This home office for a private personal investmentadvisor responds to the clients brief of a discrete yet sculptural designsolution for a home office by conceptually draping a dynamic surface over anorthogonal arrangement of the required home office elements including a workdesk, storage units, printer, paper shredder etc. Set within a tiny 7sqm roomin the client’s Chelsea flat, the design intent was to minimize the imposingpresence of the boxy storage requirements the client required by disguisingthem within a sinuous form that emerges from the walls of the room. As the owner desperately wanted to reduce thevisual clutter of “stuff” within his work space, storage for books, filingcabinets, printer, shredder, electrical cabling, phone, internet, and lightingcontrols are all concealed within the volume of the construction. The space is organized around the lone windowin the room, in order to provide the client with a pleasant view and amplenatural daylighting. The glow of naturallight from the window further serves to articulate the geometry of theinstallation through the play of light and shadow.

Constructed with a strict budget of 7000GBP, the fluidgeometric form is articulated as a series of alternating CNC milled birchplywood ribs which are pre-fabricated into modular units and spray finishedwith a clear lacquer. These units arehung on a series of z-clips bolted to the interior wall, and held in place by self-weight.Horizontal spacers, which stabilize the open ends of the plywood ribs, arearranged in a pixelized graphic pattern representing a world map, where theowner (a seasoned world traveller) can map out his travels.

The project is the result of an intense collaboration betweendesigner and fabricator. This dialoguewas made possible through the exchange of 3D files not only as designdeliverables, but as production and fabrication documents. The result merges the digital with thehandcrafted to produce a stunning result.

Location: London,United Kingdom
Client: Private
Program: Bespokedesk and storage system for a private home office
Location: London,England
Year: 2011
Status: Completed
Credits: AlvinHuang (Principal), David O. Wolthers, Thomas T. Jensen, Jurgen Strohmeyer