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Spine tingler

Published: 23-Oct-2009

The designers used an architectural spine to create a unique space out of an office space for a film& TV post-production company, with its organic shape defining and connecting individual areas.

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The post-production process for film and TV is nothing short of amazing these days. At The Moving Picture Company, a top post-production firm based in London and California, the rather undignified sight of Daniel Radcliffe dangling in front of a green screen with a broomstick between his legs can, with a few clever tricks, become Harry Potter darting his way through a leaden sky in a heart-quickening game of quid ditch.

And this, as they say, is where the magic happens. The Moving Picture Company’s stylish new office in Santa Monica, designed by local practice Tighe Architecture, actually began as a rather unprepossessing space on the fourth floor of a downtown office block. But like the movies that become masterpieces here it has been miraculously transformed.

The scheme is based around a ‘spine’, a fashionable device in office planning at the moment, which involves a central structure incorporating storage facilities, seating and lighting, which snakes through an office, linking each individual space.

In this case, the spine is an organically shaped wall of steel stud framing, clad with two layers of gypsum board and plaster. The complex shape meant it had to be made in 30cm-long sections and assembled on site. Cutout alcoves create snug seating while coloured LEDs – chosen because the company is well respected for its colour manipulation – are inset with custom-made aluminium housings. The programmable lighting allows the client to change the look of the otherwise neutral scheme at the flick of a switch.

Circumscribing the interior is a feature wall made of aluminium into which patterns, inspired by a 3D model of the space, have been laser cut.

At one end of the spine is an egg-shaped room, which is used for screenings of the company’s work and as an area where clients meet with the company’s colourists. Here custom-made furniture creates a comfortable, home-cinema feel. Occasional furniture by Vitra has been placed around the spine and edits bays, conference rooms, and closed offices have workstations made from Corian.

This article was first published in FX Magazine.