Room of the Week: Creative Shift Studio

Category: Office

Designers: Julie Miller, Creative Shift Studio

Location: Vancouver

Goal: Before it was an office, this building in Vancouver’s Chinatown neighborhood was a parking garage. Julie Miller of Creative Shift Studio sought to create an open, bright space for an expanding collaborative company that highlighted the showstopping views of downtown and still exuded the comfort and ease of hanging out in someone’s living room.

Inspiration: “Large, open gallery spaces inspired us to achieve a bare but not unfinished aesthetic,” Miller says. “The color palette of soft beach grays was inspired by driftwood and the West Coast seascape. The clients wanted their office to feel like home.”

Breakdown: This project was all about collaboration. In addition to Miller, Gaile Guevara of Gaile Guevara Design helped with the design, and Vanessa Leung of Designüüd Studio worked on the lighting and Miguel Brovhn of Studio Brovhn was responsible for the furnishings. The Pin Tables in the reception area and the organizers and accessories on the boardroom table are his work. Even with a minimal budget, the group was able to create a sleek, modern space with concrete floors and a subtle color palette.

“Our approach to modern design in this project was to create a pared-back and minimal space that focused on the unobstructed view of the city,” Miller notes. “To achieve a stripped-down but finished interior, we used hard surface materials in the majority of the office, and balanced small textural accents in the wood reception desk and soft furnishings. Letting the cityscape take over the office was key, and this was accomplished by creating uniformity with the finishes and color.”

In the conference area, the table and black chairs were the clients’ own, but the table was stripped and refinished for a fresh look. Above is the StudioDUNN Sorenthia Light in brushed brass with a custom canopy. A Creative Matters rug from Salari brings warmth to the polished concrete floor. The reception desk was a collaboration with CaisleyDevelopments, which fabricated many of the custom furnishings throughout the space. 

Tips to Get the Look: “Selecting two colors in a monochromatic color scheme and using them throughout the space creates a sense of openness and a clean look,” Miller says. “Accent colors are used sparingly so their impact in a neutral space is greater. In small spaces without a lot of ceiling height, use the same color on both the walls and ceiling to avoid breaking up the surfaces."

Images Courtesy of catsegovia.com/