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After about two months we finally started building yesterday! It always feels great to see the project coming together. The next few days are crucial, we have to install the desk and shelves in a couple of days. Tomorrow we are picking up the desk chairs that Steelcase generously donated for the office.
Keep checking back as we are building everyday! Check out Flickr for all building images!
Our full scale models took most of the day to build, as we were still creating options for the homeowners. Materials used for this exercise were found in the rummage
bin at school. Hey, we saved money while using unwanted materials, we can't complain. After building the models, we headed over to Harlem to show David and Alysia their options for the desk and shelves. They were very excited, we were even more excited because we had gotten final go ahead on the options given.
Look out for our next few posts including design options, building, and installation! Things are moving faster than ever now!
We had less to go on for the desk area. David and Alysia needed space for their laptops, papers and printer. Other than that it was pretty much open, as far as how the space could be organized. We also started at a totally different point than with the shelves, to give David and Alysia different options of overall concept. We originally (and for a while thereafter) went with a wing-shaped design, trying different tricks to make the most of the limited space and prevent Alysia and David's chairs from bumping into each other. Towards that end, we envisioned an angled work area. We also played with secretary-style rollers as drawers and even as entire legs (with supports of course). Eventually we realized that it was just not going to work. Any legroom gained by angling the work area was lost due to the limits in desk width. After David and Alysia picked the slotted shelf concept and the somewhat-similar-in-look broken up desk concept, we realized that we needed to integrate the two. We also realized that all our clever but not quite functional solutions vis-a-vis leg room could be eliminated if we just put the two of them next to each other. In front of the gigantic beautiful window that they would love to look out of. So we plowed ahead and unified the designs. Next post: full scale cardboard and full speed ahead!
Check out the other concepts on our Flickr!
We received amazing news that a supplier of Lyptus wanted to donate their beautiful Brazilian hardwood to us for the home office space. Lyptus wood is a perfect material for this project since it is grown from renewable eucalyptus trees on forest plantations, ensuring environmental safety. Stuart Hanson of Brander Communications generously sent us more Lyptus then expected, 8 sheets of 4' x 8', 3/4" thick, and 4 sheets of 4' x 8', 1/2" thick. The Lyptus is a light cherry shade, which will compliment the redwood, reclaimed from Brooklyn water towers.
After we established with Alysia and David (Harlem House homeowners) the types of materials they were interested in regarding their closet we began our search. What we found was a variety of reclaimed, sustainable, and innovative materials from local suppliers in the Brooklyn area. We also found an entire section of movie set backdrops, the perfect match for two actors, large display cases, and perforated aluminum .
