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PACIFIC NORTHWEST DESIGN

N O 34 : JUNE / JULY. 2017

A HOUSE BY JAMES CHENG

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Design ideas from
the Northwests
coolest office spaces
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SLAM DUNK
What do you get when you combine a
basketball court with a basement film studio?
One of the Northwests coolest new office spaces.
Written by AMANDA ZURITA : Photographed by LOGAN HAVENS

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OPPOSITE: Seattle content
studio Workhouse Creative
teamed with SHED Architecture
& Design to turn a 100-year-old
Central District space into a
modern industrial headquarters.
A grand staircase marries the
two floors, illuminated with a
fluorescent installation by light
artist Ben Zamora. THIS PAGE,
FROM TOP: Repurposed floor
joists serve as wall-mounted
desks in the basement, and
grommeted air barrier mem-
brane material (an element
inspired by Thomas Edisons
original film studio, the Black
Maria) lines the office walls.

THE BUILDING
OWNER ASKED US,
ARE YOU SURE YOU DONT WANT
TO CLEAN UP THIS CONCRETE?
BUT WE WERE LIKE,
NO, THIS IS AMAZING!
ELI MARTIN, FORMER MANAGING DIRECTOR, WORKHOUSE CREATIVE

IT ISNT OFTEN THAT A SHADOWY, CAVE-LIKE BASEMENT

IS A REAL ESTATE MUST-HAVE. But when Workhouse
Creative founder Keith Rivers and former managing director
Eli Martin were searching for office space in Seattles Central
District, the St. George buildings timeworn sublevel helped
seal the deal. Riverss branded content studio creates video
for a variety of brands and agencies, and he knew a dim base-
ment would perfectly suit the firms film editing and graphic
design workall best done in the dark.
Built in 1910, the St. George was first a hotel (the basement
held an underground speakeasy back in the dry 20s) and later
was transformed into apartments and commercial space. When
the creative team found it, the basement walls showed decades
worth of chips and faded stains. A lot of clients would have
covered them up with a fresh coat of paint, says Thomas
Schaer, principal at SHED Architecture & Design, who, along
with project architect Chris Phillips, worked collaboratively

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Seattles Plank & Grain created custom tables and shelves for
the open workspace. A mural by Seattle artist Ten Hundred
illustrating the process of a clients idea becoming creative
realityis a quirky backdrop to the companys scaled-down
basketball court.

with Rivers and Martin to renovate the two-level space. But

we all wanted to preserve as much existing texture as possible.
With a tight budget, the team had to get scrappy while
maximizing style and function in the expansive 8,391-square-
foot space. Schaer proposed the biggest modification, a grand
central staircase that serves as a lightwell illuminating the
basement. Its treads are made from floor joists repurposed
from the stairwells cut-through, and leftover joists also serve
as wall-mounted desks in the basement editing studio.
Upstairs, the crew refinished most of the original wood
floors in what was once the hotel lobby. One area, worn
beyond repair, now sports a basketball court, an idea cribbed
from the design of Red Bulls U.S. headquarters in Santa Mon-
ica. I was looking at what features other cool offices have,
says Martin, and we figured with our high ceilings and the
need to cover the floor, why not? The team also spotted
sports netting at Red Bull, and the SHED crew pulled that fea-
ture into the Workhouse design. The result is a space that feels
like a cross between a video-gamers haven and an upscale
gym. In our video work, we look for ways to blend modern and
heritage style, says Rivers. Our new headquarters combines
both, too. We wanted to create a space that would inspire
conversation and collaboration, and allow people freedom and
openness inside a nontraditional work environment.

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WE KEPT AS MUCH
TEXTURE IN THE SPACE
AS WE COULD, IN AS RAW
A FORM AS WE COULD.
THOMAS SCHAER, PRINCIPAL, SHED ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

Sports netting, sourced from a local supplier, serves

as airy room dividers for personal spaces such as
the main executive office. Modern furnishings from
Hive Modern, Design Within Reach, and West Elm
play well against wall shelving by Plank & Grain
and a rug from Rejuvenation.

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