Gotland, Sweden

In Construction

The building is located within a natural

protection zone on the island of Gotland

in the middle of the Baltic sea, 48 meters

from the edge of the water. The interior

consists of two intersecting volumes: one

in limestone that contains the kitchen

and support, and the other in wood and

glass that holds the public areas of the

restaurant, deli and bar. Traditionally

houses like these are built without metal

fasteners and sealed with lamb wool and

tar. At this sensitive site, the structure

draws from its surrounding landscape and

contextual building culture of post-and plank

construction.

The Grey Group Roof Deck is an alternative work and entertainment space on the roof of the Grey Group’s Flatiron office building. A vehicle for brand communication, the deck is used for work and entertainment at all scales, from a private refuge to collaborative meetings and workshops to larger events and launch parties. 

The design consists of the Pavilion, the Terrace and the Annex, which are interconnected by a half height enclosure designed with a perimeter of planters and benches. These structural elements create dynamic, calibrated views of the Metlife and Empire State Buildings. 

The Pavilion is the roof deck’s main structure and centerpiece: a 14-ft high asymmetrical steel pergola structure with ipé wood louvers. At its base, a continuous 60-ft long counter accommodates service, integrated lighting, and a large projection screen for the presentation of new advertising reels. Solar studies inform the position of the pergola’s wood louvers, which create textured shade variations over the Biergarten-style furniture setting below. 

The Terrace is a hybrid meeting space and amphitheater, inclusive of bleachers and a stage that can be used for launch events and to view performances. 

The Annex holds support functions, such as restrooms and storage, and also provides the only fully covered space, making it ideal for meetings and collaborative work. The design was inspired by existing rooftop conditions, including graffiti in vibrant colors, and is manifested in the furniture upholstery and a festive wall-covering pattern designed with algorithmic scripted line work. Project Area: 7,000 sq/ft. 

Occupant - Cyrus Capital & Partners

Cyrus Capital & Partners is a new start up hedge fund capital investment
firm that occupies the two top floors at the Lever House Building in New York City. Cyrus is represented as a dynamic and adaptive company, who can maneuver in the fluctuating sea of the global market. The interior represents this capability of acting to the present situation as well as giving priority to the people who have a relationship with Cyrus, either as an employee or a client.

“The Medium is the message” Marshall McLuhan

“It was precisely organization that was communicated
-as message and medium, image and effect, form and function-” Reinhold Martin, the Organizational Complex

Strategic planning : Flexibility + Individual Specificity

Corporate architecture has since its development taken its form from efficiency and optimization. Curtain wall design, mullion spacing has direct relationship to the individual workstation behind it. The mature modular system developed during the 1950’s also attempted a further internalization of capitalist growth by inscribing “flexibility” into every surface of the office.

Cyrus tries to incorporate an organizational model that is flexible and provide individual specificity, that allows growth, both expansion and collapse of the corporate structure. Its organization provides a platform that allows for growth from sixty seats day one, to about 90 seats day two and a total of 120 seats day three without loosing its essential organizational clarity. 

Tactical Operations

In addition to the long term flexibility, the interior layout allows short term changes like daily regrouping of the teams for strategic and tactical performance of trading. The idea of flexibility and change overtime, requires that one thinks
of the organization in terms of network of independent flexible parts that comes together as a complex and adaptive system, it is bottom-up/ top-down organiza- tion between the parts and the whole. 

Personal Workstation

At the conceptual stage the personal workstations were thought of as a fully equipped briefcase that was given to the employee at the time of his/her employment, and stored when not used in the thickening of the columns. The workstation in use clips on to the utility rail which supplies power, network, light, air and audio. The briefcase is capable of sliding across its length for tactical repositioning of teams of traders. The inside is as accommodating the dashboard of a luxury car, where one can adjust and fine tune one’s personal environment, such as air, volume and light. 

Spatial Organization

Juxtaposing the striated spatial condition of the utility hoops, smooth and folded platform works cross grain its rigidity, achieving continuity and tying the space together both in plan and section. Boundaries and areas are defined by the layering of the platforms, such as the elevated reception, lounge furniture, the carpet and drop ceiling. The fluid, folded and pliant forms express the flexibility and robustness of the system

of the high-performance environment clearly reveals Cyrus corporate character is to accommodate the body and define space. 

Fotografiska Museet / Story Hotel,  New York

AL RYAN, GUEST HOUSE, QATAR

PARALAMP

Soderlindh Furniture Collection

The MODULIGHTOR

The MODULIGHTOR Building was designed by legendary 20th Century Modernist architect Paul Rudolph

Turbine House, Gotland, Sweden. 

Hydroelectric Power Plant