We were lucky enough to get a chance to interview Julian Schlaver, VP of thelab, a New York based creative firm with great offices featured today. Click here to see pictures of the office. Enjoy the Interview!
How long have you been in your current space and how was the transition between the old and new?
We opened thelab® in 2002 in a 14,000 sq/ft office just off madison avenue in the shadow of the empire state building. we found our new offices in 2008 but we unfortunately were forced to move into a temp space which was just around 2000 sq/ft. It was a difficult time, only two bathrooms, no natural light and we somehow managed to work with 40 people and equipment there for nearly 8 months. This was also right around the most recent financial crisis and a very uncertain and trying time.
Our current office is in the terminal stores building on manhattan’s west side. the building used to be the home of the tunnel nightclub and prior to that trains were loaded onto barges and brought across the hudson river and off-loaded in the main tunnel that now functions as a lobby and common area for the building. The tunnel which extends from the west side highway to 11th ave is bordered on either side by individual warehouses that comprise the entire block. Trains would continue on up 11th ave after turning over their freight.
The 1.2 million sq/ft building is primarily mini storage (currently around 700,000 sq/ft of it) and our office were converted from mini storage spaces. We had to strip years of paint to expose the brick walls and concrete floors. We also added three 13 foot windows facing the hudson river and two facing east with views of the Empire State, NY Life and the New Yorker Hotel buildings.
Our current space spans 4 ‘buildings’ on the 8th floor (19, 17, 15, & 16). When we moved in we took possession of two 5,500 sq/ft spaces and expanded into a 3rd and 4th over the past two years.
What was the design process like? Were employees involved?
Design took roughly 4 months and we were able to finish construction in 3 months. we worked with our long-time architect Robert Kellogg and his partner Satomi Shimamura from the firm HOK. Bob has done a number of offices for us and knows our unique requirements for space. David Bridges, the CEO of thelab and myself were heavily involved in the design process and we acted largely as general contractors working with specialists and sub-contractors to coordinate construction.
As a media arts company we have a number of disciplines within the 22,500 sq/ft office. We have producers, retouchers, a digital group, search specialists, editors, motion graphics artists, cgi artists, sound recording and mixing, a photo studio and creatives. Each of these groups has unique requirements for the technology they use and their environment. At the same time they work together on projects so it was important to balance their unique needs and still create a space that fostered communication and collaboration. We also really wanted to accentuate the elements of the space that were attracted us to it in the first place.
Now that you’ve been in the space for some time, are there any things you’d like to change about it?
As we moved into the space we had roughly 40 employees, we’ve more than doubled that number in the past year and a half so our plans are to add a full kitchen. One of the amazing things about our space are the three 2,000 + sq/ft decks. we regularly have bar-b-q’s in the summer but it can be difficult to prep food for that many people with our two small kitchens.
Other than upgrading to a professional kitchen – the space has been really working well for us. Our business requires a great amount of flexibility as we create teams to work on projects. Our design included project rooms and desks that allow us to collaborate quite easily, this has meant that we’ve had to move people around a bit more than we’d like to but the space has really proven to accommodate our needs very well.
How did you decide on the specific materials used throughout the space?
After exposing the brick walls and concrete floors we began to see how much life there was in the materials of the building and wanted to use something that would compliment those materials. We ultimately found a hand-scraped teak flooring that is used throughout the space on walls, counters and credenzas. The 10′ doors were custom made by and artist in brooklyn and utilize blackened steel and glass. Our desks are made from angle irons and 24ply, and are laminated with white formica.
We see many workstation styles, but we typically don’t see the style seen in your office with a bar height desk and tall chairs. How did you decide upon this layout?
We’ve used this design in a number of spaces over the years. For producers who are frequently in motion over the course of the day we find that the tall height allows them to quickly check in at their desks and stand as they are reviewing work. It takes a bit to adjust to, but as we designed the space we asked people if they wanted to go back to the traditional height and unanimously they preferred the high desks.
We do use the same design at traditional desk heights in other areas of the office for people who tend to work at their computers throughout the day. We changed the look of the desks when we moved into this space by applying the white formica as it created a more durable work surface and cleaner look than the lacquered wood that we’ve used in past offices.
What are some typical reactions from new people that enter your office?
Pretty much every person who walks off the elevator immediately strokes our wood – which lends itself to more than a few off-color jokes. Our main entrance is in the center of the space so as they explore they discover the expansive views and decks which usually inspires ‘i want to work here’ type comments.
Being on the far west side means its a real journey to get here (its a mile & a half round-trip walk to the nearest subway). The streets downstairs are crowded with trucks and loading docks, so as customers and guests come up to our offices it lights up their faces in surprise.
We love the outdoor space and views and have amazing sunsets daily. Cruise liners float by on their way to the harbor, and for the past two years macy’s has lined up their barges right along side our offices. We watched Captain Sully Sullenberger and the miracle on the hudson unfold from them as well.
