I recently completed another home office in a spacious loft apartment in downtown New York, in the neighborhood of Tribeca. My client and old friend Nelba Valenzuela Delmedico, an art dealer, lives with her husband and their daughter in a converted office building and works from home. It seemed obvious to place the desk close to the window, just as Nelba had it. The challenge was to integrate it into the whole unit and make it as less “invasive” as possible. The actual desk is like a box with drawers that cantilevers from the bookshelves. From the start, both my client and I decided to use bamboo. It is a sustainable wood, it is hard and durable and looks beautiful in its natural amber tone. The bamboo plywood is composed by many small strips of bamboo glued together in a triple layered 3/4″ thick “sandwich”. It is a very stable, flat sheet of material that allowed me to create this system where the shelves are a few inches cantilevered from the vertical supports. Going “green” is not only about using sustainable materials but also about creating products that will last a life time. It’s about designing and building furniture that is strong and durable and flexible enough to adapt to different uses and different locations. Last but not least, my design process is based on the efficient use of materials and the refinement of its proportions rather than going after a particular “look” or “style”. It has been my experience that when you design with common sense, focusing on the functionality and the durability of the product, beauty may result as a welcomed sub product of this effort.
I recently completed a home office in a beautiful 3 bedroom loft apartment in DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). My clients, Dr. Brian and Magdalena Levy wanted a desk for their computer and storage cabinets for their files to be built in a corner of their loft. We came up with a “U” shaped configuration wrapping around the space and a hanging cabinet in one corner. In the middle section of the “U” we created a removable cover for the radiator. I placed the desk under the main window, directly looking at the Manhattan Bridge. Before and After: From chaos to organization, the new built in furniture can make work at home a much more enjoyable experience. There are four file drawers in the corner cabinet. A hanging bookcase above holds catalogs, boxed files and paper. From initial sketch to completed fabrication, the project took 8 weeks to complete. For price information and other questions please contact me through the contact page.