Showcase
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Reverie Rises From the Ashes With a Striking New Shou Sugi Ban Look
Reverie, Georgetown’s treasured tasting room in Washington DC that was forced to go dark in August 2022 after suffering extensive fire damage, makes its long-awaited comeback to D.C.’s Michelin-starred dining scene later this month. Chef Johnny Spero’s resurrected flagship, hidden in a cobblestone alleyway since 2018 (3201 Cherry Hill Lane), maintains its same one-star status achieved just months before flames ravaged the fine dining destination. At the completely rebuilt restaurant, modernist meals stretching 16 courses long continue to draw culinary influences and techniques from Nordic countries, Japan, and Spero’s native Maryland. “We don’t want to start over; we want to continue where we left off,” he says, of the seafood-centric…
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Kebony brings Sustainable Shou Sugi Ban to UK
Located in the English countryside, a beautiful modern extension has recently transformed a mid-Victorian semi-detached home Purbeck House in Dorset, UK, while at the same time retaining the property’s quaint style and heritage. Featuring local Purbeck stone and sustainably sourced Kebony timber, owner Lewis Donoghue has more than delivered in marrying old with new. Designed in collaboration with Gruff Architects, the vision behind the new project in Furzebrook was to create a modern extension that would enlarge the Purbeck House for the owners and their growing family, at the same time connecting the building more intimately with its natural surroundings. The new extension to the side and rear has expansive…
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Shou Sugi Ban Music Studio Bangs
London-based studio, Unknown Works has designed Shou Sugi Bangers, a small music studio for an electronic music producer. The goal was to create a tuned environment to retreat from the hum of London, with the primary focus on acoustic isolation. To achieve the optimum acoustic environment, the building’s scale and dimensions were determined by 1:1.6:2.56, the Golden Ratio. The shou sugi ban charred timber-clad building looks outward, with a scalloped form providing a series of listening nooks. Along its longest edge, the team specified CNC-milled (digitally machined) Accoya surfaces, with curves designed to focus on specific ranges of sound mirroring the controlled acoustic environment inside. Reminiscent of grooves cut into…
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Extraordinary Japanese-Inspired Duplex Inspired by Shou Sugi Ban
Northern Heights in Dallas, Texas is a surprising little neighborhood. It’s an area enveloped by a verdant landscape with one side home to a conservation district with charming bungalows and Tudors from the 1920s. However, when you cross Abbott Avenue, you enter a contemporary world of duplexes and townhomes backing up to the Katy Trail. The homes in this little sanctuary of Northern Heights were designed by some of the most renowned architects in Texas including Frank Welch, Lionel Morrison, Max Levy, and, of course, Cliff Welch. A Northern Heights Duplex With Japanese Sensibility Welch designed this striking Northern Heights Asian-inspired duplex for a well-known photographer who has spent a…
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Shou Sugi Ban Stands Strong in the Seaside
Unexpected challenges changed one family’s plans twice. First, Simone Mansour, a marketing consultant and interior architect, her husband David Mansour, an IT consultant, and their son, Felix, planned to move to the countryside outside Brighton, about one hour from London by train. The family lost out to other buyers several times and then in 2016 stumbled on a charming 1930s villa by the sea with equal access to the South Downs countryside and Brighton’s city center. “There are lots of traditional homes in Sussex with orange-colored tiles, so we ran matching tiles from the roofline to the ground in the front of the house,” Simone said. “We also love Asia,…
