Its always a privilege to get to design for other designers. Summer of 2017 Elijah met Dan and his crew at Studio MPLS and they started dreaming up plans to turn their new building into a chic new home for their business. Their most pressing need was for a desk unit which could comfortably seat ten people. Our solution was to create a custom desk system, with five double sided desk stations made with architectural steel beams and nestled in between six 1/4" steel plates. All powder coated a beautiful satin black. This allowed us to carry the nearly two ton monstrosity in the front door in pieces, and offered the possibility of additions and reconfigurations to the desk if their needs ever change. The tops of the desks were then fitted with American Ash hardwood tops. Cord management and backlighting was carefully considered to keep everyone's actual workspace as clean as the design its self.

Another major needs was storage, so we created this steel book case to reflect the materials, construction method, and proportions of the desk. It has five sections, divided by the same 1/4" steel plate used to subdivide the desk. Four of these sections are shelves, and the last one on is a bench designed to give guests a welcoming place to rest. The top of the shelf as well as the bench seat are made out of the same hardwood top.

Last, we were tasked with designing a conference table which would work with the rest of our designs while complimenting the Eames chairs they had already purchased. What we designed was a single pedestal design with a hardwood top and many electrical and data plugins accessible via a discrete trap door in the table top, and routed to the floor behind the walls of the pedestal. The simplest, but perhaps most important aspect of the design was to make the pedestal in a sort of bottom-heavy hourglass shape. The diagonal angles that this created tie in with the legs of the Eames chairs without overcomplicating the composition. The narrowest point of the hourglass is also at knee height, creating extra room for legs and maximum comfort while seated at the table.

We'd like to thank Studio MPLS for the opportunity to create for them. And for their incredible help during move-in day. Oofta.

Also thanks to Brent Schoepf for the wonderful photos of the finished space.