The Words and Not Words of Chris Erickson » Architecture

Face Space Office

Chris Erickson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:39:21 +0000

Congrats Facebook, you’re office is much more interesting than your website.

Firewood WallsStudio Progression: Part I

Chris Erickson — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:43:33 +0000

Over the course of our renovation, we tackled quite a few projects without having a clear idea of how we were going to accomplish them, but none more so than our firewood walls. They turned out to be far more time consuming than we anticipated, and they took three times more wood than we estimated, but no other part of the office gets as much attention. We regularly get uninvited visitors who get a peak of the walls through our entryway and decide to pop on in for a tour and a 30-minute Q & A.

Take my word for it, watching this time-lapse video will leave your computer far cleaner than witnessing the actual build. (Get your mind out of the gutter, I’m talking about sawdust, you creep.)

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The Guts

We are stoked that the finished walls look just like, well…big stacks of firewood. But underneath it all lies a simple frame of steel studs and sheetrock. No frills, no gimmicks.

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The Firewood

When it was all said and done, we used about twelve cords of locally purchased firewood for the two walls.

At one point half our office was buried in under firewood, giant fans...

...and saw dust. Piles and piles of sawdust.

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Construction

Each log was cut down to a length of about four inches and then adhered to a plywood substrate (for strength). Kyle and Will spent weeks upon weeks fitting the firewood into place, and though I’m certain they would accept death to avoid doing it again, it was a great experiment and it couldn’t have turned out better. Like almost everything in the office, it was finished with linseed oil.

We notched select logs and wrapped them around the wall at the doorways. Several of them still sport green moss and the bark adds a great textural touch.

Collaboration TableStudio Progression: Part VI

Chris Erickson — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:39:20 +0000

To facilitate impromptu discussions between designers and programmers, we designed a sitting-height work table to tag team with the taller Brooklyn Streets Work Table and placed it right in the middle of our production area. Like its big brother the Brooklyn Streets Work Table, this table originally lived as a pizza oven, but now a quick push off your desk sends your chair gliding into a magical collaborative wonderland.

Photo: Lincoln Barbour

The rough sawn fir came from a barn built in the 40s in Sherwood, Oregon.

Greg Forcum used his magic missile to add some reinforcement.

We didn't want to use brand new hardware on our ancient pizza base so we jogged across the street to Winks Hardware and asked them if they had any ideas. The salesman descended into the basement and came back with an unopened box of giant machine screws that had been sitting on the shelf for sixty, yes sixty, years.

A vintage Junior Pencil Sharpener circa 1921 provided the finishing touch