LES OFFICE
New York, NY

LES Office is a 5,000SF renovation for a creative media company that occupies the street and basement levels of a pre-war building in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. 

HE was tasked with developing a strategic spatial plan to accommodate future growth as well as provide amenities for current employees. Emphasis was placed on communal areas and access to light from the street. 

HE proposed a new "communal foyer” by cracking the floor open; the floor is “peeled up” and “pushed down” to create a large opening for light and view to the basement level. The sunken floor becomes an amphitheater for studio wide gatherings, presentations, meetings, and waiting area for guests. The “peeled up” floor serves as both a surface for projection, and a privacy screen between the workspace behind and the street in front. 

On the basement level, another wall – the logo screen – was designed to provide graduated levels of porosity to hide private areas such as bathrooms and storage.