Manufacturing pride
While driving through the Burgundy region in France I came across this beautiful old factory building in the small town of Génelard.
I really liked the confident, almost out of scale, presence of the signage on the building. On top of that the signage is not an after-thought but completely integrated into the architecture. Compared to many of today’s undistinguished manufacturing halls it also tells the story of an admirable industrial pride.
Shopping info point in Luxembourg city
A very small but dynamic, elegant and highly versatile space commissioned by the Union Commerciale de la Ville de Luxembourg.
Primarily it is a place where visitors can get any shopping information (opening hours, retail services, maps, customised shopping trails …etc) the city has on offer. Within that primary task of giving out information it is also a place where the city’s retailers can celebrate particular themes and organise special events & exhibitions.
Furthermore, the second aim of the space was to establish best practice retail design with innovative materials and finishes. The floor is made from two coloured resin floor (made from cast Polyurethane). The grey brown floor is split in the middle by a central band of white that invites the visitor in from the outside. This band is then folding up to create a central display made from thermoformed partially back-lit white Corian sheets.
By contrast, all the walls are lacquered in a warm dark and super mat Nextel paint finish. This material, often used on control panels and dashboards, is hard wearing and extremely light absorbing to minimise light reflections and emphasis the artifacts & displays. Moreover, the lighting is kept low to focus on the displays and create a beautiful museum like experience.
Cramped into an area of only 50m2 the space is packed with multiple functionalities while keeping a sober and high-quality appearance.
Great legs
I found these stools in the bar of the India Club at the Continental Strand Hotel in London. What a great, simple, dynamic yet functional way to design legs for a piece of furniture that is usually very uneventful.
Canary Wharf map texture
Applying a texture to the surface of street furniture is not only enhancing the visual quality (by adding intricacy, light and shadow), it also helps damages and scratches to ‘disappear’ and makes fly-posting very difficult. This need for texture in street furniture is usually solved by applying a straightforward pattern with no particular meaning or context but in this great example of a lamp post from Canary Wharf in London, the designers have used a simplified map of the very area where they are implemented as the basis of the pattern.
- Street furniture texture
‘Atlantique’ streched deckchair for public parks
A piece of furniture I’ve designed many years ago and still think it is an interesting take on the conventional deck chair for public use. I could see this new version well in a park or a managed public environment. Everybody who has had a nap in the deck chairs for rent in London’s Hyde Park knows it’s a winner. The ‘Atlantique’ has been on show in the group exhibition ‘Global Edit’ at the 2007 Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan organised by the magazine Wallpaper.
- Atlantique deck chair bench designed by Georges Zigrand
Georges Zigrand Design Consultancy 
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