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Category Archives: Blog

March 30, 2024
March 30, 2024


Holiday Inn Express Southwark hotel building, South London accommodation news

30 March 2024

Location: Southwark, south London, south east England, UK

Design: Studio Moren architects

Studio Moren wins permission for third extension at Holiday Inn Express Southwark

Image created by Rockhunter

Holiday Inn Express Southwark hotel news

Studio Moren has won planning permission for a seven-storey extension to the Holiday Inn Express Southwark.

The extension will be the third undertaken at the property by Studio Moren and will add accommodation for hotel guests and create an additional F&B offering.

The project will add a further 35 rooms to the hotel, 11 more than the initial feasibility study indicated was possible, taking the room count to 184.

Studio Moren previously extended the site in 2011 and 2015, the former prior to the London 2012 Paralympics, with the intention of innovating in accessible and inclusive design. In addition, the group introduced a number of systems to reduce the building’s carbon footprint, including a rainwater harvesting system and irrigation to the green/living wall on the rear external elevation.

The new extension has been designed to achieve BREEAM Excellent rating, through the use of solar panels, an extensive green roof and ground-level planters, which will also serve to enhance the hotel’s surroundings.

Paul Wells, Partner, Studio Moren said: “The growth of the Holiday Inn Express Southwark over the years is a testimony to the success of our clients, RBH Management, and a matter of pride to us, given our involvement during the different stages of its lifecycle.

“The latest – and final – phase, will see us meet the challenge of adding rooms to satisfy growing demand for this popular location, which we achieved by employing the existing rear under-used parking area.

“We have carefully designed the extension to maximise room count, foot print and create a secondary F&B space for use at key pressure times throughout the day. We also have revisited the refuse storage, servicing layout and kitchen provision to better serve both the existing and proposed guest rooms and introducing new active frontage to improve the hotel’s appearance in the neighbourhood.”

RBH’s Chief Technical Officer, Gregor MacNaughton, commented: “It has been a pleasure to work with the Studio Moren team again to help further develop our initial design and to finally obtain formal consent. Capital projects is a significant part of our business so it’s great to be able to work with our established partners to deliver for our hotel owners.”

The design completes the urban block, creating a homogeneous building. Studio Moren has set the sixth floor back with a contemporary dark grey tiled mansard to respond to the neighbouring period building, soften the corner and acknowledge the rear sites location as secondary to Southwark Street.

It has also extended the grid pattern across the fourth side of the central courtyard, over the car park entry, completing the urban block to create a more visually pleasing aesthetic.

The elevation that wraps the corner between Bear Lane and Prices Street features a distinct, curved façade above a two-storey glazed plinth, and has been carefully designed to sympathetically join with the period, brick warehouse elevation of the existing hotel wing along Price’s Street.

Image created by Rockhunter

Studio Moren

Studio Moren is an award-winning practice of 70 architecture and interior design specialists, working right across the hospitality spectrum. Over the past 32 years in business we have established a world-renowned reputation as leaders in hospitality design, based on our ability to deliver intelligent, creative and bespoke solutions which meld both developer and operator requirements.

With a design-led ethos of ‘creating places people want to stay’, we have taken our hospitality experience into other sectors including resorts, serviced apartments, build-to-rent, co-living and co-working. We are passionate, commercially astute and committed to producing beautiful buildings and interiors that respond to location and context.
www.studiomoren.co.uk

Holiday Inn Express Southwark hotel building images / information received March 2024 from Studio Moren architects

Location: Southwark, South London, England, United Kingdom

Another South London building design by Dexter Moren Associates on e-architect:

New Southwark Hotel Building, New Marlborough Yard, Waterloo
New Marlborough Yard, Southwark Hotel
image courtesy of Dexter Moren Associates, architects
Southwark Hotel Building

Southwark Building Designs

Contemporary Southwark Architecture Designs – recent architectural selection from e-architect below:

New student residence, Tiverton Street, Elephant & Castle
Design: Maccreanor Lavington architects
Elephant & Castle student residence, Southwark
image courtesy of architects practice
Elephant & Castle student residence, Southwark

Canada Water Dockside, Canada Water, London SE16
Design: HWKN
Art-Invest Real Estate’s Canada Water Dockside Southwark
image : Art-Invest Real Estate
Art-Invest Real Estate’s Canada Water Dockside

LB Southwark SILS3, Peckham
Design: Tim Ronalds Architects
LB Southwark SILS3 Peckham, South London
photo : Jim Stephenson
LB Southwark SILS3 Peckham

Trafalgar Place, former Heygate Estate
Design: dRMM, Architects
Trafalgar Place Housing in London
image © Alex de Rijke
Trafalgar Place Elephant & Castle

University of the Arts and LCC HQ
Architects: Penoyre & Prasad
University of the Arts and LCC HQ Elephant Castle
image courtesy of architects studio
University of the Arts and LCC HQ in Elephant & Castle

Elephant & Castle Allies & Morrison Masterplan Design
Design: Allies & Morrison, architects
Elephant & Castle Allies & Morrison Masterplan
image courtesy of architecture studio
Elephant & Castle Allies & Morrison Masterplan

The Old Vic Building, The Cut
Architect: Bennetts Associates
The Old Vic Building

London Building Designs

Contemporary London Architecture Designs

London Architecture Designs – chronological list

London Architecture Tours – tailored UK capital city walks by e-architect

London Architecture News

London Architects Offices

Buildings / photos for the Holiday Inn Express Southwark hotel building accommodation design by Studio Moren architects UK page welcome



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March 30, 2024


Bricks and trees compose Telugu Medium — a two-storied gastronomical outpost in Hyderabad, India, designed by local practice Sona Reddy Studio. Crafted to serve authentic Andhra cuisine, native to the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, the restaurant brings an aesthetic and experience that resonate with the piquance and spicyness of the food it offers. Brick domes, vaulted ceiling, a leafy exterior, and a pond in the middle of the space ‘celebrate the essence of the Deccan’ in a homely setting.




The restaurant is subtly veiled by neighbouring trees Image: Pankaj Anand


The 5200 sqft hospitality architecture is tucked in a quiet urban conclave in the city’s Jubilee Hills neighbourhood. Sporting openness right from its entrance, a portal slotted in a small section of a wall that guards an otherwise boundary-free gateway lets one into the restaurant space. Breezing through this portal one arrives at an alfresco waiting area, marked by a two-storied brick wall which is visible from the entrance. Local Karimnagar bricks are used to create a rhythmic exterior where rows of projecting bricks are superimposed on an exposed brick pattern. Affixed to the wall are large square-shaped concrete planters nurturing creepers that graze the wall.



  • Brick lined high ceiling and vaulted roofs are visible indoors | Telugu Medium | Sona Reddy Studio | STIRworld
    Brick lined high ceiling and vaulted roofs are visible indoors Image: Pankaj Anand






  • The courtyard anchored by a pond and a banana tree as seen from the upper floor | Telugu Medium | Sona Reddy Studio | STIRworld
    The courtyard anchored by a pond and a banana tree as seen from the upper floor Image: Pankaj Anand






  • During the daytime, natural light creates a unique ambience of the space | Telugu Medium | Sona Reddy Studio | STIRworld
    During the daytime, natural light creates a unique ambience of the space Image: Pankaj Anand






  • Staircase slotted in the centre of the interiors | Telugu Medium | Sona Reddy Studio | STIRworld
    Staircase slotted in the centre of the interiors Image: Pankaj Anand



A vestibule wrapped in brick leads into the interiors where distinct architectural elements carve a dual-level restaurant space. 13-ft high walls, a double height atrium anchored by a tranquil pond, pink lime plaster-washed walls, and brick molded ceiling define rows of seating.

The central core of the space is a combination of a pond with black limestone tiles and a load-bearing staircase finished in lime plaster and pink granite that harmonise with the overarching aesthetic. Large leaves of a banana tree stationed around the pond space swell upwards, lightly brushing against the walls of the first floor. The dining area is designed keeping in mind a collective idea of savouring food, thus an open-plan layout with settings of pared-back wooden tables and chairs dot the space.



  • Site plan and ground floor plan | Telugu Medium | Sona Reddy Studio | STIRworld
    Site plan and ground floor plan Image: Courtesy of Sona Reddy Studio






  • First floor plan | Telugu Medium | Sona Reddy Studio | STIRworld
    First floor plan Image: Courtesy of Sona Reddy Studio






  • Sections | Telugu Medium | Sona Reddy Studio | STIRworld
    Sections Image: Courtesy of Sona Reddy Studio



The interiors boast of doing with the bare essentials. No jarring light fixtures, furnishing, or artefacts can be seen; instead beauty resonates in the way sunlight paints dappled shadows on walls, or rows of geometric windows with simple wooden framing capture little vignettes of the leafy outdoors enhance the flavours of the food served here. “The ceiling becomes a canvas of the crafted brick domes and vaults, interacting with silhouette lighting to create an ever-changing atmospheric ambiance,” states the design team at Sona Reddy Studio. “The interiors showcase brick-molded ceilings, scaling concrete columns, pink lime plaster-washed walls, and textured tandoor flooring, creating an uninterrupted composition that speaks to the soul of the Deccan.”



  • Shaded exterior seating | Telugu Medium | Sona Reddy Studio | STIRworld
    Shaded exterior seating Image: Pankaj Anand






  • Peripheral trees create dappled shadows on walls and floor that enhance the outdoor dining experience | Telugu Medium | Sona Reddy Studio | STIRworld
    Peripheral trees create dappled shadows on walls and floor that enhance the outdoor dining experience Image: Pankaj Anand






  • A linear seating pattern translates into clustered seating towards the other end | Telugu Medium | Sona Reddy Studio | STIRworld
    A linear seating pattern translates into clustered seating towards the other end Image: Pankaj Anand






  • Curved brick fins and inset portals feature on an exterior wall | Telugu Medium | Sona Reddy Studio | STIRworld
    Curved brick fins and inset portals feature on an exterior wall Image: Pankaj Anand



The profuse warmth of the interior dining space spills onto the northern edge of the site, where a combination of shaded and outdoor seating revel in sunshine filtering through the trees that are lined along the site’s periphery. Access to this space is also linked directly from the entrance.  Following a brick-paved floor, and ahead of a wall composed of curved brick fins and inset portals, the space appears as a natural extension of the interior scheme.

‘A collision of worlds’, as the design team describes it, Telugu Medium excels in delivering a distinct experience where, contrary to most restaurant designs in which design and décor play a central role, here a strong architecture vision with a visceral materiality does the job.

Previous restaurant designs published on STIR include a tropical modernist complex on a waterfront site in western Thailand conceived by IDIN Architects; a raw cave-like culinary space in Yamaguchi Prefecture by Junya Ishigami; and a soba restaurant that revived a crumbling home in Kyoto into an artisanal restaurant by Tada Masaharu of td-Atelier and Endo Shojiro of ENDO SHOJIRO DESIGN.

Project Details

Name of project: Telugu Medium

Location: Hyderabad, India

Clients- Anil Karnati, Malvika Rao, Rohith Medisetty

Architect: Sona Reddy Studio

Design Team: Sona Reddy, Anjali Miriyala, Jemy Joy

Typology: Hospitality

Area: 5,200 sqft

Project Manager: Sekhar Dornala

Structural Engineer: Mrinmayee Consultants

Landscape: VSLA

Lighting: SPK Valo

Consultants for Alternative Techniques: Thumb Impressions

Year of Completion: December, 2023



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March 30, 2024


The Chinese ice-ray lattice, an intricate pattern inspired by cracked ice, symbolizes the start of spring and is widely used in traditional Chinese architecture, particularly in window designs. Ice-ray latticed window in Lingering Garden, Suzhou. Credit: Yi Qian

New research investigates the geometric characteristics of traditional Chinese window designs and their application in modern architectural projects.

Chinese ice-ray lattice, or “binglie” as it is called in Chinese, is an intricate pattern that looks like cracked ice and is a common decorative element used in traditional Chinese window designs.

Originally inspired by fragmented patterns on ice or crackle-glazed ceramic surfaces, the design represents the melting of the ice and the beginning of a thriving spring.

When Dr Iasef Md Rian, now an Associate Professor at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University’s Department of Architecture, arrived in China for the first time in 2019, he was immediately captivated by the latticed window designs in the classical gardens of Suzhou.

“Classical gardens in China strike me as very different from the Western ones, which are more symmetrical and organized,” he says. “Chinese gardens, however, have a more natural formation in their layout and design. The ice-ray window design is one of the manifestations.”

Having focused on fractal geometry in architectural design for many years, Dr Rian felt an urge to explore the beauty in the patterns.

“My mind is always looking for this kind of inspiration source, so I was motivated right away to study the underlying geometric principles of the ice-ray patterns, he says.”

Students Making an Ice Ray Lattice Roof

Students making an ice-ray lattice roof. Credit: Dr Rian (XJTLU)

Revealing the underlying rule

Dr Rian finds that the rule of creating ice-ray patterns is actually very simple.

He explains: “Take Type 1 as an example; a square is first divided into two quadrilaterals, and then each quadrilateral is further divided into two quadrilaterals. In each step, the proportions of the subdivided quadrilaterals are different, and this is how the random pattern is created using a simple rule.

“Through this configuration, Chinese craftsmen might have intended to increase its firmness so it can function as a window fence to provide protection. The random configuration of ice-ray lattices provides multi-angled connections, which transform the window into a collection of resultant forces and uniform stress distribution, in turn achieving a unique degree of stiffness.

“The microstructure of trabecular bone tissue in our own bodies serves as an excellent natural example of the potential of random lattices. It balances high stiffness, which contributes to strength, with a surprisingly lightweight structure.”

Dr Rian recently published a paper in Frontiers of Architectural Research that explores the geometric qualities of ice-ray patterns and expands the possibilities of integrating random patterns into structural designs, especially the lattice shell design, which is often used in spherical domes and curved structures.

Different Typologies of Ice Ray Lattices

Different typologies of ice-ray lattices. P represents pentagon, Q represents quadrilaterals, and T represents triangles. Credit: Dr Rian (XJTLU)

“In my research, I developed an algorithm to model the ice-ray patterns for lattice shell designs and assessed their feasibility and effectiveness compared to conventional gridshells. These gridshells, made from regular grids, contrast with continuous shells.

“While regular gridshells perform well under uniform loads, the ice-ray lattice offers strength under asymmetric loads. Some ice-ray patterns, resulting from optimization, surprisingly provide better strength than regular gridshells under self-weight. There is also an additional aesthetic advantage when applying the ice-ray pattern to a lattice shell design.

“I extend the application of this pattern to curved surfaces, which helps to unlock its potential in the geometric, structural, and constructional aspects of lattice shell design,” he says.

Dr Rian has also integrated ice-ray patterns and complex geometries into his teaching. In 2022, he organized a workshop for students to design ice-ray lattice roofs.

He explains that learning the concept of fractal geometry can really push the students’ ideas toward a unique design.

“This is very different from what they’ve learned in high school. In learning to create this geometry system, they will also learn computational modeling and simulations. In the end, they’ll get comprehensive knowledge of advanced architectural and digital design,” he says.

Rediscovering traditional designs

To extend the research in this field, Dr Rian is investigating the effectiveness of complex geometry in various aspects like micro-scale material design and structural design.

He says: “For instance, in facade design, we usually use conventional or parametric geometry to design regular shapes. However, the random shapes designed with complex geometry can offer a more natural impression and daylight penetration.”

He encourages design students and researchers to learn from the past.

“Any traditional design has a hidden rule in it. We can now use digital technologies and advanced tools to extend and expand the knowledge of traditional craftsmanship for contemporary design.

“There are many inspirations behind the traditional designs, and those principles can really inspire us designers to make innovative designs for the future,” he says.

Reference: “Random fractal-based computational design of an ice-ray (IR) lattice shell structure” by Iasef Md Rian, 22 January 2024, Frontiers of Architectural Research.
DOI: 10.1016/j.foar.2023.12.009

The study was funded by the Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.





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