Substance Architecture Studio

Substance Architecture’s office occupies a portion of the second floor of an early 20th century loft building that was originally a car dealership. This industrial volume has a powerful presence with large, steel trusses forming a grand, column-free space. Within this volume, the office is organized into two distinct spaces: a large, open studio along the western side and a linear service corridor along the volume’s eastern edge. The spaces are separated by a carefully detailed wall of display shelving and storage cabinets. The studio has windows along three sides providing all employees with ample daylight and views. The service zone is efficiently organized with areas for printers, product literature, product samples, a kitchen, and private conferencing spaces.

Collaboration is critical to Substance’s work and informed the design of the office. Workstations are placed at a height of 36” (rather than the typical 29”) allowing seated and standing team members to interact more freely. Team areas are organized around a team table used for impromptu meetings which foster innovation and the sharing of ideas. These individual team areas are separated by low partitions that allow visual access to everyone in the studio—drawing upon the collective knowledge of the firm.

The custom-designed Baltic birch casework—shelves, file storage, and workstations—was designed with finger-joint details to appear folded. The wood desks surround tables of folded steel plate. These “origami” objects weave together the studio and service zones to create a unified workspace within the industrial loft. Great care was taken in the detailing and arrangement of the casework, the organization of the mechanical and electrical systems, and the scale of the inserted objects to retain the character of the space that initially attracted the architects. The result is a functional workplace that serves as a supportive backdrop to the firm's creative activities.