Tenant Improvement, One Ecker, San Francisco, CA

Custom interior design for a young and energetic computer consulting firm. The clients' program called for a "cool place to work", as different as possible from a "standard office" environment. Linear fluorescent fixtures and carpeting were found to be particularly unacceptable for the open office space.

Since many of the employees worked on-site at their clients' offices and are at their home office for short intervals only, they did not warrant their own offices or workstations. In order to accommodate their needs a continuous desk height "snake", with power and data capacity, weaves through the office and connects open office work stations. Employees are able to "plug in" anywhere along the snake to provide a temporary work space. The "head" of the snake forms the reception area. The snake is discontinuous for access, but has a "shadow" of a darker color in the cork flooring pattern to pull the segments together.

Borrowed light windows to the perimeter offices vary in height above the floor to create different levels of office privacy. Industrial style light fixtures line the walls above the office windows creating a striking curving pattern that reflects the snake. General lighting is indirect, using the exposed overhead structure as a warm reflector. Supplementary task lighting is provided at the individual workstations. The material palette consists of simple materials (OSB, galvanized sheet metal, homasote, gypsum board, fabric, cork flooring and paint) put together simply, often with exposed fasteners. Two surfboards, one broken in an employee surfing mishap, are suspended in a small conference room as parts of a whimsical indirect lighting fixture.

This project was designed by Jerry Veverka and Karen Drozda under the umbrella of their collaborative firm, DLVArchitecture.

This office configuration unfortunately did not survive the dot.com bust.