Hired by a prominent photographic post-production studio, Deborah Berke Partners developed a center for a growing business and brand. The firm started with a derelict and unoccupied three-story warehouse located in the Meatpacking District before that neighborhood was chic. In an extensive renovation of the building, the firm organized each floor around a central hall defined by a vertical hole cut through the building. This “cut” visually connects the building`s many components, including labs, studios, darkrooms, production and printing facilities, viewing spaces and offices. It also provides natural light to the center of the building. Most significant was the transformation of the façade, an arrangement of a simple grid of boldly-large windows in a striking black-brick wall. It sits, both mysterious and arresting, on busy West 14th Street."
Box Studios is a photography studio specializing in digital retouching and production for fashion photographers, magazines and artists.
Their new headquarters is a renovated, three story, 19th century building in New York.
On the ground floor, the light well illuminates the archive. Open spaces on each floor are designed for both common activities and photo shoots.
Deborah Berke & Partners kept the architecture that distinguishes the studio’s digital technologies with reminders of previous occupants, coordinating the low-tech production spaces with high-tech needs.
The building has been organized according to the lighting requirements at each stage of production. On the top floor are north-lit presentation rooms, the light-filled center and executive offices.
The second floor accommodates administrative space around the atrium and a darkened retouching studio at the rear of the building.