Astro
Reykjavik, Iceland
M.Y. Studio

A bit of artificial nature is brought inside a 90-year-old building to create a sexy new hangout for the with-it crowd

© Ari Magg

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above. To see the people and products behind this project click on 'people & products.'

By Clifford A. Pearson

British industrial designer Michael Young moved his base of operations to Reykjavik in 1998 after meeting Katrin Petursdottir, an Icelandic graphic designer who became his wife. Having started his own firm in London in 1994, Young made a name for himself designing curvaceous furniture with a vaguely futuristic, slightly pop sensibility. Molded plastic "stick lamps" created for a Japanese company, for example, look like they could have been taken from Woody Allen’s Sleeper or inspired by the podlike forms of seaweed.

The owners of a nightclub with a fake Victorian design asked Young to give it a completely new identity. Set in a 90-year-old building with rotting wood, the club needed a radical makeover. Though 90 years may not seem a particularly historic age for architecture in other parts of Europe, the local authorities made it clear they considered the building an important piece of Reykjavik’s architectural legacy. The new two-level establishment would be more club than restaurant—with four bars and two dance floors—but food would be part of the mix.

Young decided to treat the club as a "shell within an outer shell." Instead of engaging the old architecture, Astro creates its own world inside the existing fabric—like a Hollywood diva bringing glamour (and her own entourage) to a bar on the wrong side of the tracks. Required to keep an old fireplace, for example, Young preserved the relic but sealed it off so no one could see it.

Understanding that a design is only as good as it’s built, Young decided to leverage to the fullest local skills in steelwork and concrete construction. So, bent steel tubes support the bar on the main level and concrete elements such as floors and a circular "swimming pool" help define the look of the place.

To give Astro a sleek, almost slippery, appeal, Young coated walls and floors with a resin-based compound and scattered his own sexy furniture throughout the two stories. Some of the furniture—including a "magazine" couch and chairs—exemplifies the "lounging" style that Young started honing in the mid-’90s, and most of it shows off his penchant for white.

Color, however, plays a big role in setting the mood at Astro. Lighting designer Jeremy Lord created a system for the wall behind the bar that slowly changes the color of light being emitted. Upstairs in the Red Room, where a more relaxed atmosphere holds sway, Lord designed thermo walls with lights that respond to body movements. As a result, the color here goes from a pale pink to deeper tones of red as guests become more active.

See the November 2002 issue of Architectural Record for full coverage of this project.

Formal name of Project:
Astro

Location:
Reykjavik, Iceland

Gross square footage:
5,400 sq. ft.

Client:
Isfosser

Designer:
M.Y. Studio