Brooklyn

The doors are now open at our satellite office in Brooklyn, NY!

"When we started the company we specifically chose the name 'NewStudio' to reflect our vision for the company: we see ourselves differently," said Sean Wagner, President / CEO of NewStudio Architecture. "Brooklyn is the borough that's known for creative spirit, craftsmanship, and cultural activity - so it was very easy for us to see ourselves being part of the community.  Our office is located in the renovated Eberhard Faber pencil factory building; the atmosphere reflects our commitment to adaptive reuse and thoughtful design. We're excited for the expansion."

Our new location is not the same kind of waterfront as the White Bear Lake office, but a great view of the East River overlooking the beautiful New York City skyline.  The location allows us to better serve our East Coast clients and explore new opportunities in the region.  

Ushering in Summer with Art

NewStudio Architecture celebrated five years on May 19th! It was a glorious May afternoon, filled with live music, Gastrotruck Catering's excellent food truck, and opened office doors to welcome visitors. And the NewStudio Art Shanty made an appearance! Originally designed and constructed for the frozen surface of White Bear Lake, the ice shanty was equally at home on our green, front lawn. 

And what was in the Art Shanty?  Featured art work from the NewStudio staff [Wale Falade, Brita Hauser, Adam Jarvi, Engy Michael, Marcy Conrad Nutt, Monica Russell, and Sean Wagner].  What a fun way to see each other's outside the office creativity.

And the next day, many of us went from the tiny Art Shanty to Art-A-Whirl, the largest open art studio tour in the United States. May 20, 21, and 22nd was the 21st Annual NEMAA (Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association) Art-A-Whirl event. An open studio tour in the heart of the industrial warehouses of old Nordeast, featuring over 50 locations, interspersed with coffee shops, breweries, food trucks, and unique restaurants.

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The view from Studio 225 in the Thorp Building, featuring Scott Helmes, a friend and mentor to NSA.

Photos are from inside and around the Solar Arts Building, where NSA architect Marcy Conrad Nutt's studio is located.

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Pedestrians, Cars, Trains, Buses and Bikes everywhere!  

Check out our newest installation in the office

Inspired by gabion rock walls and our original live plant wall, we wanted to create an edge that would separate the lobby from the rest of the work space. Gabion walls which are used a lot within the construction field, were once used for military applications.  Using rocks, plants and wood within the typical modularity of a gabion wall, this allowed us to play with the relationship between solid and void to create the barrier.  However, the design still allows the beautiful views of the lake to be seen from the rear of the office.  With the help of Thomas Oliphant (http://www.thomasoliphant.com/), we were able to collaborate on the design and come up with a successful solution for the lobby.    

The live edge wood slab came from Scott Albright at Reincarnate Woodworking and the fabrication of the gabion wall was through Hans Early-Nelson at Primitive Precision, http://primitiveprecision.com/heritage/

 

 

 

Rockin' Rock Desk

We've been busy redesigning the front entryway of our office!

Part of the new design includes a Gabion inspired desk. The custom cage was designed to hold 4-6" trap rock, while creating the perfect base for a locally sourced walnut top. 

Here's a time lapse video of the rocks being loaded into the cage. 

More on the new NSA Front Entryway on the blog soon! 


Thanks to Primitive Precision for washing all the rocks by hand (and fabricating)
And to Thomas Oliphant for the design collaboration