Goings on at the BWC Architecture Studio
Maker Faire is this weekend! We will be there to show off the Serpent Twins project, as well as a few other surprises.
So in celebration of Maker Faire we thought we would do a retrospective of photos featuring the MAKE chairs we made for the Faire back in 2007. They are still in use, usually on one of the stages.... see if you can spot them this year!
Maker Faire, Austin - 2007
Maker Faire, SF Bay Area- 2008
Maker Faire, SF Bay Area- 2007
Maker Faire, SF Bay Area 2009
See you there!
We have been lucky enough to work with ClifBar again on another internal marketing wall for their Emeryville office location. This one focused on the Womens' Mountain Biking Team they sponsor, and integrated an aesthetic of reclaimed barn wood juxtaposed with clean lines.
This wall was coincidentally right next to another office wall we did. That one was a promotional wall for their internal philanthropy work, done with a 1950's diner theme and reclaimed bike parts.
The LunaChix wall (named after their LunaBar line) incorporates overlapping frames, a movable time line, Bike Jersey holders, a map of where the teams are located and a giant overhead sign.
This row of frames will act as a timeline for showing which bike team is in the lead.
Working with the client, we designed the aesthetic and functionality of these items.
The timeline frames can slide easily along their rail with these small clips we've added to the back.
For the Map, we chose to use an oiled Walnut face, and then carve the state lines into it.
We did this so the soft material behind the veneer can accept the pins to showcase the team locations.
We used the same material to make these striking jersey holders
By creating a system to hang and overlap the barnwood frames, photos in the frames can be easily switched out when needed.
For the larger wood frames, we added a laser-cut wood name attached to the side:
And finally, the large barnwood sign. We made this custom barnwood sign by dying the wood after fabricating its shape, so the variation in the wood slats can shine through.
We are working on a very fun office interior renovation for an independent game studio in New York. At the end of last year we were heavy in design phase... doing things like this:
....and now we are heavy in fabricating pirate ships!
Working closely with this small office, we created a new look for their office of many rooms. This big fabrication run is for one of their larger rooms where everyone sits, which we are turning into a nautical paradise. The photo above is a prototype for ships that will straddle cube walls and provide shade against noon day glaring sun.
Here is our original concept drawing...
The larger ships are part of a set of screens for and undefined hallway to give it some privacy and interest.
There are stacks and stacks of ships!
And don't forget... waves for the ships. Or they won't get anywhere!
An additional promotional article posted in the SF Chronicle over the weekend mentions us in the same sentence as President Obama. We'll take that. "When President Obama gave a shout out to 3-D technology and its potential to revolutionize U.S. manufacturing in his State of the Union speech last month, he might as well have been talking about Jillian Northrup and Jeffrey McGrew of Oakland, (California). The principals of the architectural design-build studio Because We Can are harnessing the increasingly affordable power of robotics to create whimsical custom furniture and fixtures for Bay Area clients, including gaming company Three Rings, producers of the popular computer game Puzzle Pirates. They also created a buzz with this mad scientist's office, complete with cat transport tube, designed for Eric and Sue Johnston of San Francisco and built using Frank, a Shopbot CNCRouter.
For more on the couple and their quirky studio, click here."
We were interviewed for the Home and Garden section of this last Sunday's Chronicle.Check out the article here. It's a nice piece!
To match the dining room chairs we made for this client a while back, we recently added some tall pantry doors and screens for the existing cabinets. The dining chairs we made are a set of all different patterns incorporating a tree design motif on the back.
Because the chairs are a focus point of the room, the client wanted a few custom elements for the adjoining kitchen to it all together.
We made a couple of these screens to cover plain areas of the cabinets.
And then created a design that matched the chairs for their larger pantry doors.
Once the framing surround for the cabinets goes in this will all be complete!
All are invited, so come on by! We'd love to see you.
We'll be celebrating and showing off recent projects completed and those underway. It's a great time to drop by and talk shop with us.
We'll have some snacks, some drinks, many new projects to show, and more.
Kids welcome, but it is a shop and a party. Lots of sharp corners. And they might learn some interesting new words!
2500 Kirkham St Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 922-8846
Here is a quick and fun design idea for a bike rack.
Slowly raising the bikes in a continuous wave pattern so they fit and pleasantly fill the space under existing stairs.
For a loft renovation project in downtown San Francisco, we designed light shades inspired by blooming flowers.
Lots of other things are happening in this project, but for now I am just showing off the light shades. They came out really nicely and make a big difference already to the space!
Large frosted bulbs allow us to have the bottom of the shade exposed, and show off the details inside. When you look up at the shade you can see the aluminum plates that suspend above. The patterns cut into the plates throw fun shadows onto the ceiling.
Of course, the different patterns throw different shadows above.
We had a fun time designing these. Not one shade is alike, as the overlapping frosted panels fall in a different orientation on each. The patterned aluminum is unique on each as well. More to come on this project as it progresses!
As we've mentioned before, we are helping The Long Now renovate their space at Fort Mason by adding a Bar and Event Space into the existing museum. The Long Now is a non-profit who's mission is to creatively foster long-term thinking and responsibility in the framework of the next 10,000 years.
This new space is part of that mission. To help raise funds for this project, they have collaborated with non other than St George Spirits to produce a Gin from the Juniper Bushes at their clock site.
There are so many cool links in the above sentences I cannot even believe it.
Anyway, January 23rd, you can taste this amazing Gin and help support the project by coming to the Gin Tasting event at Fort Mason!
We will be there talking about the new designs, and generally mingling. Hope to see you there!
Our latest improvement to the Mad Scientist Home Workshop project just got its first cat friendly transportation.Just look at this happy customer:
The tube system travels over the desks,
around three of the four walls, allowing cats to access the top of the Maker armoire.
There are viewing ports for engaging with humans though,
and hidden access points.
As well as lots of details to make it aesthetically pleasing. Including this operable wheel!
The first step to greater cat mobility throughout the room is here!
Autodesk University was last week, where we had a great time taking cool classes, meeting new people and giving a presentation on Digital Fabrication. We also helped out this year by making a few tables for the Digital Fabrication Lounge area.
There were Checkers tables:
Chess tables:
And a Go table:
We carved different designs and text over each table...
And made matching stools:
Did you notice that the stool and table bases spell out "AU"?
See Jeffrey talk a bit more about the tables on the Core 77 blog here
The Serpent Twins took a visit to Peralta Junction a week ago, and you should too before they close!
Peralta Junction is a great pop-up outside venue filled with live music, vendors and games. We look a night time trip there, but they are open during the day too on the weekends.
The Serpents were looking mighty fine that night in their glowing glory.
Who know what you will see there!
Meet us in Vegas! We'll be presenting at Autodesk University again this year. Keeping it low-key this time after last year's keynote, we're just giving a single talk on digital fabrication. Thus giving us time to go to lots of awesome classes, meet up with great people, and visit a wonderful tiki bar. We'll see you there!
We have been involved with The Long Now for years. They are just too cool for us to stay away. But recently they asked us to help them design their new salon space. Of course we accepted! Their current space has an open office over a museum and book store that shows off all their various projects. They also try to use the space for receptions after their very successful lecture series they hold in a nearby theater within Fort Mason. They noticed that there are more people having more interesting conversations in these receptions, so they want to turn the space into one that could accommodate this use all the time.
We have been working closely with them to make the new layout a modular design that will fit their unique needs.
By day, the space will serve as museum, library, event space, and coffee bar. It will allow for The Long Now to expand upon their very successful lecture series into smaller, more intimate events.
By night a cerebral salon space that serves inspired cocktails and promotes conversations through the exhibits on display.
To help fund the project, artisanal bottles of Gin and Whiskey are being made by St. George Spirits, using the Juniper berries and botanicals from the clock site.
If you purchase one of these bottles, it will be kept at the salon, in traditional Japanees Bottle Keep style, for you to enjoy there. The bottle will be lowered down to you from the ceiling, where all the bottles are kept, like a full ceiling chandelier.
We are looking forward to seeing this project go into construction. And it will happen sooner if you all purchase a bottle!
It will not only serve as a fund raising vehicle for the non-profit, but act within the community and larger society to help further the primary goal of the Long Now: to foster and encourage long term thinking.
You can see our full project page for more images here. And find out more about how to support The Long Now salon here!
We've just migrated our site from Drupal 6 to the new Drupal 7. Huzzah! We took the opportunity to fix some outstanding issues & revise our theme. It's a snazzy new one that auto-adjusts for device and looks awesome on tablets (and soon smartphones). We'd love to know what you think of it! A few minor tweaks to go, so things will be a little fluid for a bit.
Jeffrey and I had some Halloween fun last week, designing and making our outfits with lots of flair additions made on Frank. The costumes were very esoteric: "Miskatonic University Archaeologists".
We made a box for each of us. An apparatus used to scan the local vegetation and inhabitants. They glowed an unnatural color from within and allowed for lots of 'fine tuning' with their dials and buttons (and they doubled as as a small bag).
We carved aluminum plates to add authenticity to the boxes.
And a large plate to adorn the leather strap.
Finally, a final touch of matching emblems for our hats.
Hope you had a great Halloween too!
Last week a small film crew took over our shop for a while, taking lots of video for one of our projects.During which, Jeffrey got interviewed.....
And so did Frank!
Design is an iterative process, where changes occur as the best solution presents itself from the back-and-forth between the client, the physical constraints, and our ideas. And so sometimes ideas we've come up with for a small part of a project no longer fit into the larger picture. These orphaned ideas are still cool, so we love to share the sketches for them with you! Recently we were asked to produce a gamer-themed coffee table as part of a larger office remodel we're doing. The lounge it was slated for changed ideas, and a so overtly gamer themed custom coffee table didn't really work anymore.
The first idea we came up with was this Tetris-styled table, where the blocks are various shades of wood inlay into a maple top portraying an endless perfect game falling into place.
The next idea was for an 'ultimate battle' space invaders styled table, where the 'bad guys' get more and more modern as they ascend up the table. This one would be black resin inlay into a maple top.
Really loved the progression of characters on this one.
The last idea was for something a little more modern as games go, and it's for a portal-themed table. An LED-ringed mirror on either side of a nice maple butcher-block top makes it appear as if the top is endlessly passing between the two portals, one red and one blue!
Shame that these three rough sketches won't be made real for this project. Maybe next time!
One thing about our company you might not know: we're an Open Business. We release almost all of our work under a Creative Commons licence. Even our Business Plan. Which just got majorly updated! We've learned a lot since we posted it last time and feel it really reflects that. If you're either into business or looking to be, check it out.
We'd love to hear what you think about it!
