22RE brings home comforts to work in this mid-century-infused L.A. office conversion

The line between office and domestic space has been blurring for some time – a shift we’re happy to embrace, especially when the domestic side has a mellow mid-century mood. That atmosphere pervades the latest office conversion by Los Angeles-based design and architecture studio 22RE.

Created for local creative agency Day Job, the space is wrapped in warm materials such as cherry wood, terracotta tiles and carpet, tempered by green concrete flooring and stainless steel countertops and hardware – a palette more typically found in residential interiors. 'We tried to make the space feel domestic, almost like an apartment,' says 22RE founder Dean Levin, pointing to the sunken 'piazza' that serves as a dedicated workspace, with custom cherry-wood desks and green leather desk chairs. 'There’s also a living room setting, a dining room setting, and the conference room we thought of as a bedroom,' he continues.

From the outside, the 1,800-square-foot building in the city's Glassell Park neighbourhood – formerly the studio of artist Ed Ruscha – is austere, clad in locally sourced Douglas fir and stucco. Yet inside, the mood lightens. 'It was in poor condition when we first encountered it,' recalls Levin. 'Like a lot of older L.A. buildings, there were multiple extensions and add-ons from different decades – it wasn’t cohesive.' Given carte blanche by Day Job, the studio peeled back the layers and reconfigured the layout to create a greater sense of space – which included the addition of a wall of pivoting timber-framed doors that open out onto a terrace area. They also considered how someone of such creative significance as Ruscha might have occupied the space. 'One of the artworks that was purchased for the office is actually an original Ed Ruscha print. We really wanted to get it back to being a space that inspires creativity.'

22RE is known for referencing the mid-century movements that shaped Los Angeles’ design language – Italian, French and Japanese Modernism – so it’s no surprise that these influences are bound into the renovated interior. 'To me, the best examples of design are mid-century modernists and futurists – the likes of Shiro Kuramata, Gae Aulenti, Pierre Chapo and Schindler,' Levin tells us. In Day Job’s office, there’s a nod to Italian town squares and the playful forms of Soviet modernism in the sunken piazza, while in the kitchen, orange cement tiles are paired with a backsplash by legendary Californian brand Heath Ceramics, founded in 1948. The lighting scheme is another standout – a mid-century design enthusiast’s dream, combining classics by Charlotte Perriand, Sophus Frandsen and Motoko Ishii with contemporary pieces by Anthony Dickens.

Many of the furnishings were designed in-house – from desks and dining sets to the sculptural conference table. 'Custom furniture plays a key role in the ethos of our studio,' says Levin, who worked as an artist before setting up his interior design practice in 2021.

Through the furniture, the studio pulls together and expands upon the material palette and design language, such as the circle motif that appears in door cut-outs, skylights and chair backs, adding to the space’s soft, inviting ambience. 'We used wood, fabric, and metal to produce custom door handles, cabinet pulls, and other small pieces that help to elevate the project down to the small details,' Levin adds. 'We enjoy working at the tactile scale, including as many custom and hand-built elements as possible. We want each project to be a distinctly '22RE space.''

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