www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/12019-box-services-llc

Box Services LLC

A 19th-century building in New York's Meatpacking District is transformed into vogue photography Studios.

July 1, 2008

New York, New York

Box Services LLC photography Studio specializes in digital retouching and production for fashion photographers, magazines, and artists. Their new headquarters, a renovated 17,500-square-foot, three-story, 19th-century building in New York’s Meatpacking District, is a crisp interpretation of an industrial building. The architecture distinguishes the Studio’s digital technologies with reminders of previous occupants—butchers, printers, artists—in the exposed timber construction and formerly low-tech production spaces newly coordinated with high-tech needs.

A massive horizontal security door protects the entrance and folds up to double as an awning during business hours, complementing the district’s ubiquitous canopies. Six large steel sash windows puncture the black painted brick facade.

A new skylight and atrium illuminate workspaces down to the ground floor, organizing the building according to lighting requirements at each stage of production. On the top floor are north-lit presentation rooms behind the facade, 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. On the ground floor, the light well illuminates the archive. Open spaces on each floor are designed for both common activities and photo shoots.

People

Owner
Pascal Dangin

Architect
Deborah Berke & Partners Architects LLP
220 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10001
T: 212 229 9211
F: 212 989 3347
E: dba@dberke.com

Personnel in architect's firm who should receive special credit:
Stephen Brockman, Principal
Heather Snyder, Project Architect
Elie Derman, Designer

Engineer(s)
Structural:
Ross Dalland PE
Suite 301
15 Railroad Ave.
Kingston, NY 12401

Mechanical, Plumbing & Sprinkler:
Stanislav Slutsky, PE Consulting Engineers
139 Fulton Street
New York, NY 10038

Electrical:
Alex Rodsen, Forum Engineering
139 Fulton Street
New York, NY 10038

General contractor
Taconic Builders, Inc.
275 7th Avenue
21st Floor
New York, NY 10001
T: 212 929 7811
F: 212 929 5190

Photographer(s)
Catherine Tighe Photographer
25 West Highland Drive #41
Seattle, WA 98119
T: 908 672 6269

Products

Exterior cladding:
Masonry: painted brick, typ.

Windows
Steel: Bliss Nor-Am

Glazing
Skylights: Thermo-Vu

Doors
Entrance: Bliss Nor-Am steel entry doors

Metal doors (interior): painted hollow metal interior doors, typ.

Special doors (sound control, X-ray, etc.): darkrooms have revolving darkroom doors by ESECO-Speedmaster

Hardware
Locksets: All lever handles and latch/locksets by FSB

Hinges: Stanley

Interior finishes:
Custom millwork throughout (both painted and veneered):
WoodPerfect Architectural Woodwork
109 Lincoln Avenue
Pearl River, NY 10965
T: 845 735 9663
F: 845 735 1087

Custom stainless steel photography sinks:
Studio 40
19 Vanderbilt Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11205
T: 718 246 7484
F: 718 246 7480

Ready-made kitchen cabinets: Mott Manufacturing

Paints and stains: Benjamin Moore, flat white interior paint, typ.; one office has Benjamin Moore chalkboard paint

Wallcoverings: painted gwb at all office and gallery spaces, typ.; 4”x4” white wall tile at all photography spaces

Paneling: gallery spaces have painted, magnetic metal wall panels for hanging photography work

Plastic laminate: Formica ColorCore at all custom desktops and workstations

Special surfacing:
Custom window and skylight shades: Blindtek Designer Systems, Inc.

Lighting
Interior ambient lighting: Lightolier fixtures for general lighting, typ.

Task lighting: gallery spaces have Elliptipar fixtures with custom lenses for precise color rendering

Conveyance
Elevators/Escalators: elevator by Zip Systems, Inc.

Plumbing

Specialized photography equipment

Add any additional building components or special equipment that made a significant contribution to this project:
This project was a renovation of an existing three-story warehouse.

Significant Structural Changes: On the façade, the existing fire escape was removed and new window and door openings were constructed. An elevator, two stairwells, and an accessibility ramp were added. The first floor, which needed to be completely reconstructed, is a structural concrete slab. Several skylights were added at the upper floor

Finishes: There were very few, if any, applied interior finishes. Existing finishes were painted, but were left exposed as much as possible, especially at floors and ceilings (polished concrete at first floor; wood planks on heavy timber beams at upper floors). Gallery and office spaces were made as pristine as possible, but most other work spaces and circulation spaces expose the ductwork, plumbing pipes, sprinkler pipes, and electrical conduit.