Lehrer Architects purchased this 50 year old, 7,400 square foot building in the Silverlake area of Los Angeles in 2005. The once dingy and crowded 5,400 square foot warehouse was transformed into a working space of light, air, and transparency. Succinct interventions — blowing out the southern wall; work surfaces of 4’ x 8’ white painted solid core doors; epoxy-finished, painted floors; off-the-shelf storage systems; the red line resolving the trapezoidal shape of the space; and strategic landscape design — accomplished the job for $20.00/square foot (including mechanical/electrical/data/telephone infrastructure, the garden, and the build-out of all work surfaces).An exploration of working space.
Although this space specifically houses architects, it was designed as a generic working space. It aims to simply and clearly honor the rudiments of work:
• Vast work surfaces
• Massive natural light
• Seamless connections to the landscape and fresh air
• Generous, vivid, and available storage
• Clearly individuated work stations that together create a coherent, palpable groupArchitects think of architecture as process. Clients think of it as product.
Upon entering the office, process and product become one. The visitor is immediately drawn into the architecture — which speaks of creating beautiful architecture.Served and servant zones are explicitly defined and are visually calibrated to achieve complete transparency. In this way, the whole process of creation is revealed instantly upon entry