Delicate Staircase

A former 1940s brick and timber warehouse has been converted into a modern office in San Fransisco. The challenge for IwamotoScott Architecture was to respect budget and schedule constraints while redesigning the space to include workstations for digital production, prototyping, a showroom and meeting space. The office is owned by interactive media brand Obscura Digital. The impressive 3345-sq-m space is divided between three levels. The lowest level contains the workshop and showroom, while the reception, meeting spaces and main offices on the middle level. Production space is on the top floor. A focal point is the custom-made BookCaseScreenWall – an array of 186 folded sheet metal modules. The pieces were laser-cut and attached to 31 vertical ribs suspended from an existing steel structural beam.

Concrete ' invisible' staircase

Polished concrete within interiors

The Centre Pompidou-Metz will be a large hexagonal structure with three galleries running through the building. A central spire will reach up 77 metres, alluding to the 1977 opening date of the original Centre Pompidou. Viewed as a whole, the architecture evokes a vast marquee surrounded by a square and garden

Polished concrete detail