AN INTRODUCTION TO STONE

BY MIRIAM SLEEMAN AND TOM SLOAN

The designers from The Miriam and Tom Studio talk about their latest project made in Taikoo Place for Swire Properties, and about choosing stone as a fundamental material. The Chinese and English toponymy of Hong Kong is translated into furniture through Versylis marble.

Taikoo Place, Swire Properties, Hong Kong

Our challenge was to inject new elements whilst being sympathetic to an existing interior scheme which focused on bringing nature and natural elements into the space.

Above and right, some moments of the creation of the project at Henraux

We are incredibly proud of the stone furniture created for Swire Properties at Taikoo Place. To partner with a client, Swire, and a craftsman, Henraux, who were both open to explore a sensitive design and manufacturing process was a great privilege. Swire Properties commissioned us to create a series of unique furniture pieces that would be the signature reception counters and seating for the new foyers of One Taikoo Place, Swire Properties’ latest commercial redevelopment in Hong Kong. Our challenge was to inject new elements whilst being sympathetic to an existing interior scheme which focused on bringing nature and natural elements into the space. With this in mind, there were two critical elements that we wanted to deliver in our design. The first was to draw inspiration from the historical layers of the site. Its Chinese name, tsak yue chung, relates to a small stream where crucian carp were harvested by the locals. Its name in English, aptly named Quarry Bay, relates to its time as an area quarried for granite to supply building material to the developing city to the west. Our desire was to bring forward the site’s connection to water and its qualities of softness, power and reflectance; and that of the quarry with its qualities of strata, layering, cutting and carving. The second was to find a form which echoed the client’s history as sea faring traders and the story of John Samuel Swire who arrived in Quarry Bay in the late 1800’s to develop and expand his company’s sugar and shipping divisions. To this day, Quarry Bay remains the helm of Swire, hosting their HQ. This story reinforced the important and powerful connection to water as well as bringing in the ideas of a vessel that transports and contains, and one that evokes movement, progression and tradition. At the same time, the form required the practicality of seating and reception counters and needed to be accessible to all. To address this we instead used meandering access heights and depths as an integral part of the form with the desire to make the reception counters feel approachable and accessible at every point. As a result, we designed the furniture as functional and inhabitable sculptures. We

Henraux staff at work on The Miriam and Tom Studio project for Taikoo Place

created vessels and volumes of movement that would both, in form and material, reflect and enhance the nature-driven narrative of the building foyer, the rich historical context of the site, and Swire’s position within that history. In look, the seats needed to be one continuous surface of material, whereas the reception counters wanted to be made from a build-up of slices stacked next to one another, reflecting the building blocks and range of divisions that make up Swire Properties today. With that we wanted them to be independent, complementary, impressive, strong and precious as objects. As such, the material had to match the ambition of the form in strength, enhance it through its colours, blend with the interior finishes and relate to the context of the site. Stone became the natural choice. This transported us from Quarry Bay in Hong Kong to another quarry, that of Henraux in Forte di Marmi, Italy. Here we were met with abundance. Abundance of character, charm, history, skill, craftsmanship and stone. Arriving in Henraux’s quarry was exhilarating. Standing underneath its ‘cathedral’ was an intense moment made all the more immense by the breathtaking views of the surrounding landscape and ocean beyond and the rich history of the people who have worked there, taken stone from the mountain and shaped some of the most evocative and powerful artworks in history. Coming down from the mountain and arriving at Henraux’s factory was equally impressive. The whole factory acts as a gallery for the vast possibilities of stone, and with that it is highly organized with equivalent measures of machinery, expertise, engineering, craftsmanship, passion and a labyrinthine yard full of stone from all over the world. Wandering around Henraux’s yard we came across a block of Versilys marble which was being used as a plinth for another sculpture. Its richness and threads of colour serendipitously matched those of the interior lobby and, coupled with the

Top, Taikoo Place, Swire Properties, Hong Kong, details

Left, Taikoo Place, Swire Properties, Hong Kong

Taikoo Place, Swire Properties, Hong Kong

The choice of Versilys became even more apparent on seeing the initial studies cut from blocks to test joint and edge details. It is a material that really comes to life as soon as it is shaped and the beauty of its geological makeup exposed.

Taikoo Place, Swire Properties, Hong Kong

immense variety and expression of flow and depth of its layers, it instantly struck us as the ideal material for the furniture pieces. The choice of Versilys became even more apparent on seeing the initial studies cut from blocks to test joint and edge details. It is a material that really comes to life as soon as it is shaped and the beauty of its geological makeup exposed. Over the course of the subsequent months engineering and artistry collided at Henraux to bring the pieces to life. The Verilsys blocks were cut from the mountain, maneuvered down to the factory along narrow winding roads, assessed for viability, sliced into manageable pieces, moved, cut into profiles, moved, rotated,

CNC milled, moved again, reinforced, shaped, arranged, hand-finished and meticulously packed ready to be shipped to Hong Kong. Back in Hong Kong the furniture arrived suitably by ship and the installation of the pieces inside the building was a performance of its own. It was a wonderful culmination of months of dedicated hard work. Looking back, Swire’s patronage and Henraux’s passion have made this project what it is. At every point skilled hands have been involved to enable this project to be a reality and so we wish to extend our thanks to the whole team. Fortunately for us, this has made it a superb introduction to the material of stone.