Image Credit : Michael Moran
Project Overview
The client, The Barbarian Group, is a digital marketing firm with a lively company culture that required an unconventional space that would foster energy and collaboration. We found the solution in the Superdesk, an endless table that undulates throughout the room, creating table space and meeting areas while uniting all employees on a single surface.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Clive Wilkinson, FAIA, RIBA, Chester Nielsen, Thomas Terayama, AIA, Yuna Kubota, Caroline Morris
Project Brief
Conventional office tools are now largely redundant. For the most part, people simply need flat surfaces to work on, and easily accessible places to meet and collaborate. We got excited about the idea of massively simplifying this concept by uniting all employees at a kind of endless table. Like an electrical wire, the table surface itself becomes a medium for connecting and centering a community.
The plywood structure rises from the existing oak floor as pony walls supporting the table. Because the movement routes bisect the space, we lifted the table to fly over pathways and maintain surface continuity. The resulting grotto-like spaces underneath the ‘arches’ can accommodate meetings for up to 8 people, provide private focused workspace or high counter workspace, and house bookshelves and other storage. The top surface of the table is an ethereal pearlescent white, with a clear epoxy coating, to further emphasize the fluid nature of the table.
The Barbarians now have a space that energizes them, connects them as a community, and promotes collaboration within their group. The table itself (dubbed the Superdesk) has become a sort of mascot for their firm, and acts as a source of pride and identity.
Project Need
With this project, we have literally and figuratively elevated the table, transforming it into a functional work tool, a unifying structure, and a symbol of brand identity for the client. While working with a highly constrained budget, we were able to conceive of and execute a very novel and unconventional design. The table, while certainly awe-inspiring and impressive in size, actually had a fabrication cost equivalent to that of purchasing new office furniture for the firm’s 125 employees. This project has demonstrated that unconventional design is not necessarily cost-prohibitive, and that with creative thinking and engineering, a unique and tailor-made office space can be created at roughly the same cost as a traditional one.
Design Challenge
The construction of the table itself was a challenge. The table was initially drawn by hand and then realized as a physical model, which was referenced to create the table’s actual structure by computer. The table’s unconventional shape and size meant that we needed to work closely with an engineer to ensure its structural viability. The final approved design for the table was then sent to the fabricator, where the 870 unique plywood panels were laser-cut by a robot over 400 hours.
The individual pieces of the table then had to be marked, organized, and transported to the building site, where the installation team assembled the table inside the actual office. After the table’s plywood body was complete, it was readied for coating. The table’s 4,400 square foot tabletop was then coated with epoxy in one continuous pour, the only way to ensure a smooth and even surface.
Sustainability
When constructing The Barbarian Group’s new offices, over 40% of the space’s original build-out was preserved, recycling perimeter rooms and services for acoustically controlled spaces. The HVAC system was simply re-commissioned for higher efficiency. The table itself was made domestically, reducing shipping costs and waste, and the resin used to create the table’s surface was an eco-resin specifically chosen for its environmental friendliness. The task chair chosen for seats at the table is Herman Miller’s Sayl chair, a 94% recyclable, cradle-to-cradle lightweight chair. All other furniture was re-used from firm’s previous office.
Interior Design - Corporate or Hospitality
This award celebrates innovative and creative building interiors, with consideration given to space creation and planning, furnishings, finishes, aesthetic presentation and functionality. Consideration also given to space allocation, traffic flow, building services, lighting, fixtures, flooring, colours, furnishings and surface finishes.
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