The studio is kind of a contradiction, you know in a lot of ways---
the houses, all these analog tools for making things that I think many architects
have rejected in this day and age, you know. I still make physical models that's still part of my practice.
I sketch a lot, you know. I print things out and I draw over them by hand.
You know the contradiction here is that the way the studio is set up as a business,
it's just completely the opposite. It really depends on the internet. It depends on all those new technologies.
All these digital connections are really required for this to operate the way it does. But it I actually like
Having a place in both of those worlds. It feels like the right mix to me
Hey, welcome to 30 by 40 design workshop. Today, we're gonna do a studio tour. So 30 by 40 started in 2013,
It did start as a residential architecture practice, but I always knew that I wanted it to be more than that
I knew I wanted this to be a place to make films
I knew I wanted to be performance and practice space for my kids and their band
It wanted to be design space for the studio
Obviously meeting space for friends, family
You know hangout space for the kids, it wanted to be an educational space, a space where I could actually give
Workshops, of course. This was gonna be the home for the YouTube channel, you know in that sense
It had an educational component to it. I do printmaking here. I do graphic design here
Photography. I really do see everything as a design challenge and something to be solved and this is the sort of creative cage
That I put myself in each day
But it's not just residential architecture
So lighting here was really important to me the whole concept of the building really explored apertures
And because it's such a simple structure, you know, you can only there's only a few things you can really do. And so
natural light was one of the really important organizing features of this
so we have these really large openings which open to the east and then, we have these like really narrow ones that open to the
West out to this sort of forest view. We have slot skylights that look up to the sky
We have these like tiny punches. And then we also have walls that just have no openings on them altogether
And so the you know those combination of elements that gives you this great variety in what's a really small space?
It couldn't be more perfect in the morning here
When I'm working here, the morning light from the east just kind of pours in and illuminates the work surface here on my desk
It's also like this kind of seasonal timepiece. The building is there's a this little window up in the gable here
You know the light sunlight from that only reaches down into this space, when the Sun is low in the sky and all the leaves
Out there have, have fallen and so it just means that you know, this place is a little bit different every single day
Design studio here, meeting space in the middle, instrument practice space on this end to either end
There are storage loss. So this has a twin bed in it, set of twin beds in it
This one has a queen bed in it
And so we use this as overflow sleeping space, when we have guests in the main house
The idea with this is that it's meant to be flexible and swing space
So these tables move out of the way, the lights move up
This can be used as performance space or it can be used to set up
You know, large workshop tools a table saw can be converted to you know vehicle storage in the future
The idea is to make it like a barn, in the sense that it's multifunctional
So I think Studios fall into kind of two general categories when it comes to organization
so there's the chaotic kind of studio where all the process and mess of
design is visible and out in the open and then there's the sort of
Ultra, organized studio and this definitely falls into that camp. I'm someone who can't work in cluttering spaces
So in this studio, everything has a home
Centerpiece of the studio is this drafting table
Which I salvaged from a dumpster at the first architecture job that I ever had when I graduated architecture school
And I strapped this to the roof of my Honda Civic and it's been at the center of my practice since that day
Central to this is my workstation. So I using my Mac here for a lot of reasons primarily because I use Final Cut Pro
I also have a PC which is
has Revit on it, so that's something that I'm
Transitioning to as well. There is no clutter on this workspace
So at the end of every day
I'm basically putting things away where they live, things are organized in terms of how often they are used
So things that are used or often are within arm's reach, things like my sketchbook, markers. I have my Muji sketchbooks to this side
I have my Froy bowl blocks to this side
So frontal blocks are these little sort of wooden blocks that I can use to get out of the digital environment and start thinking
three dimensionally
I have two sets of these
These are the rectangular ones and then, these are the cubic volumes here, so sets three and four
They sit on top of a piece of granite, which is a cobble from a local
Quarry here. I have these little metal stamps with they're numbered metal stamps
Everything in this studio has a place and you know
I use these sort of boxes as a means for organizing things
So all small objects
will fit into some sort of box and these boxes end up creating their own sort of aesthetic in the studio which you know,
I find particularly appealing. I have paper clips, binder clips. They're
said of bonsai shears here at love these
Just they just look nice. To the right side. I have two four terabyte hard drive, external hard drives
My EarPods. I have a charging station here. I have my roll of trace. I have writing implements in a
Muji pencil case so sign pen, of course
Pilot precise pens, now you like the v7 version of these, so both red and black. My favorite new mechanical pencil
This is the kuru toga, love that one and eraser
In here, I have colored pencils just all the tones that I use commonly another Muji sketchbook
My current one is kind of always kept out there more writing implements and these are in these sort of metal cases
That were used to sterilize things and my grandfather's model shop and these are the caps to those cases
You can see sterile here
But I just find they keep things orderly and organized, a small scale
My Olfa l2 a couple other things. So I have down in front a soundbar and I have a remote subwoofer
So that's just a way of having sound in the studio. It's kind of nice
Actually, if you have a meeting just to have some layer of background noise, more markers Prisma colors to this side
so everything from sort of counter level up to eye level is
Sort of priority level stuff. So on the right, to the right of the the drafting table here
I have monographs and the monographs are really kept closest to the meeting table
So I'm always pulling those for imagery for meetings
Then there's the sort of reference materials things that I'd be referencing while I'm doing technical drawings at the drafting table here.
So building construction Illustrated my steel manual, detailing manuals to are to this side
Below that I have
project related specific information, so I have
filing folders here
This has current sketches
Current design ideas and just reference information for the ongoing projects here, below that I have critical path documents
So for any project that's in construction
there'll be a set of critical path documents that I can just grab and
Add to my messenger bag here and then leave for a meeting. Inside the messenger bag
I have a 25-foot tape.
That's essential and I also have a laser measure and then in here
I just load up the project files and then I head to the meeting
So things below counter level are less important and then stored-up high are even less important than that
So organizationally at the very bottom is my archive
So I have archived project folders here archived sketches, archived sketchbooks
Okay, left side of the drafting table has all of my photography gear
These are two shelves that I bought at cb2 and I basically just spray-painted the black the outside, black
spray paint the inside primer gray
So these are great, because they're providing some horizontal display space
but you can kind of contain all the clutter so I have
Writing implements extra pilot pens, sign pens, Sharpie ultra-fine points, all my charging equipment
Specialty charging equipment for the slider and things like that some extra batteries, SD cards
stepping rings, four lenses and filters
Manuals things like that here
On top of that they act as shelves for the most commonly used equipment that I have photography
Lenses, you know my Joby
Batteries, microphones, scotch tape things like that. The far end is display space basically
these two shelves have
Miscellaneous charging cords, rubber, bands tape, survey tapes things like that
And then I have the Mavic here that so I can grab and go since I'm using this all the time
this is easy just to plug in and
Way close this up, and it's all
Self-contained, so below that level we have coffee maker obviously
Hot spot, because we have no internet on the island here. This is the t-one 20
It takes a 24 inch wide role
It also takes 8 and 1/2 by 11, 11 by 17 sheets
Great for plotting technical drawings, not so great for plotting images or renderings this end
I have tools easy access, so a drill
Some working tools here. I have some stationery below that is all model making supplies
So I'm not using that quite as frequently as I am some of this stuff paper here for the plotter
And then this is kind of snack zone here. And then this last shelf is for some random tech, you know scanner, microphones
extra laptops things like that
The center of the space is really meant to be flexible, it's used primarily for meetings
But these tables can move against the wall underneath of the windows
The idea is that this functions like a bar and that its future function is not limited by what we fixed in place
So the tables here are from room and board and these tables come in any size you need at any height
So you'll notice that the module of the table is the same as the module the window is same as the module of the skylight
And that these tuck in right behind the ladders, paired with that are these chairs from IKEA and they're stackable
So again, we can move these out of the way, the two pendant lights can be
rearranged using different mounting hooks
There's different swag hooks at the top here which allow them to move up and out of the way
This is the materials storage cart what I do is typically for this top tray
I kind of pick and choose from the materials here and build a material palette that we then have sitting next to us
for the meeting
So this kind of fits into that idea of no everything is proximal to its use. The cart is rolling again
So it's thick it's not fixed in a way that limits the use or function of the studio. Coming over to this side here
So I do have some larger sample materials over here
I've got some decking samples, a larger piece of soapstone and some shingle samples
Tool box has a direct relationship to when I'm using it to build models on this table
Cutting that. So at this far corner here again this wooden box aesthetic extends here
These are all sort of current drawings that I have, so I can use them grab and go out to a meeting
I like to print hard copies of these just so that I can pull them out and easily reference them on this table if
I'm having a phone call. I also have some model making supplies
Here as well. All right. So coming over here these loft ladders
I fabricated myself just out of pine basically, and some some brackets at the top. They're fixed with
Magnets, cut magnets here. So you can see I've cut it to notch into the loft framing and then to keep it in place
I've installed recessed magnets
But you can see the box aesthetic sort of happening here as well. On the other side
I have some reference materials which are not used as frequently
Everything above the 8 foot level is rendered in white to keep things light and airy
Let's quickly talk about the music end of things, the drumset takes up the largest amount of space at this end obviously
flanked by the IKEA storage system here
Which has storage for all the musical items as well as some overflow storage from the studio. I also have printmaking supplies there
I use the top of that to store some extra sort of models, swinging over to this side. We have the guitars
They're all mounted to the walls with this black hardware here guitars are all black. The amps are black
The lighting stands are black. The drumset actually used to be black. It's now this sort of cherry red
So it's definitely something to consider when you're planning a small space
How does all the furniture and fittings and equipment all speak to each other and speak a common language?
Let's have a look at the mini split for a minute. Alright, so Norwegian flag. This is my heritage. My grandfather was from Norway
We move that we'll see the heating system and the cooling system for this space
We don't tend to use the cooling very much here in Maine, but it's efficient both ways. This is a mini split
It's basically a heat pump system and depending on which direction you run it in
You'll either heat the interior or cold the interior, you'll notice it's off-center. And this was a mistake of mine during the rough-in phase
I didn't realize that the rough-in which sits over here was actually not positioned in a way to Center it in the space
so that's why we have
Flag hanging over it to correct that asymmetry, never notice
You know when I think about it everything I've ever needed to make things has always sort of been right here on this table and
I love the studio. It's been a fantastic experiment and a great place to work
But the studio's importance doesn't lie in its size or its architecture or layout or organization. It's
Just what it allows you to make