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Interior Designers: Studio O+A
- Area: 90000 ft²
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Photographs:Jasper Sanidad
Text description provided by the architects. Zazzle is a custom-‐manufacturing company that produces unique products from artwork and personal materials provided by the client. On Zazzle’s website, users can upload images to create custom, on-‐demand products, or they can purchase products created by other users or participating companies. In creating the company’s new headquarters in Redwood City, Studio O+A drew on Zazzle’s respect for artisanal values and hand-‐crafted quality.
From the beginning, Zazzle’s management team, Robert Beaver and his sons Bobby and Jeff, wanted to secure the best for their new headquarters in Redwood City, California. When we presented two finish options for the fourth floor break room—wallpaper or tile—the Beavers chose hand-‐fired, hand-‐sanded, hand-‐glazed ceramic tile. For the wood finishes encasing the central elevators, they embraced our proposal to apply an ancient Japanese technique of burning the surface of some planks black. The pattern of alternating burned oak and unburned hickory was meticulously created on a template and provided to the millworkers. In a nod to vintage craftsmanship, we installed two cast-‐iron 1926 red London telephone booths designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. Each weighs 3,000 pounds and contains a fully functioning antique telephone.
The cumulative effect of these details—and many others throughout the facility—is to express Zazzle’s belief in the promise of a vibrant maker subculture, a community of inventors and creators who are combining the efficiencies of modern technology with the elegance of handmade arts and crafts.
