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CHECKLAND KINDLEYSIDES DESIGNS EVENT CUBE FOR SONY PLAYSTATION® 'FREESTYLING' WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT

On Thursday 30th April Dan Magness, one of the world’s top professional football freestylers started his attempt to break the world freestyling record. The Guinness World Record for the ‘longest time to control a football’ was set by a Brazilian, Martinho Eduardo Orige at 19.5 hours.

The challenge was staged in association with the all-new PlayStation® Freestylers initiative – an online competition hosted on www.youtube.com/psfreestylers, set up to inspire the next generation of youngsters to get involved in freestyle football. For the event we designed a spectacular stage; a 4x4m weatherproofed cube, with a raised platform; to optimise spectator viewing and protect Magness from the elements and behind the stage we constructed a restroom, where Magness was able take his 5 minutes per hour permitted breaks.

The temperature controlled cube, with integral lighting, illuminated the stage throughout the night. On the back wall the largescale digital clock, counted up Magness’ time keeping the ball airborne, whilst cameras and CCTV were set up in the cube to verify the record attempt for the Guinness World Record.

The event kicked off at 2pm on 30th April, running through the night until 2pm on Friday 1st May.

The gruelling training paid off as Magness achieved an amazing 24 hours, beating the previous record by 4.5 hours, confirming a new world record and Magness’ entry into the Guinness Book of Records, with a little help from Checkland Kindleysides to make the record breaking journey all the more spectacular!

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SHH APPLIES CREATIVE THINKING TO LOW-BUDGET SCHOOL DINER PROJECTS

Architects and designers SHH have redesigned the dining areas of both a primary school and a secondary school in the Southampton area, creating complete spatial transformations on a very tight budget. The two projects were carried out in close consultation with both The Sorrell Foundation and The School Food Trust (www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk): a government body created in 2005 and chaired by Michelin-starred chef, writer and entrepreneur Prue Leith, which aims to improve the quality of school food, promote the health of children and young people and increase take up by by targeting problem areas, which can range from menus to cooking equipment to the environments in which food is served.

Project ONE: Cherbourg Primary School, Southampton

The Cherbourg Primary School is located in the Eastleigh area of Southampton, very close to Southampton airport. Like many schools, its dining area is also the school hall and serves as a multi-purpose space, used variously for assemblies, sport, after-school club, storage and AV presentations. It was inevitably full of clutter, as it held equipment associated with all these functions, preventing it from serving any individual function as well as it should.

The brief for the very tight budget scheme (£45k in total) was to create a way to make all those activities smoother and less invasive by creating imaginative storage solutions and reworking the dining space counter area. The brief was to allow a separate feel for each activity, with improved lighting and storage, nicer furniture, better queuing at lunchtimes and quicker service - and to allow a sense of nature, colour and pattern into the space.

Structural work was kept to a minimum, with one solution by SHH saving £9k, which could then be used for new furniture instead. This entailed the new service hatch for the servery area, which was created by swapping a door and hatch position that used the same lintel and only then enlarging the hatch - rather than knocking down the whole wall and starting again, as had been originally envisaged.

Project TWO: Applemore Technology College, Southampton

This secondary school dining area had much more complex issues. Essentially a set of knocked-together spaces within a separated single-storey building, it lacked cohesiveness and atmosphere and was very unpopular with the pupils, with one area even formed from part of a corridor and a former classroom! Vision lines were poor and the space was in disrepair and even had some broken windows along one elevation.

The brief for the space was to provide a wide entrance to the dining area, with a sense of indoor greenery and some sheltered outdoor space, blurring the indoor/outdoor barriers. Dividing walls were to be translucent, increasing the sense of space and visibility; queue times were to come down and there should be better provision for litter and the use of sound-absorbing materials.

The 4000 sq ft interior has a relaxed cafeteria feel with zoned areas, some formal and some with looser low seating. Overhead hanging graphic panels help to absorb noise. The Applemore College Canteen name has been shortened to ACC and used graphically throughout to create a strong identity. The space is double-height with the exposed ceiling workings lessened by being sprayed in dark grey, with a datum line all around at 2.5m height. Materials throughout are inspired by nature, with a yellow and green colourway, and have a natural-pattern or natural-colour element.

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BRITISH DESIGNERS CREATE ITALIAN BRANDING FOR BAHRAINI RESTAURANT

SHH has created a full branding package - including identity, environmental graphics, signage, menus, place settings and staff uniforms - for a new restaurant and takeaway concept called 'Italiano', set to open this month. The first Italiano outlet, located in the food court of the Al A'ali Mall in Bahrain's capital city Manama, has been undertaken for client Al-Hilal Enterprises Group, for whom SHH recently designed and branded the highly successful Nu Asia new-build restaurant (about to roll out to a new second site in Bahrain).



The first Italiano outlet is located within a 667 sq ft site on the mall's 1830 sq ft food court and will offer a classic Italian casual dining menu of pizza and pasta, with the accent on takeaway food. 'We were allowed to build quite creatively on the basic concept created by local architect Lewan Engineering,' commented SHH's lead designer on the project, Ashley Thompson. 'The colour blue was already a definite given element of the scheme, as was the new brand's name. We added a strong vibrant green to the interior to balance the cool blue and to add a fresh and obviously Italian element to the mix. We then created a bi-lingual (Arabic and English) identity with a marque representing the map of Italy, made up of classic pasta, pizza and vegetable shapes with a wood-cut grainy look, inspired by pasta's textured ribbing pattern when seen en masse.'

SHH's full scope of works on the project included the identity and marque; fascia signage; environmental graphics in the form of cat-lacquered mdf with vinyl overlay using close-up elements of the new marque and a sideways logo lightbox; staff uniforms; placemats / serviettes / cutlery holders; takeaway packaging and lightbox and print versions of the menu (which was formed from an A3 sheet folded vertically into three and then once horizontally, so that it stood well on table tops).

Client Hamad Isa of Al-Hilal Enterprises Group commented: ' The idea behind Italiano is to offer a step up in Italian food offerings in food courts or the QSR - Quick Service Restaurant - market. With SHH's fresh new branding for Italian, we hope this will be achievable.'

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CREED'S ANGEL OF THE METRO CENTRE

 

PizzaExpress : Metro Centre, Gateshead

The Thinking
The aim of the Creed Design team was to create an inviting and relaxing escape from the shops, with sharp detailing and unique design.

The Result
The first unit of the revitalised Metro Centre food court is now open and trading in Gateshead. The anonymous unit has been transformed with a palette of unusual materials, full height glazing and bespoke artworks. Warm timber panelling frames the staircase to both floors and provides a backdrop to the artwork recesses and banquette seating. Upstairs boasts random width fabric panels and a dining space which extends to a glass framed balcony. The space has an unusual, twisted aspect and curved facade.

Artworks by local artists and photographers were reproduced to explain the origination of the name Gateshead. Large scale artworks were produced to depict the changing architectural face of the town - from the Millenium Bridge to The Baltic. Photographic panels show close-up details of the Angel of the North with bespoke WC signage laser cut in a rusted finish - in homage to the 'most viewed artwork in the world'.

The team has been working hard on several new projects for PizzaExpress over the past months - with newly completed restaurants in Bromsgrove, Salford Quays, Bristol and a unique outlet in the Liverpool Dockside redevelopment.

The holistic approach of the practice to this clients portfolio includes not only a full interior design and project management role, but also demands unique creative input in everything from commissioning locally-inspired artworks to fine art photography. The multi-layered approach to all aspects of the design process, ensures the practice delivers a complete and proven solution to this design-led restaurant chain.

“ Creed manage to offer a fresh and innovative approach to every one of the projects we have asked them to design. They understand the need to be sensitive to the nature of our sites as it’s important to PizzaExpress to respond to and work with the existing building. They also understand our culture for great design and art, our operational needs and our often challenging time scales and budgets. Despite often difficult constraints their solutions are always exciting yet considered. And our customers really do notice and appreciate their efforts, as do we, of course.” Neil Barnes, Head of Design, PizzaExpress

Creed will be updating their website in the very near future with images and full project details of what has been achieved by the practice over the last 12months.  

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CHECKLAND KINDLEYSIDES Design new store for Levi's Women in Paris  

Levi's Women's store in Paris is targeted at a more mature audience and uses a palette of materials which gives it a grown up feel.  

The new concept uses mannequins to display collections and champion Levi's 'fit leadership', whilst stock is hidden behind wardrobe doors extending the double-floor height walls of the store.

 

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Checkland Kindleysides create exhibition stand for Converse's Jack Purcell Collection at Pitti Uomo  

For Jack Purcell's exhibition stand at Pitti Uomo in Florence we designed a playful stand that reflected the sport and good natured mischief of the world champion badminton player.

  Referencing Jack Purcell's heyday of the 1930's, we recreated an outdoor badminton court scene using ersatz grass and topiaried hedges and combined this with the formality of a drawing room with its parquet floors and antique furniture.  

The eccentricities of the age are played out on the stand, marrying tradition with faded elegance. Badminton court lines overlay the whole space uniting the grass and wooden floors and running up and over the furniture. Around the stand gilt frames, set against hedges and oversized damask patterned wallpaper display the latest in the Jack Purcell product range, these frames are also used to display black and white lifestyle photography.

  Whilst visitors genteelly sip at their chilled martinis, the 'shuttlecock' chandelier, which hangs over the bar, provides another quirky reference to the sport.  

After the exhibition the stand was installed at a showroom in London.

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SHH CREATE WEST END OFFICES WITH THE ATMOSPHERE OF A 'GENTLEMEN'S CLUB'

Architects and designers SHH have completed a new London office interiors scheme for a private company in London's west end, working closely with client-side design director Zeljko Popovic. The Manchester Square offices are the result of a brief to create a 'high impact, 21st century office interior with a strong personality' with more in common with a gentlemen's club than a traditional office space. The requisite air of subtlety and elegance in the scheme is reflected in the complete lack of external branding at the company's front door.

Although the property was made up of a classic (and Grade II-listed) Georgian townhouse with a former stables and garage mews building to the rear, the client was very open to a sense of contrast for the scheme, favouring a highly contemporary treatment. The inherited interior - also previously an office - was not particularly grand, but any standout details were to be retained (such as marble mosaic floor tiles in the entrance area, a number of marble-inlaid fireplaces and highly detailed ceiling cornicing).

The newly generous per capita space was exploited with very individual rooms with differing colour saturation and differing degrees of formality - from a breakout room to office space to dramatic meeting spaces. The scheme had to house five company directors and around 20 administrative staff, along with meeting facilities, ranging from a formal space on the ground floor to a videoconferencing room and less formal second floor meeting space, as well as a breakout space. 'Having worked with client design director Zeljko Popovic before on a previous residential project', commented Brendan Heath, 'we had an existing good relationship and knew that we could build on the trust gained in that first project to produce a very contemporary solution for a very design literate client. This was especially useful in view of the fast-track nature of this project: 4 months from the signing of the lease to the moving-in date!'

The scheme begins at the ground floor main entrance, where the existing mosaic flooring was retained and cleaned. For the rest of the flooring on this level and also on the first floor, black-stained white french (FSC-certified) oak was used in a herringbone formation. By the second floor, the age of the existing flooring was more of an issue as significant bowing had occurred. This gave the designers a direction on the design of the second floor meeting room, using a raised 'stage-set' platform (whilst the videoconferencing room once more uses the black herringbone timber).

The reception, to the rear of the ground floor hall space, is all white with one purple wall to create a slightly softer and more welcoming space than the daringly dark remainder of the scheme, with white desking and a giant mirror on the chimney breast; a contemporary take on a baroque frame in opaque acrylic. Swedese white, tree-shaped coathangers add an abstract touch to the space.

The first floor offices are in pale grey and feature executive desks in black leather and aluminium by Estel, together with white leather chairs by Tacchini and aluminium silver chairs from Interstuhl.

One of the richest-coloured spaces in the scheme is the the breakout room, in dark chocolate brown. Here, SHH raised the wallpanels to 1500mm to allow more detail, with hand-painted wood in chocolate brown and wallpaper above the panels in brown and gold. The room contains a deliberately eclectic mix of furniture, from the classic Cité armchair by Jean Prouvé (manufactured by Vitra), to vintage 1930's and 40's lamps from Sigmar London, a sleek credenza from Italian manufacturer Acerbis to a large studded leather pouff from DePadova. Zeljko Popovic commented on the collaboration: 'It was my pleasure to work with SHH: an enthusiastic and professional company who know how to listen. Having known SHH and Creative Director Neil Hogan for years, we managed to create together yet another unusual environment. I hope that our co-operation will continue in the future.'

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SHH APPOINTS TWO NEW ASSOCIATES TO CREATE A SIX-STRONG MIDDLE MANAGEMENT TEAM

Architecture and design agency SHH has appointed two new Associates to its management team, creating a six-strong tier of middle management, the largest in the company's history.

The two new Associates are Brendan Heath, formerly a Senior Designer at SHH and René Dekker, who is also Head of SHH's Residential Interior Design team. 'Both new Associates have been with the company for several years' commented SHH Chairman David Spence, 'and have very much proved their value to SHH as talented designers, capable job runners and real team players. This strengthening of the management team is both a reflection of the quality of Brendan's and René's contribution to the company and of our growth over recent years, both across geographical territories and across the genres of work we take on.'

SHH, first formed in 1992 by Chairman David Spence, Managing Director Graham Harris and Creative Director Neil Hogan, is now a 40-strong company in its seventeenth year of business. Whilst the first ten years of that period were spent building a reputation mainly in the UK, achieving note initially for its luxury, high end housing projects (an area in which the practice still innovates and dominates) and for its leisure and office schemes, the last seven years has seen SHH increasingly working on an international level with branding, housing, retail, hotel, bar, restaurant, leisure centre and office projects everywhere from Riga to Dubai, Hong Kong to Moscow, Lisbon to Bahrain and Pisa to Tokyo. The company's clients range from developers and private homeowners to the likes of Christie's, Savills and the Mittals.

Brendan Heath joined SHH in 2003 as a Senior Interior Designer, having worked previously in the UK for Tectonics (mainly on major office projects, which are his speciality) and before that for major practice Rice Daubney in Sydney, where he originally graduated with a BA in Interior Design in 1997. At SHH, he has worked on residential and restaurant projects as well as a new concept store for Savills in 2008, but his main work area has once again been office schemes, including concept work for a media centre in Qatar and the Farnborough Demo Lab (shortlisted for a Lighting Design Award). Most recently he completed the striking Manchester Square offices in central London for a private investment company, which won the prestigious Silver Grand Award in December 2008 at the ICIAD (International Council of Interior Architects and Designers) Annual Awards held in Guangzhou, China.

As Head of the Residential Interiors team, René Dekker specialises in the interior design, decoration and styling of high-end and luxury residential projects. René joined SHH in 2005, after six years in the UK working for designers such as Christopher Rowley and Bill Bennette. René was born in Holland and grew up and worked in South Africa, before coming to the UK in 1999. He has been a major factor in the growth of the interiors and interior styling offer at SHH, expanding the company's housing offer from new-build, refurbishment and interior architecture projects into interior design and styling. In 2008 he was named Bathroom Designer of the Year at the KBB Awards for his team's work on the North London House project (also shortlisted at the Andrew Martin Awards), whilst the Kensington House project - as well as being the front cover star project of leading magazines around the world from ELLE Deco in India to Contemporary Home Design in Australia to Hoom in Denmark - won the 4-star Interior Design over £100k Award at the Daily Mail UK Housebuilder Awards, also in 2008.

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LISA TSE LTD PRINTS OWN MONEY  

In uncertain times, creative strategy in business has never been more valuable.  

Reflecting the economic challenges on every firm’s mind, Lisa Tse Ltd has printed its own currency, Design Dollars, to distribute to friends and clients during these tough times.

  These signature black one hundred design dollar bills can be shared and represent the commercial value design affords, where creative thinking plays an integral part in any successful business strategy.  

Lisa Tse Design Dollars have been produced in a limited circulation.  

Lucky recipients are invited to explore new opportunities and witness the dividends a creative approach to business can deliver?

  www.lisatse.com

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CHECKLAND KINDLEYSIDES DESIGN NEW STORE FOR TIMBERLAND AT WESTFIELD LONDON

As part of the brief for their new store at Westfield London, Timberland challenged CK to bring the brand's iconic tree logo to life and show their environmental values in action.

Taking cues from the Timberland logo and the dynamic tree-like roof supports which form the architecture of the centre, we created a lattice of reclaimed timber branches that wrap the store in the brand's symbolic logo.

The facade creates such a strong brand statement that the fret cut steel signage merely acts as endorsement that this is Timberland.

The structure creates interesting views into the store and the expanse of unusual shaped display windows allow almost every item of footwear to be showcased in a simple framework. While in the windows at the front of the store, displays are set against crafted, repurposed furniture and props.

At the heart of the store is the main footwear display, which is artful in its design using materials which reinforce the craftsmanship and heritage of the brand, yet practical as they allow for the display of shoes and accessories. This area incorporates two feature walls, firstly, clad in Timberland original boot leather, the curved footwear wall, with the key footwear display, complemented by large-scale seasonal graphics depicting the great outdoors. Secondly the 'shoe-lath' wall is made up of vintage shoe-laths, set against a hot rolled steel back panel allowing for the relaxed and versatile visual merchandising of footwear, clothing and accessories.

"This store and provides a perfect example of what we stand for as a brand. It reflects our heritage in craftsmanship; our relationship to the outdoors; as well as our environmental values in action. The store front and 'Market Place' interior design represents Timberland's iconic landmark in the retail world" Ales Kernjak, Timberland, Head of Store Design and Visual Marketing

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SHHCOMPLETE NU ASIA RESTAURANT IN BAHRAIN

Architects and designers SHH have designed and branded a stunning new-build, three-storey, 50,000 sq ft, 300-cover restaurant in Bahrain called Nu Asia, for client Al-Hilal Enterprises Group. Aimed at both a family and young adult demographic, Nu Asia offers a selection of four leading Asian cuisines: Chinese, Indian, Japanese and Thai. Situated adjacent to the Al A'ali Mall in Bahrain's capital city Manama, the restaurant is at the heart of a burgeoning new business area called the Seef district, to the west of the old city.

'SHH have been inventive and creative at every stage', commented client Hamad Isa of Al-Hilal Enterprises Group, 'and have created an exciting environment with great cuisine and a great atmosphere. Most of our customers will not have seen anything like this before!'

SHH designed the new building as three elegant interlocking volumes, each one larger than the last and variously clad in timber, glass and stone. The first 8.5m high 'box' is clad in dark timber slats, allowing the light to shine through dramatically at night-time, whilst protecting against the searing daytime sun. A grand stone entry staircase in Galala marble is located in front of/alongside this first timber slat elevation. The staircase is set beneath a high-impact cantilevered entrance canopy, inset on the underside with brightly-coloured mosaic-style tiling, linking in both to the shapes used on the third stone volume of the building and to a fabric two-storey wall created as part of the interior treatment.

The Nu Asia brand, designed by SHH to a name chosen by the client, was conceived as a two-stage design: both as a typographical marque and as a holding device, with an accompanying background (as used in the entrance canopy). The idea behind the branding was to sum up the essential warmth of Asian cuisine and was inspired by the vivd colours of spices. This rich and colourful palette then contrasts with a crisp typography - applied in stainless steel for the restaurant's external signage. For the door and backlit reception desk signage, a simplified version of the identity is used, employing the same 'dax' font for its Asian typographical characteristics.

The dramatic upstairs dining area features several different zones, linked by a floating opaque glass bridge. Three private dining rooms are situated at the far left of the floor plan, over the entrance lobby below, with a timber screen wall between two of them (which references the external timber treatment), which can be retracted to create a double-size private dining space when required. The centre of the space houses a large main central dining area, which floats off the perimeter walls, enabling the full size of the restaurant to be read clearly from both floor levels. A third zone to the far right offers semi-private dining thanks to a number of glass-patterned screens, acknowledging the strong regional preference for privacy whilst dining.

Lighting throughout is bespoke-designed by SHH for the project. Most of the furniture on the project is also designed to be site-specific by SHH.

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PROJECTING THE FUTURE - INAMO SHINES A LIGHT ON A NEW WEST END DINING EXPERIENCE!

Inamo, a whole new concept in west end dining, opens this month in the heart of London's Soho, with menus projected onto tabletops, allowing diners to order food and beverages interactively, to change the ambiance of their individual table, to play games and even to order up local information and services, such as booking a cab! The 310 sq m (gross), 62-cover Wardour Street restaurant and downstairs bar is the brainchild of entrepreneurs Danny Potter and Noel Hunwick and will offer customers high-quality Asian fusion cuisine, under the guidance of leading Head Chef Anthony Sousa Tam, who comes to Inamo from superstar restaurants Atami, Chino Latinos, Nobu, Hakkasan and Ubon.

The interior of Inamo has been designed by Blacksheep, hot from their latest west end success with the Whisky Mist at Zeta bar and nightclub at London's Hilton Hotel - and from the announcement of their third winning project in a row at the London Bar & Club Awards with the Knightsbridge bar Vendôme. Blacksheep also contributed to all the restaurant's graphic applications, adapting the existing identity with new iconography for signage, menus and marketing materials as well as all environmental graphics, from graphic wallpaper to graphic tablecloths, shopfront etched patterns and illuminated screens, with all pattern work inspired by and adapted from traditional Asian print designs.

For the designers, it was an ambitious project and a tricky concept to get right. Great attention had to be paid especially to ensure that lighting levels and proportions were spot on for the restaurant to work at all hours of the day and night. The restaurant design also had to have an overall strong sense of identity as a space, neither overwhelming nor being overwhelmed by the technology at its heart. 'We created a concept based around the keywords: warmth, vibrancy, charm and theatre', explained Blacksheep Director Tim Mutton. 'It was important to balance out the restaurant's technological aspects by creating a sensuous, social space with a strong personality.'

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SHH WINS PRESTIGIOUS AWARD IN THE RUN UP TO THE 'PROPERTY OLYMPICS'

At last there's some good news for the UK property market! Amid all the doom and gloom hitting the headlines in recent months, the results of the Daily Mail UK Property Awards 2008 have just been revealed. These awards are linked to the world's largest and most prestigious property competition and a number of this year's UK winners will be chosen to represent the UK at the finals in the USA this November.

SHH is delighted to announce that it has won an award for its stunning Kensington House project in the category of Interior Design (projects over £100k). The award will be presented at a glittering gala dinner to be held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on 31st October 2008.

Having been given this high recommendation, SHH is now entitled to display the Daily Mail UK Property Awards logo with pride. This symbol of excellence will be recognised and appreciated by the public who are becoming increasingly well informed and discerning about the properties they seek to buy.

Entries were judged by a panel of independent professionals, chaired by Eric Pickles, British Shadow Secretary of State. Their collective knowledge of the property industry is second to none and unsurpassed by any other property awards.

All in all, there are 21 different categories and up to two of the most outstanding entries in each category are given a four-star award, while the best overall entry will be given a five-star. But the success story doesn't end there - every five-star winner's entry will then be re-examined to determine who is to go forwards for the ultimate World's Best Award. These outstanding international accolades will be announced at a grand presentation dinner in America on November 10th.

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'ALL WHITE' NOW! A CLEAR TRIUMPH IN PACKAGING BY SEYMOURPOWELL

Seymourpowell has created high-impact packaging for an innovative, safe, fast-acting and highly convenient new whitening toothpaste called 'White Now', to be launched in 10 national markets globally between now and the end of September 2008 across a series of Unilever brands, including Signal, Mentadent, AIM and Pepsodent.

The new product - sub-branded 'White Now' across all markets - aims to counter this perception by offering a premium whitening formula which can be used either for everyday use or for special occasions, allowing the user's teeth to look instantly whiter on demand and offering an easy entry into the whitening products market for new users. Falling more into the cosmetic product sector ('instant make-up for teeth'), the paste uses an optical whitener, which absorbs light and reflects back blue light, making teeth appear whiter in the short term, without needing to be locked into a lengthy, gradual whitening programme.

'The paste itself is very striking' commented Bob Scott. 'It is in the form of a clear gel with a strong blue centre, which creates a blue foam when the user brushes, suggesting the magic of transformation at work! We wanted the packaging to communicate the product's premium nature and fresh and dynamic properties as simply as possible.'

The blue and clear components of the paste are reflected in the dominant blue and white colouring of the final tube and box packaging, with a partly clear frontage, bordered by a white 'wave' curve, revealing the product. The blue suggests a rich and premium product but also communicates the freshening properties of the toothpaste. The 'White Now' logo is animated by sparkles on the first and last letters to denote glamour and lightness and has a blue edge tinge to add three-dimensionality. In the markets where the Signal brand is being used, Signal's usual red accompanying swoosh is now silver for the first time. A 'smile' photograph is used on the back of the packaging to suggest the results of using the product, where instructions are also listed, alongside classic product features - ie anti-cavity properties, helping to produce fresh breath etc

The product is being launched in markets where there is an existing mature toothpaste brand, which will support the addition of a premium product. Two of the strongest of these are Signal in France (where the product will sit within the brand's existing 'Système Blancheur' range) and Mentadent in Italy. Other markets will include Belgium (Signal); Greece (AIM); Spain (Signal); CEE countries (Signal); Sweden (Pepsodent); Finland (Pepsodent); Chile (Pepsodent) and China (Zhong Hua).

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SEYMOURPOWELL TAP INTO THE FUTURE WITH CYBORG FOR SAITEK

Designers Seymourpowell have created a new 'Cyborg' keyboard and mouse with long-term client Saitek, aimed at the increasingly buoyant PC gaming market.

Both products are designed to be sympathetic to and ergonomically suited to the needs and habits of PC gamers. They offer many technical features, which both improve the long-term comfort of the user and increase the flexibility and number of controls available.

As well as highly adjustable key backlighting, where even specific keys can be lit separately from the rest of the keyboard, the Cyborg keyboard features fully-progammable Cyborg keys, which can be assigned any function the user wishes via Saitek's smart programming software.

The Cyborg mouse is the world's first servo-driven adjustable mouse, allowing adjustment for different hand sizes and enabling users to change the type of grip they need at various stages of gameplay.

'This project was very much the result of observing real gamers at play', commented Seymourpowell design director Nick Talbot. 'For example, we know a lot of gamers like to play in a darkened environment, so the Cyborg keyboard has different levels of illumination, with a variety of colours and intensities programmable via a capacitance-sensing panel of buttons. It also has multiple adjustments, including a fully-adjustable palm rest, because we know some gamers like their keyboard to tilt away from them.'

The keyboard also has two switchable modes - normal and gaming - with users easily able to toggle between them. In gaming mode, users can isolate and adjust sections of the keyboard, allowing illumination colour around keys to be function-specific for easier instinctive control during play. In normal mode it functions as a straighforward backlit media keyboard. 'It is also super-durable', added Nick Talbot, 'because serious gamers play intensely for hours at a time.'

The Cyborg mouse features motorised size adjustment with adjustable scroll detent force and a 3200 DPI anti-deceleration laser engine.

The adjustable size means that it can be used by any size of hand, so that the user's thumb and fingers can reach all four function buttons at any time and switch the motorized adjustment on or off whilst using the mouse. The mouse also has three modes, with adjustable scroll force controlled via a button on the underside.

Both mouse and keyboard feature Saitek's Cyborg sub-branding, designed internally at Saitek from a name first generated by Seymourpowell a decade previously for a joystick project and signifying the perfect fusion of man and machine!

'Once again, Saitek and Seymourpowell have worked together to design a class-leading, truly innovative product. After ten years, the Cyborg sub-brand is as fresh and innovative as when first launched and still recognised by serious gamers as the marque of high-performance gaming products,' said Rob Hall, Principal Designer, Saitek.

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SHH ADD A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR TO RUSSIAN TEA OFFER

Architects and designers SHH have completed a bold and striking new design concept for Russian tearoom operator Teaspoon, with the first outlet to house the new design now open in the new-build O'Key shopping mall on Balkanskaya Street in southern St Petersburg.

Teaspoon is an existing, 6 year-old and 70-strong Russian chain of tea and pancake houses, based mainly in St Petersburg and Moscow region and sited in high street and hypermarket locations. The Teaspoon offer is based around a range of speciality teas, along with savoury and sweet pancakes with hot and cold fillings and a small range of side orders, such as soup and salads. Each pancake is made to order and so the client brief asked to underline the theatricality of the preparation process, whilst customers await their order. The new design also had to encapsulate a broader offer including coffee, cakes and also draught beer (as the operator had become newly licensed), created as a separated offer with a dedicated till and aimed at different customer timeslots in the day and evening.

The new 300 sq m space, on a corner site of the hypermarket, had a natural sense of theatre with an exceptionally high 6m void below the beams (and a further 2m above) and existing industrial-feel exposed ceilings, with enough volume to allow for an interior treatment of strong colours and dramatic design features. Entry to the space is either from the hypermarket side or directly from the street, with two street-side glazed façades (completely glazed above the 1250 mm riser), offering clear views into the interior.

The strongest new design feature - a 6m-high wraparound ceramic wall - took the existing orange of the Teaspoon brand and added two further tones of orange, along with black and white for contrast. Taking inspiration from traditional Russian folkloric art, the colours were combined to create a location-specific, huge scale ceramic wall, which dominates the space. The wall features a traditional floral graphic, which has been contemporised and treated digitally before being broken down into the new 5-way colourway, arranged into a grid format and applied using 100 mm x 100 mm ceramic tiles.

The new wall feature is so strong that all other walls - bar one further orange feature wall - were kept in white so as not to compete with it. The service area in front of the ceramic wall was created from a monolithic block of white Hi-Max Corian, topped with toughened glass screens, with all cooking equipment inset (where the former design had cooking equipment above the counter surface), so that customers focus on the food rather than the equipment. Menus are presented via plasma screens at eye-level.

The main space customer seating area takes the form of large, communal, picnic-style tables (with white, reflective surfaces and orange undersides); some with benches and some higher up with loose seating, whilst some tables are single and others double-sided, so that all types of users, from single users to group users can all feel comfortable at them. Above the main seating area and balancing out the impact of the tiled ceramic wall is a series of ten giant-scale, bespoke hanging pendant lights in black with an orange interior.

A more intimate area down one side of the new space features booth seating, with bespoke-designed high-backed orange seats and orange perspex low-pendant lights above each table. A lounge area, with a different design treatment, houses 8 smaller round tables and loose furniture (with chairs from Italian manufacturer Pedralli) with lighting in the form of thinner black pendants with orange interiors, mirroring the giant lamps over the main seating space. The lounge also has a custom-built black banquet to the window elevations with 'bookcase' corner details and table lights. There is a low-level metal beaded curtain on the windows and a WiFi area to encourage increased / evening dwell time.

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