors. It’s not as big as the final Power Station Park will be, and the landscaping isn’t quite as creative, but it gives people a chance to come up and marvel at the scale and glory of this architectural masterpiece.
For those that are curious, the Pop-Up Park is actually located on the site of the original coal bunkers that stored 75,000 tonnes of coal at any one time. At that time the coal was brought in by barge along the River Thames.

Whilst the days of coal barges stopping at the Power Station are clearly a thing of the past, soon we will offer river bus services for passengers so keep an eye on the website for further updates. We hope you enjoy the Pop-Up Park as much as we do, and if you’ve any suggestions by all means drop us a line.










Red Deer Architects

For our new refurbishment project at 10 Golborne Road (Number 10), Ardesia Design is collaborating with a new architectural firm called Red Deer. Having these guys on board is certainly boosting our confidence in that this building will become something interesting and special. We're very excited to see what we can produce together!



About Red Deer:
Red Deer is a workshop which draws on various disciplines to reanimate design. Inspired by craftsmanship + making, painting, film + digital processes, Red Deer critically engages with materials, detail and project briefs to introduce elements of playfulness, tactility and the unexpected to every project. Red Deer is for a fusion of architecture, the arts and cool with due regard to function and the broader social and economic considerations of placemaking. 


Founded by Ciarán O'Brien, Lucas Tizard and Lionel Real de Azúa in 2012, Red Deer is involved in a broad spectrum of design led residential, commercial and installation projects in the UK, France and the USA.

http://www.reddeer.co.uk/





Look out for this interesting nomadic installation due to pop up at Secret Garden Party, Cambridgeshire and Burning Man, Nevada in Summer 2013.

Secret Garden Party









Architecture

I know we're interior designers and this takes up pretty much all of our time, but sometimes we forget how closely we need to (or should) work with Architects and architecture. Here are some buildings that we admire for their geometry, not for their insides. ;)







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