Office

Pricing is not yet available for ENSAMBLE, but a single board of cholguán retails for about $5. By keeping assembly simply and using glue to join the system, the Andes House hopes to make it a cost-effective solution for the office and beyond.

Lightweight and configurable, the designers see the system as a flexible solution for workspaces, as well as schools, libraries, and emergency shelters.

The ENSAMBLE Project, as the system is known, includes smaller panels for subdividing desks. Perforations allow office accessories to be hung within easy reach, like a pegboard.

Collaborating with Arauco, the Andes House tested the durability of cholguán by exposing it to liquid. To their surprise, they found the material survived but bent gently, revealing that it could be shaped to divide offices.

Design studio the Andes House saw potential for an office system in an unlikely material. Cholguán, a natural, lightweight composite wood board that's commonly found in industrial packaging and backing for furniture, has been manufactured by the Chilean forestry company Arauco for over 50 years.

The chairs here are by Brazilian designer Zanini de Zanine.

The loft addition afforded space for a home office and music area. The family chose to forego a dedicated office upstairs, instead prioritizing private bedrooms for each of the children. Shelving and a built-in desk anchor the loft’s far wall.

Concrete is used for the walls and ceiling and stone for the floors to maintain an urban, industrial feeling.

The second-floor office is housed inside a rounded rectangle of concrete that the architect inserted on top of the old farmhouse.

Near the room’s curving wall, a Verner Panton chair joins a K2 B console table by Tecta, topped by a vintage mirror by Robert Welch. The wall light is from Flos. “If I had more space, I’d just fill it with more stuff,” says Pearce.

Mike's second-floor office features locally-sourced cabinetry. Photo credit: Dale Christopher Lang PhD AIAP

Design Army's work-a-day tools and design library.

This living room is filled with an array of plants that include a moss wall, an air plant wall, Staghorn Ferns, a variety of potted plants, hanging ceiling plants, and trees.

The WeCross office in progress.

National Design Collective's Solomon retractable desk dividers can easily turn open workspaces into private ones.

The abstract geometry of the exterior allows for unique openings and this sklylight, which provides natural light to the staff throughout the day. "One of my ambitions is to place openings, windows, and roof lights strategically, so you get a sense of the time of day and the weather," says Brooks.

Fuseproject, San Francisco, California

A work station in the couple's office.