Venice, CA
2007
Professional Office
Photography: Tom Bonner

This was a remodel of an existing retail building originally housing a ‘doggy day care center’. Built for a Lasik eye surgeon, this project needed to overcome the canine feel of the existing space and develop a greater connection to the adjacent street while maintaining acoustic and visual privacy. The project was interested in expressing a feeling of clarity while making a space that is more inviting for the public than a typical doctor’s office.

The design involved forming a new glass-enclosed public area with a raised ceiling that becomes an exterior entry. The interior space is divided by a slightly skewed hallway with public space on one side, and private on the other. The exterior wood mass wraps from outside in to form an interior element to connect all of the public parts of the project. The clarity of materials, together with the program massing, allows the office to be open and free flowing while still delineating public and private.