Glamorous Cubicles: Icons of Vintage Hollywood Enter the Contemporary Workplace

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Glamorous Cubicles: Icons of Vintage Hollywood Enter the Contemporary Workplace

April 11, 2012

A few months ago, we explored the joy of Schrebergartenglück, a term translated as “the joy of spending some time in a small garden plot in the middle of many other small garden plots.” The Hütten Palast hotel in Berlin attempted to capture the elusive concept with an unusual lodging arrangement, haphazardly arranging caravans and small wooden huts inside a warehouse interior. We were reminded of the delightful indoor campground when we came across the new office for Canadian creative services agency The Metrick System. Moving into a 5,800 square-foot industrial space in Toronto with soaring 17-foot tall ceilings, The Metrick System chose to occupy the space with a series of reclaimed Airstream trailers. More after the jump.

Designer Cheryl Krismer from Crayon Design was given the challenge of designing a contemporary office space that paid homage to the heyday of Hollywood. She decided to convert Airstream’s chrome caravans—icons of movie-making in the early 20th century—into disparate workspaces, recording studios, staff lounges, and executive offices, placed throughout the office’s refined, minimalist interior. By using recycled abandoned Airstream trailers, recycling existing furniture, and integrating LED lighting and cardboard tubing into the new office space, this striking example of high-end interior design managed to make a bold statement about environmental consideration.

As President and Creative Director Laurence Metrick commented in a press release, “It’s almost hard to believe we needed 20 years to figure out what gave us an environment where people wanted to come to work every day, enjoy collaborative creativity and know they have to walk just a few feet to make a TV spot or record a voice-over. I knew we got it right when the first 10 guests asked if they could rent an office here.”