Ten self-designed studios by architects and designers

From a forest cabin to a converted chapel, our latest lookbook features ten workspaces from the Dezeen archive that were created by architects and designers for their own use.

Highlights include Benjamin Hubert's design for his studio Layer, the Lisbon practice of Portuguese architects Aires Mateus and a colourful couple's office for the duo behind interiors firm 2LG Studio.

This is the latest in our series of lookbooks providing curated visual inspiration from Dezeen's image archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing homes with clever built-in furniture, plant-filled hotel interiors and residences with decorative vaulted ceilings.

Photo is by Rui Cardoso

Atelier Cecílio de Sousa, Portugal, by Aires Mateus

Architecture practice Aires Mateus restored four storeys of an 18th-century building in Lisbon to create its studio, retaining and restoring many original features including the decorative plasterwork and elaborate ceiling murals.

The converted office contains two model-making areas as well as several work- and meeting spaces. These include the grand Noble Room, where simple wooden chairs and a pared-back workbench made from pale timber contrast with the otherwise elaborate interior.

Find out more about Atelier Cecílio de Sousa ›

Photo is by Mikey Estrada

Ya Vsesvit, Ukraine, by Yakusha Design

Black brick partitions divide up the monochromatic studio of Ukrainian designer Victoriya Yakusha to create a number of smaller offices, the grandest of which is centred on a chunky desk crafted from a single block of sandstone.

Most of the furnishings and ornaments in the interior were made by Yakusha's furniture brand Faina, allowing it to double up as a showroom.

Find out more about Ya Vsesvit ›

Photo is by Iwan Baan

Office in the Woods, Spain, by SelgasCano

Set in a woodland near Madrid, the office of Spanish architecture studio SelgasCano (top and above) is semi-sunken into the forest floor, with a transparent north-facing wall providing views of the tree canopy above.

Parallel banks of wall-mounted desks are lined up on the other side of the tunnel-like space, where they are shielded from the direct sun.

Find out more about Office in the Woods ›

Photo is by Simone Bossi

AMAA, Italy, by Marcello Galiotto and Alessandra Rampazzo

Venetian practice AMAA inserted a steel-framed two-storey glass volume into an abandoned plumbing factory in Italy to house its own office, which accommodates not just workspaces but also a small library.

A sunken level that was once used for pump testing now houses a wood-fronted staff kitchen that can be accessed via a poured concrete staircase, designed to be in keeping with the building's industrial material palette.

Find out more about AMAA ›

Another Studio, Bulgaria, by Andrey Andreev and Petya Nikolova

In a bid to encourage teamwork, Another Studio removed all of the non-bearing walls in its office in Sofia and replaced them with customised plywood shelving, which maintains sightlines throughout the office while providing crucial storage.

Translucent white cotton curtains can be used to further divide up the space, while removable boxes integrated into the storage system provide additional seating and side tables when required.

Find out more about Another Studio ›

Photo is by Toon Grobet

The Waterdog, Belgium, by Klaarchitectuur

Klaarchitectuur left the original walls of this heritage-listed chapel in Limburg largely untouched when converting the space into a studio, choosing instead to insert a number of crisp white boxes into the interior.

This stacked, standalone structure now houses separate offices for the practice's different departments, alongside monochrome meeting rooms and casual work areas.

Find out more about The Waterdog ›

Photo is by Annette Kisling

Sauerbruch Hutton studio, Germany, by Sauerbruch Hutton

Sauerbruch Hutton renovated a former Prussian military uniform factory in Berlin and added a third floor to its roof to accommodate the practice's office alongside a studio for conceptual artist Karin Sander.

Roof lights allow sunshine to filter into the new top floor, which accommodates a reception and conference room, as well as a gallery leading to a library and a series of smaller offices and meeting rooms.

Find out more about Sauerbruch Hutton's studio ›

Photo is by Megan Taylor

2LG Studio, UK, by Russell Whitehead and Jordan Cluroe

Married design duo Russell Whitehead and Jordan Cluroe of London's 2LG Studio managed to integrate a shared workspace into their four-bedroom home by knocking down the walls around their kitchen.

The resulting open-plan office area is centred by a pill-shaped jesmonite table that the studio made in collaboration with artist Olivia Aspinall, surrounded by velvet chairs from Danish furniture brand Menu.

Find out more about 2LG Studio ›

Layer studio, UK, by Benjamin Hubert

The converted warehouse that is home to London design studio Layer functions not just as a workspace but also as a gallery, with recent product designs, samples and prototypes on show in colourful display boxes to serve as inspiration for the team.

All rooms are open-plan save for a translucent black plexiglass cube that functions as a private conference room and is centred on a bright red Ripple table, designed by the studio's founder Benjamin Hubert for Canadian manufacturer Corelam.

Find out more about Layer studio ›

Photo by Sam Noonan

Tree Top studio, Australia, by Max Pritchard

Nestled into a tree-covered slope behind his house in Adelaide, Australian architect Max Prichard has built a six-metre-tall cylindrical cabin to house his own mini-studio.

The structure is clad in sheets of locally sourced hoop pine, while dark hardwood batons laid across the walls and floors mirror the radiating roof beams and line up with the wall of built-in storage.

Find out more about Tree Top studio ›

This is the latest in our series of lookbooks providing curated visual inspiration from Dezeen's image archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasingsleek co-working spaces, homes with clever built-in furniture, plant-filled hotel interiors and residences with decorative vaulted ceilings.

The post Ten self-designed studios by architects and designers appeared first on Dezeen.

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Old meets new inside D'Arcy Jones Architects' studio in Vancouver

Canadian practice D'Arcy Jones Architects has mixed modern additions with historical quirks inside its self-designed studio, which is housed within a century-old building in Vancouver.

The seven-storey Lee building, where the architect's office is located, was constructed between 1911 and 1912 as an early example of a mixed-use development, combining apartments, offices and commercial shops.

D'Arcy Jones Architects' studio is inside the Lee building. Top photo is by Ema Peter

Since then, the building has fallen into the hands of different owners and undergone various modifications. But, according to D'Arcy Jones Architects, it still retains some of its original charm.

As part of the renovation, the studio set out to highlight the fact that the Lee building has a past that goes back more than a century.

White drywall contrasts with the building's rough structural shell

"Vancouver's building culture has always favoured renewal, so it does not have many old buildings," said the practice, which was founded in 1999.

"As a critique, the goal of this renovation was to celebrate past ways of building through contrast and emphasis."

The renovation works were carried out in two phases, with the first phase tackling the main staff workspace. This involved removing any recently installed fittings or fixtures and replacing them with panels of clean white drywall.

A black kitchen has been inserted at the back of the main workspace

These panels are juxtaposed against a strip of the building's rough structural shell, which D'Arcy Jones Architects left exposed to appear as an "archaeological artefact".

A new jet-black kitchen suite is located at the rear of the space while a long work desk takes over the central area.

A small library gives staff space to research. Photo is by Ema Peter

Leading off from this space is a small library stocked with architecture and design books that staff can look to for inspiration.

A second workroom is designed to have a slightly more pure, sculptural form, constructed with the help of more drywall panels.

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Set at an angle, these help to create faceted walls while effectively hiding the piping and sprinkler systems.

Where the building's wooden floorboards were deteriorating, the practice replaced them with hand-troweled concrete, which subtly rises and dips to accommodate imperfections on the original floor underneath.

Faceted walls feature in one of the studio's workrooms

The second phase of renovation works saw D'Arcy Jones Architects create a large meeting room for the studio.

The room's time-worn concrete ceiling and aged brown floor tiles from 1911 were retained to offset some of the practice's modern additions such as the white cabinetry that runs along the back wall.

There is also a communal table crafted from glue-laminated timber and overhead lamps that were made bespoke.

The studio also includes a large meeting room. Photo is by Ema Peter

"The project articulates a more nuanced stance on what re-use can achieve within a culture that prioritises the new," D'Arcy Jones Architects said.

"History and modernity can be woven together in many creative fields but only architecture lets the two co-exist, obviously and simultaneously autonomous."

Modern cabinetry appears alongside the original floor tiles. Photo is by Ema Peter

The self-designed studio was shortlisted in the small workspace interior category of this year's Dezeen Awards.

While four other projects were in the running, the category was ultimately won by architecture practice Sher Maker's self-designed studio in Chiang Mai, Thailand, which is arranged around an open-air courtyard. Judges described the project as being "a workplace people dream about since Covid".

_The photography is bySama Jim Canzian unless stated otherwise. _

The post Old meets new inside D'Arcy Jones Architects' studio in Vancouver appeared first on Dezeen.

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