San Francisco–based Interstice Architects used to occupy office space on the ground floor of the partners’ renovated Mission District home, but “we grew from four to six people and the space got too tight,” says principal Andrew Dunbar, AIA, LEED AP.
Interstice’s home for the past three years is a converted 1940s-era warehouse located about five blocks away from the old space. Bathed in light from large windows, the 2,500-square-foot studio features 25-foot ceilings, exposed framing, and a concrete floor. The firm sandblasted the elements to expose the warm wood because “rawness of materials is something I appreciate,” Dunbar says.
The firm “wanted to work in a big circle that looks into a shared space in a less formal way,” the architect explains, so the designers organized the open-plan studio with a central volume that they framed in 2x4s and clad in salvaged 10-foot-by-5-foot sheets of sandblasted glass. “It’s like a big bubble in the middle of the office,” Dunbar jokes.
Lined with artificial turf that is surprisingly soft, the space supports an arsenal of conference room accessories from projection screens to display and graphic boards of various sizes. The partners had hoped the space would allow the firm to grow to about a dozen people. But new digs might be in the offing: the firm already has maxed out its head count.
