Enhancing Raw Space

A converted 1940s era warehouse located in San Francisco’s Mission District became the home of INTERSTICE Architects before the firm moved to its new location in the Lower Polk neighborhood. The original raw warehouse space was enhanced, its high wood ceilings and deep wood convex trusses sandblasted to reveal the warm material, while the open plan was reorganized by a simple central volume of glowing salvaged glass for collaborative projects with the entire team.

Workstations 

The running bond brick facades were braced with steel, allowing the large windows to illuminate the open industrial interior while providing an abundance of natural light to the double story work spaces. The library wall of the rear of the office houses the server room, restroom, kitchen, and reference area, while shielding the model and materials workshop from the open work stations. Central, large reference tables provide breakout spaces and team work areas between the peripheral workstations, allowing teams of varying sizes to collaborate on projects as needed. Workflow flexibility is even built into the walls, which are equipped with a custom aluminum channel track system permitting large display boards to migrate from ad hoc ideation spaces to conference room to individual work stations, all of which can be quickly put up, and then taken down or stored as required.

Crystalline Structure

The 10-by-5-foot sheets of cast glass comprise the central conference room volume. The glass was sourced locally from an architectural salvage yard, clad an internal rigid wood 2-by-4 frame that supports an arsenal of conference room accessories from projection screens to display and graphic boards of various sizes. The delicate aesthetic of the crystalline structure stands in material contrast to the course material palette of the warehouse space.

 

 

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