moore+friesl
Third Point Investments
moore+friesl
28. June 2014
Reception Desk copyright moore + friesl
A Manhattan-based investment firm at Lever House required a one-of-a-kind reception desk, 25-foot-long boardroom table, desk and credenza for the founder’s office, as part of an overall office renovation designed by Leroy Street Studio.
Moore + Friesl worked with Leroy Street Studio to develop these furnishings following their conceptual designs, where the construction was guided by the requirement to transport each piece via the building’s single elevator which could not accommodate large dimensions. The various pieces were fully assembled at the fabrication shop, then disassembled for shipping.
The monumental and aerodynamic reception desk (15 feet long and 9 feet at its widest point) features a fluid asymmetrical Corian outer shell and a rectilinear metal desk underneath. The desk’s surface is made of a honeycombed plywood shell with brushed stainless steel exterior, where the data, voice and security cabling is concealed inside cable chases running through the plywood. While the desktop is thin, it supports the Corian shell’s substantial weight.
The lengthy boardroom table similarly features an outer Corian shell with 20-foot-long underlying metal substructure, which doubles as an AV/data/voice cable routing channel. It serves as a framework to hold 7 speakers, 12 pop-up microphones, 4 data and power connection bays. A metal trough running down
the desk’s center contains 19 different compartments housing the speakers, microphones and power/data plugs, and is covered by a matching wood veneer that acts as speaker grills, doors to access the power/data, and a base for the microphones.
The founder’s private office required a custom-built desk with a perforated, bent metal monitor screen, and a credenza requiring special millwork to house an exercise ball and built-in planter. This Third Point project reveals a high quality of execution in design and fabrication, but also beauty within the form.
Reception Desk copyright moore + friesl
Case Study: Excellent Problem Solving
To maneuver the pieces through the building’s passenger elevator, Moore + Friesl expertly constructed each piece to be disassembled at the shop, then reassembled on site, without breaking any surface continuity in the flow of the curved sculptural pieces made of thermoformed white Corian. The team designed joints in the reception desk so that the Corian shell could be broken into 6 pieces--as large as could be fit into the elevator. To keep the project on budget, they retained the joint lines and kept them visible, allowing them to define the surface and enhance readability, rather than fuse the Corian to be seamless. For the rectilinear metal desk underneath, they designed its major components in 4 large pieces, with numbered connections and registration holes—which were also used on the Corian shell--so they could be quickly identified and reassembled with the same alignment.
Similarly, the boardroom table’s outer Corian shell and metal substructure were each divided into 3 pieces. The outer Corian was seamlessly fused on site so that the table appears to be a single elongated piece. The project’s efficient design and orderly assembly process allowed for the numerous pieces to be easily reassembled on site, using the highest level of precision and minimizing installation time, which reduced overall installation costs.