Yves Behar's Latest Project: CANOPY Jackson Square in San Francisco

Designed by Yves Behar and Amir Mortazavi of M-PROJECTS, CANOPY Jackson Square delivers impeccable contemporary and ergonomic design within a serene, distraction-free environment

Overview
Inspired by the artists and radicals who brought to life San Francisco’s North Beach and Jackson Square neighborhoods in the 1950s, CANOPY was designed to be a profound departure from the standard workspace. 

Strong site-lines organize the 13,000-square foot space, with CANOPY’s signature glass-enclosed private offices lining one side, and a café by Jane and open workspaces on the other. 

In the center, an organic lounge is a place-making architectural tour-de-force intended to encourage both casual conversations and work meetings. A literal, dramatic architectural canopy was built around three columns as a freestanding fanning structure that doubles as book and magazine shelving. 

The tree-like design serves as both a visual privacy screen to the conference room and work areas, as well as a containment of the lounge area. An exercise in visual expression, CANOPY Jackson Square strives to create a harmonious and thoughtful balance between work and social. The space is bathed by natural light; all areas were designed to have light filtering in from multiple directions.

CANOPY was built with innovative features that encourage privacy and inhibit sound. Private offices are sealed by high-tech Modernus glass partitions and feature soft floors and ceiling surfaces, inciting quality conversations. 

Common spaces have slated ceiling insulation throughout, as well as CANOPY’s signature foam light fixtures, which provide additional sound control. Upholstered furniture, fabric desk privacy screens, and soundproofing materials that line the phone booths and Mother’s Room all uniquely contribute to a distraction-free environment.

Outdoor Work Terrace

A rare and standout feature of CANOPY Jackson Square is an innovative outdoor work terrace encompassing 1,500 square feet with breathtaking views of San Francisco and presenting a healthy and new work style enabled by technology and design. 

The expansive space is partially covered and heated for year-round, all-season use. Three zones encompass café-style seating, a casual lounge space, and workspaces for one-on-one collaboration or meetings complete with marble tables and high-quality, ergonomic, heated seating by Galanter & Jones that enable longer and more comfortable outdoor work sessions. 

An outdoor awning structure, made of recycled sails and designed to protect members from the elements, was designed by Yves and Amir in collaboration with SF-based MAFIA Bags founder, Marcos Mafia.

Palette, Products & Finishes

CANOPY Jackson Square’s color palette is a nod to its location amid the captivating neighborhoods of North Beach, Jackson Square, the Financial District and Chinatown. A sense of serenity and feminine qualities contrast and harmonize with the architectural textured black surfaces and exposed concrete, complimenting the brutalist masterpiece of San Francisco’s Transamerica Pyramid, which is visible from CANOPY. Similarly, green tones echo the oxidized copper accents of the vernacular Coppola Sentinel building, while unsaturated pink touches pay tribute to the historic stucco facade of City Lights, the legendary beatnik and activist bookstore down the street. Verdi Alpi marble-infused tables and elements help bring the natural world into the space.

Contemporary office furnishings comprise a host of Herman Miller pieces, including Yves Behar-designed Sayl Chairs and Public Office Landscape System Tables, Charles and Ray Eames Chairs, Chadwick Modular Seating and Renew Sit-to-Stand Tables by Brian Alexander. CANOPY will also incorporate the LiveOS system by Herman Miller which automatically raises and lowers desks to the perfect height when it senses that a specific user is in front of it.

These pieces are complemented by Eric Trine coffee tables and planters, Rodolfi Rodroni for Kettal outdoor furniture, Raw Edges for Mutina tiles, Concrete Cat mirrors, vintage 60s and 70s Preben Dahl lights, floating copper shelves designed by Yves and Amir, and M-PROJECTS-custom designed conference tables made of blackened ash and Verde Alpi green and black marble, as well as solid ash communal tables. With both geometric and organic elements woven throughout, unique accents include pink quartzite kitchen finishes, blackened plywood bulkheads and Shaw Floors tiled organic carpet patterns.

Bay Area craftspeople and artisans are amply showcased throughout CANOPY Jackson Square. This includes ceramics from Year & Day and a plaster gradient wall by artist Victor Reyes within the break room and café, plus custom-designed tables, cabinets and light fixtures.

About CANOPY

CANOPY is exceptional shared workspace for accomplished professionals and aspirational entrepreneurs alike. Custom designed by friends Yves Behar and Amir Mortazavi, and built from the ground up by M-PROJECTS, CANOPY delivers an elevated contemporary design, a distraction-free environment, and sophisticated membership and concierge-style amenities programs in iconic neighborhoods. CANOPY centers on the premise that where you work affects what you do and who you are. The members-only workspace seeks to bring people together and inspire great ideas that design can amplify. CANOPY’s first location opened in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights in 2016. Its second location opened in San Francisco’s Jackson Square in Spring 2018. Headquartered in San Francisco, CANOPY was founded by Yves Behar, Amir Mortazavi and Steve Mohebi. 

For more information, please visit www.canopy.space

All Photos by Joe Fletcher, Courtesy of CANOPY

3M Further Amplifies Design with Announcement of New 3M Design Center

3M, the global innovation company long recognized for diversified technology and collaboration, announced the development of the 3M Design Center, an incubator for progressive ideation and the creative heartbeat at 3M. 

Underscoring the 3M Design mission that revolves around collaborative creativity, the new facility will be the central hub for design professionals with multi-disciplinary expertise, driving competitive advantage, customer experience and positive global impact.

Rendering: 3M Design Center Exterior (Photo: MSR Design)

"This important initiative will elevate design and propel dynamic opportunity to enhance everything from branding solutions to product innovation to sustainability and social impact," says Eric Quint, Chief Design Officer at 3M, who is at the helm of this design transformation. 

"Design Thinking is about unlocking future value in partnership with research & development and marketing. Our collective goal will be to deliver transformative value for 3M, its partners and customers."

Located at 3M headquarters in St. Paul, MN, the 3M Design Center will stimulate creativity as an open, multi-level studio environment, four times the size of the current design space. The interior architecture will incorporate use of 3M solutions and technologies throughout, as well as energy efficient systems and recycled materials demonstrating that sustainable, smart design supports a better future. 

Flexible spaces - including a fast prototyping lab, materials library, brand labs and an interactive area known as the "Design Hive" - will foster spontaneous connections and ignite cross-functional collaboration among partners, thought leaders, customers and colleagues at 3M headquarters, connected to 3M Design studios around the globe.

Rendering: Interactive area, known as the "Design Hive" at the 3M Design Center (Photo: MSR Design)

As 3M continues to apply science in imaginative ways around the world, design helps translate insights into useful solutions, bringing meaningful experiences to life every day. 

Quint adds, "With our diverse product portfolio, Design represents a critical and strategic platform to define and differentiate 3M, bridging our strong legacy of innovation with creativity toward the future, uniting purpose with partnership."

3M Design applies integrated, creative thinking to identify future customer needs that innovate industries. Ranging from digital applications in the dental business to the migration of safety materials and technologies into the fashion world, 3M products cast a global footprint with design as a catalyst for change. The new Design Center will provide a timely complement to such initiatives, enriching innovation and enhancing new business opportunity.

Development of the new 3M Design Center builds upon recent momentum that is driving design forward at 3M, evident in the elevation of design leadership and governance, which yields business value and impact on a global scale. 

The award-winning design team continues to receive international recognition for design excellence. In 2014, 3M Design received more than 25 awards across multiple creative disciplines, and recently, two 3M products received Red Dot "Best of The Best" design awards for product design among nearly 5,000 entries. The ceremony took place at a gala event attended by international media, design experts and manufacturers in Essen, Germany. Later this week, 3M Design will be presented with a Top Winner International Design Excellence Award (IDEA) by the Industrial Designers Society of America.

About 3M Design

3M Design is the creative engine driving design for brand and innovation at 3M. As a global team of diverse talent that creates meaningful and consistent brand experiences, we stimulate collaborative creativity to translate insights into solutions that inspire and positively impact our customers, our employees, and our world. 3M is a global innovation company with $32 billion in sales, employing 90,000 people worldwide with operations in more than 70 countries. 

For more information about 3M Design, visit www.3M.com/design or follow @3MDesign on Twitter.

LA Business Council Awards the Vermont as Winner of the Mixed-Use Category at the 45th Annual Architectural Awards

The new 23- and 29- story luxury high-rise complex in the Koreatown district offers 360 degree views to the Hollywood Hills, Downtown, and Southern LA basin. 

Photo courtesy of Jerde

Inspired by the urban modern lifestyle of Los Angeles, the 464-unit Vermont was designed by LA-based The Jerde Partnership with Harley Ellis Devereaux as the Executive Architect. Scaled from a previously entitled condominium scheme considered too massive for the site, The Vermont delivers two minimalist glass point towers creating a new landmark on the LA skyline.

The LEED Silver certified project enhances the street experience along the busy Wilshire corridor, with over 30,000 square feet of retail and dining space, 896 parking spaces, and an 18,000 square-foot publicly accessible urban art centerpiece.

"From an urban design and architecture strategy, the scale, massing, circulation, details, open spaces, everything was purposefully designed to reflect LA's diverse culture and create a place that both the new residents and surrounding neighborhood could benefit from," says Tammy McKerrow, Shareholder & Senior Design Principal at Jerde.

At the  7th level sky lobby, the towers are connected by an elevated social oasis, tucked above the bustling street below. Just off the sky lobby is an outdoor rooftop amenity, featuring an expansive garden, heated pool, sun deck, spa and dog park.

"It's one of the first transit oriented developments to be erected in post-recession Los Angeles - and really makes a statement along the Wilshire Corridor and within the LA Skyline. I couldn't be more proud of the building and the successful collaboration with The Jerde Partnership and JH Snyder Construction," says Albert Sawano, AIA, LEED AP, Project Director and Principal at Harley Ellis Devereaux.

Jerde

The Jerde Partnership is a visionary architecture and urban planning firm that designs unique places that people love to visit and go back to time and again. Nearly one billion people visit Jerde Places every year.

Located around the globe, Jerde Places are iconic, go to destinations that pulse with life through a carefully orchestrated procession of public spaces, shops, parks, restaurants, entertainment, housing and nature. They transform the economic and social landscape of neighborhoods, cities and regions and deliver astounding results across the board – economic success and recognition for developers, businesses and cities and amazing experiences for the people who work, eat, stay, shop, play, wander and live there. 

For more information please visit www.jerde.com

Rolls-Royce Announces New Technology and Logistics Centre

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars announced that a new Technology and Logistics Centre will be built at Bognor Regis, close to the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood, West Sussex. The new 30,000m2 centre will consolidate a number of current logistics functions and allow for future expansion.

The Technology and Logistics Centre will be located on the Oldlands Farm Business Park on the northern edge of Bognor Regis, eight miles from Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. The Centre will be ideally situated to take advantage of the forthcoming Bognor Regis Northern Relief Road, due to open in 2015. Around 200 people will be employed at the Centre, with a number of new roles created in addition to those transferred from existing logistics functions. The Technology and Logistics Centre is planned to be fully operational in early 2016.

The site has been identified by Arun District Council as part of its 'Enterprise Bognor Regis' initiative. The area is being developed as a new premier business location in West Sussex, reserved for mixed office, industrial and supporting development to deliver a new generation of buildings in a high quality environment to sustain both newly established and growing businesses. Rolls-Royce will be the first major business to take advantage of the initiative.

The Technology and Logistics Centre will consolidate three current operations - an inbound warehouse for production parts; a distribution centre, including an inbound body store and finished car store and a workshop for car preparation. The Centre will be managed on behalf of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars by an external logistics provider.

Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said, "I am delighted to announce our new Technology and Logistics Centre, which reflects the sustainable development and ongoing success of our business. Every Rolls-Royce motor car is built at the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood and this new facility will provide the required local logistics support for our current and future models." He continued, "Rolls-Royce is a British manufacturing success and we remain fully committed to building our future here in West Sussex."

Business Minister, Matthew Hancock, said, "This terrific new centre at Bognor Regis will give a huge boost to the local economy, and safeguard 200 jobs. It's testament to one of our Great British success stories, Rolls-Royce, and its valued contribution to UK manufacturing."

Nick Gibb MP for Bognor Regis & Littlehampton and Minister of State for Schools, said, "To have attracted a company of the calibre of Rolls-Royce to Bognor Regis is a major coup for our town. The association of Rolls-Royce with Bognor Regis, Chichester, Goodwood and West Sussex can only help the long term economic prosperity of the area. Credit and thanks should go to Arun District Council's leadership and hard work and the Board of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars for the opportunities this new facility will deliver for our town."

Councillor Mrs Gill Brown, Leader of Arun District Council, said, "This is exceptionally good news for Bognor Regis and the district as a whole. We are delighted that Rolls-Royce has chosen to base their new Technology and Logistics Centre at Enterprise Bognor Regis. The council is committed to supporting business growth and the creation of more employment opportunities in the area. The foresight shown by the council to retain this strategic site for employment uses and progress a Local Development Order is evidence that we are very much open and ready for business. This is a significant step forward for the regeneration of Bognor Regis and I am confident more will come in the near future. We welcome Rolls-Royce and look forward to future opportunities to work together."

Ron Crank, Chief Executive of Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership, said, "We very much welcome this new investment and further expansion by Rolls-Royce in West Sussex. It will help our region to remain at the cutting edge of automotive design, logistics and manufacture, whilst creating opportunities for local people to develop careers with a globally renowned company."

For more information please visit Rolls-Royce Motor Cars - http://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com

BAUX Träullit by Form Us With Love

[New York], February 13, 2014 - BAUX is a new design brand founded on the belief that building materials should be surprisingly functional and remarkably beautiful. BAUX Träullit is the first collection consisting of sound absorbing wall panels.

The BAUX Träullit collection of wood wool acoustic panels is a canny combination of form and function. Available in a range of vibrant colours, the BAUX Träullit collection combines excellent sound absorption with a natural capacity for heat and moisture regulation.

BAUX Träullit panels can be combined to create remarkable structural patterns for residential, industrial or public spaces. Benefits include lower energy costs, a reduced environmental impact and a stable indoor climate.

Designed by Swedish design studio, Form Us With Love, the BAUX Träullit collection features six different geometrical shapes, available in two sizes and five color sets, offering over 240 creative variations!

All Photos courtesy of BAUX - www.baux.se

Photo courtesy of BAUX - TRÄULLIT FACTORY - PHOTOGRAPHER: JONAS LINDSTRÖM 

Photo courtesy of BAUX - TRÄULLIT FACTORY - PHOTOGRAPHER: JONAS LINDSTRÖM 

BAUX Träullit is available in 5 different color schemes:
Clouds - Light colors are expansive and airy, making rooms seem larger and brighter. Dark colors are sophisticated and warm.
Woods - Green is considered to be the most restful color for the eye.
Sky & Sea - Blue is calming and relaxing and lowers blood pressure.
Sunset - Stir up the excitement! Red creates a feeling of anticipation.
Earth & Mountain - Orange evokes excitement, enthusiasm and energy!

The BAUX Founding Partners

From left: Fredrik Franzon, Johan Ronnestam, Petrus Palmér, Jonas Pettersson, John Löfgren

Photo courtesy of BAUX - www.baux.se

BAUX is founded on the belief that building materials should be surprisingly functional and remarkably beautiful. BAUX designs, produces and markets construction materials that meet the contemporary expectations of architects, engineers and builders - without compromising safety and environmental standards. BAUX is a joint venture between entrepreneurs Johan Ronnestam and Fredrik Franzon and the founding members of design studio Form Us With Love: Jonas Pettersson, John Löfgren and Petrus Palmér.

Go explore the collection at www.baux.se