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The Teak

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Lounge by the loft windows with cognac leather sofa, mudcloth pillows, black sling chairs and fiddle-leaf trees

SoMa Darkroom

San Francisco, CA

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A workplace for a camera company should feel like the best kind of darkroom: warm, focused and a little magic.

Our client first trusted us with their home, so for the office they asked for the same feeling: less like work, more like home. We started with the bones, old brick, big windows and exposed ducts, and layered in warmth: cognac leather sofas, sling chairs, honeyed wood tables and plenty of green.

Their brand's black and yellow became our palette, glowing like a darkroom's amber light. Matte black restrooms. Amber-yellow phone booths. Portraits and camera prints hung like a private collection.

A space people actually want to come back to, to think, to gather and to do their best work.

Brick-walled lounge corner with cognac sofa, black sling chair, fiddle-leaf tree and framed photograph

Brick-walled lounge corner with cognac sofa, black sling chair, fiddle-leaf tree and framed photograph

Black sling chair and potted fern beneath a framed black-and-white photograph on brick

Lilies, books and a The Teak candle on a black wood coffee table in front of the cognac sofa

Cognac leather sofa against black brick under framed vintage camera prints, with a round oak coffee table

The Teak candle and matchbox on a light wood table beside a potted fern, against an amber wall

Amber-lit phone booth with black chair and oak ledge

Round oak coffee table with lilies and books in the brick lounge, team table beyond

Brick-walled lounge with cognac leather sofa, framed camera prints and a dining table beyond

Black restroom with an oversized black-and-white portrait of a woman with a camera lens, and a plant on a wood stool

Black restroom with a black steel vanity, tall mirror, white lilies and a snake plant

Open shelving in front of black brick with white drawers, books and a red radio, beside a mesh office chair

Meeting room with an oak table, black chairs and white shelving by the loft windows

Conference room with a long oak table, black mesh chairs, brick-wall shelving and tall loft windows

Lounge by the loft windows with cognac leather sofa, mudcloth pillows, black sling chairs and fiddle-leaf trees

The Story Behind the Space

The Hero, SoMa Darkroom

PHOTO TO COME

1 THE HERO

The opening image that sets the tone.

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BEFORE PHOTO OR INSPIRATION BOARD

2 THE STORY

A SoMa office for a camera company…

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SKETCHES · PLANS

3 THE JOURNEY

We kept the building's bones, old brick…

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MATERIAL BOARD · SAMPLES

4 THE DETAILS

Cognac leather sofas, sling chairs, honeyed wood…

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The Spaces, SoMa Darkroom

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5 THE SPACES

Lounge areas for thinking and gathering, focused…

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The Result, SoMa Darkroom

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6 THE RESULT

An office people actually want to come…

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How SoMa Darkroom came together, from first idea to the finished home.

Brick-walled lounge corner with cognac sofa, black sling chair, fiddle-leaf tree and framed photograph

Add paragraph text. Click “Edit Text” to update the font, size and more. To change and reuse text themes, go to Site Styles.

Add paragraph text. Click “Edit Text” to update the font, size and more. To change and reuse text themes, go to Site Styles.

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