Monocle Surveys Six Global Spaces Where Design Goes Beyond Aesthetics

A Monocle round-up highlights six international projects where design serves craft, landscape and function. In Marrakech, Morocco, guesthouse Villa El Fida sits against the Atlas Mountains, conceived by owner Abdellatif Tots with architects Gwenaël Clément and Lou Cirendini. Organised across four levels around courtyards and double-height spaces, it comprises two sections joined by a narrow bridge, with suspended exposed staircases and a palette of tadelakt lime plaster, marble, sculpted cedar wood, locally sourced leather and zellige tiling. In Loupes, 20km east of Bordeaux, France, Hermès has opened a wood-and-glass atelier designed by Bayonne-based architect Patrick Arotcharen to fit a forest clearing without felling a single tree; heated by biothermal energy with solar panels and rainwater harvesting, it has generated 260 jobs. Mayor Véronique Lesvignes and CEO Axel Dumas, a sixth-generation heir, both frame the project as a defence of slow craft, while executive vice-president Guillaume de Seynes notes demand still outstrips supply. Carmen Maurice Architecture replaced a dilapidated stable in Mayenne, France, with an 'active zone' for teams and support staff — lounge, parking, saddle room, farrier's workshop — plus an equine area of stalls. In Copenhagen, David Thulstrup designed restaurant Alouette inside a listed former warehouse, its dining room defined by a sculptural hessian ceiling, tan leather chairs, dark wood tables and a fireplace.