Adam Khan’s work gave attendees at the Wallpaper* Handmade Exhibition last week in Milan the opportunity to muse on where we might spend our working lives in future
April 19th, 2013
Khan, a UK-based architect, was invited to rethink the modern workplace and present a radical new vision of how and where we spend our working lives. As the lines between home and work increasingly blur, this design looks to domesticate the workplace.
The result is a striking timber composition, ‘Octopus’, which defines, divides and connects various work zones. “In this exhibition we have showed how personalised and cleverly domesticated workspaces can encourage creativity, motivation, loyalty and honest graft whilst simultaneously making a subtle but powerful statement about one’s identity as a business,” explains Tony Chambers, Wallpaper* Editor-in-Chief.
In ‘Octopus’, Khan, and fabricator Adam Kershaw, combine natural and heat treated American tulipwood with American maple flooring to create a warm and rich work environment.
Designed for a generic open-floor plan, the piece hovers between furniture and construction with spaces defined by veil-like layers of light and dark fine tulipwood. The natural colour variations in the tulipwood create a dramatic marbled effect which contrasts with the darker heat-treated timber – a material designed largely for exterior use, but used internally in this instance to provide a contrasting finish.
The visual simplicity of the structure is a credit to Kershaw for whom this was complex to make. “The walls appear to be standing unsupported but are held up by the central sub floor and ceiling which help to create a solid structure” he said. AHEC’s participation at Salone del Mobile follows an extremely successful showing of ‘Octopus’ at Howick Place in London in March 2013.
“Wallpaper* has once again assembled a cast of star designers, craftsmen and makers to create perhaps the blockbuster show of the week. Through Adam’s design we hope to showcase thermally-modified American hardwoods, in which interest is growing in Australia. Richness in colour, dimensional stability, resistance to decay and strong environmental credentials all point to it being one of the most exciting new products the wood industry has been able to offer in recent years” said Roderick Wiles, AHEC Director for Oceania.
Adam Khan Architects
Adam Kershaw
AHEC
Images © Jamie Smith and Wallpaper*
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Suitable for applications ranging from schools and retail outlets to computer rooms and X-ray suites, Palettone comes in two varieties and a choice of more than fifty colours.
In the pursuit of an uplifting synergy between the inner world and the surrounding environment, internationally acclaimed Interior Architect and Designer Lorena Gaxiola transform the vibration of the auspicious number ‘8’ into mesmerising artistry alongside the Feltex design team, brought to you by GH Commercial.
The Sub-Zero Wolf showrooms in Sydney and Melbourne provide a creative experience unlike any other. Now showcasing all-new product ranges, the showrooms present a unique perspective on the future of kitchens, homes and lifestyles.
Savage Design’s approach to understanding the relationship between design concepts and user experience, particularly with metalwork, transcends traditional boundaries, blending timeless craftsmanship with digital innovation to create enduring elegance in objects, furnishings, and door furniture.
ONIX is the revolutionary new electroplated matte black finish.
With design at its heart, King is finding ways to merge traditional knowledge and experience with future technological trends. In this video, we meet Manolo Bossi and the in-house design team in Sydney to find out how they work.
Australia’s first WORKTECH conference, looking at the future of work and the workplace, hits Melbourne in February.
Jeremy Deale, principal of creative powerhouse, Architectus explores how boundaries can be pushed in pursuit of high environmental and social performance, whilst retaining an aesthetic sympathetic to heritage, celebratory of context and expressive of contemporary architecture.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
Dallas Rogers, Head of Urban Discipline at the School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney, comments on the history of map-making in our cities.
Beau Fulwood and Alison Peach on returning to a low-tech, first-principles concept of design as a strategy to combat climate change.