Boutique Co-Working Office in San Francisco by Yves Behar

Eventually as a freelance creative you have to give up the kitchen table and stop ambling down to your local café mooching off their free Wi-Fi. At some point you take the plunge and go get yourself a desk. You might not be so grown up as to don a suit and tie, but a workstation that is all yours and a place to make a cup of tea that isn’t from your own kettle starts to sound remarkably attractive.

That’s where the concept of shared work spaces for creatives originated. M-Project’s founder Amir Mortazvi, of the property development group, geared up with the acclaimed Swiss designer Yves Behar to do just that. Fittingly called Canopy, you’ll find some of the dynamic creatives of San Francisco working under their umbrella.

“A beautiful and authentic local workplace, void of trivial distractions, Canopy is committed to supporting members’ ventures and encouraging their next conversations,” said the team.

Half of it feels like it’s been pulled from a 1940’s movie. Beautifully tall, fluted, art deco, black marble columns support the base building structure. Like black tulips they rise up towards the ceilings. The lighting designed by Michael Anastassiades for Flos, is reminiscent of the triangular and circular design patterns of the era and have been cleverly re-designed to fit a contemporary world. Long brass rods suspend from the ceilings with opaque round fittings, elegantly hang above workstations. It all lends itself to feeling like you’ve walked into a lobby of some distinction.

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The ceiling is also a masterpiece, articulated as it is with the 1940’s disc shaped detailing. But these classically inspired, white discs serve a multiple function – they house the skylights for the premises, bathing the work space in bright daylight.

It’s not hard to understand why the place, offering work areas for 45 people, is being flocked to. Ones creativity is no doubt enhanced being surrounded by other like minded individuals but you can’t go past working in a high end, beautifully detailed space to get the creative juices flowing.

You just need to glance down at the floor to see that. Chevron flooring, originating in 17th century France, was the finish du jour for nobility. And here, in soft pale oak, it adds an elegance and timelessness to the fitout. It’s more reminiscent of that beautiful understated Scandinavian design than a French court.

Black, fine steel framing, divide up the panels of glass to the offices, echoing the same blackness of the columns. But the office glass walls with their beautifully expressed steel framing, does more than simply look stunning – it brings the space solidly into the contemporary present.

You can’t argue it’s not eclectic though. And eclectic is by it’s very nature hard to pull off. Not often you bring the 40’s, 60’s and the 70’s with a dash of Scandi thrown into the mix, and manage to make it read as cohesive unit. But somehow they have. Soft blue-hued couches and black leather armchairs, encased in moulded, white polypropylene hark back to the 60’s and 70’s design icons. Joe Colombo, Alexander Girard, Stilnuovo and Don Chadwick, interpretation on the classics is stylish and avant garde.

But like good design this was no random decision to lend from different eras.“It is that pioneering spirit of makers past and present that we want to celebrate in Canopy’s design approach,” says Behar.

Powder pink and soft grey workstations, teamed with Herman Miller chairs were all design by Behar himself. Whilst the cube like formation of them feels very 60’s the colour-ways feels very old Hollywood. In fact the elegant black marble reception desk, sitting perched by these soft pink, open plan desking units makes one almost feel that Cary Grant himself might pop open a bottle of bubbles and whisk some lucky starlet across the chevron floor. Ah, would that every day in the office held such romance and excitement.

If you’re loving it half as much as we do, you’ll need to head to San Fran. Whilst the company plan to open more like it, there isn’t one opening down under anytime soon! In the interim, you can always stake out another café, one who doesn’t know your predisposition for ordering minimal coffee and maximum Wi-Fi.

Related Post: Stories On Design // Coworking Spaces.