This project repurposes a vacant concrete block furniture warehouse as the new studio and office space for SA Architects. The design operates through a strategy of measured intervention, retaining the pragmatic simplicity of the original structure while marking new insertions through material and spatial contrast.

Key modifications to the building envelope occur along the north and west facades. A sculptural extrusion marks the main point of entry, while a linear strip of new operable windows introduces rhythm, daylight, and ventilation into the deep-plan interior. These interventions are clad in Rheinzink, selected for its material contrast, environmental durability, and ability to register time and weathering across its surface. The rainscreen cladding wraps the additions as a continuous skin, visually separating the new elements from the retained concrete shell.

Along the western edge of the site, a narrow strip of landscape is deployed as a field of geometric ground interventions. Low concrete volumes define spaces for seating, movement, and planting, establishing a threshold condition between the building and its immediate exterior context. These geometries are designed to echo the angled massing found in the building’s interior and operate as extensions of the formal logic developed within.

Inside, the design strategy emphasizes spatial layering and material juxtaposition. Interior assemblies are conceived as distinct volumes, angular and faceted masses that occupy, rather than subdivide, the larger field of the open-plan warehouse. These interventions are pulled away from the original roof framing and perimeter walls, exposing the aged timber structure above and allowing new and existing materials to remain visually distinct.

The circulation sequence is deliberately shaped. Visitors are directed along a path that contracts and bends around the central conference space before opening into the main studio volume. This progression creates a spatial rhythm of compression and release, foregrounding the relationship between architectural form and movement. Interior finishes are minimal and durable, with a focus on material continuity from surface to surface, rather than decorative embellishment.

The result is a space that acknowledges the original building’s utilitarian logic while establishing new spatial hierarchies and legibility. The project frames the act of working and meeting within a series of discrete yet interconnected volumes, supporting both openness and spatial definition within a modest footprint.