This office fit–out uses the interior as a sign. It is the conversion of a warehouse/office into an architect’s office. It contemplates the notion that architecture still has the ability to communicate without using words. The aspiration for the ground floor interior was for it to be understood from the outside.

The initial idea was to insert a 3-dimensional object into the existing roller door covered warehouse entry. The object was thought of a ‘train carriage’ or a timber ‘C’ shape. This is the main meeting room and the heart and sole of the office as well the first point of interaction with the office.

The idea was developed into a timber object that wrapped itself around the room, becoming floor, wall, ceiling, bench, credenza and letterbox. It has natural warmth and colour, as well as a resolutely constructed quality. The fourth side of the room is laced up (like a boot) with hemp rope.

By night this ‘sign’ is hidden as the office retreats into anonymity. The original warehouse chain-run roller shutter is drawn, shutting down the façade in preparation for another rough night beside a notorious pub.