“It\u2019s a travesty that repeats every year: just as the better weather hits our shores, instead of lolling around on the sand and in the surf, we have to\u2026hit the office.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Far from wallowing in the back-to-work blues,\u00a0Studio 106<\/strong>\u00a0channeled their\u00a0collective consciousness into coming up with ways to maintain their productivity and stretch out that summer feeling. The answer arrived on four wheels: a retro caravan begging to be temporarily adopted. So, instead of bringing the outdoors into the office, they simply\u00a0brought the office to the outdoors.<\/p>\n

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Reducing the\u00a0functional footprint from a 95\u00a0square meter\u00a0office to a peripatetic yet practical space was a challenge but thanks to\u00a0Retro Events<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>it\u00a0was made possible. The design team\u00a0used a semi-converted caravan as their home away from home. Not only did it provide the mobility and flexibility needed, but they\u00a0could park it on the site of one of their\u00a0current projects.<\/p>\n

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“With a plan in place, we employed a \u201cless is more\u201d\u00a0philosophy as our motto to retro-fit the interior to suit our needs. To shoehorn ourselves into the reduced footprint 9m2 whilst keeping a sense of flexibility, we\u2019ve trimmed it down to the bare essentials – computers, chairs, \u00a0our office plant and, it goes without saying, a coffee station! The printer is downsizing to A4, and a selected library of books and materials came along for the ride.”<\/em><\/p>\n

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“We were lucky to have partnered with\u00a0<\/strong>Refold<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>desks for the experiment. They kindly provided the ideal portable working station – desks fashioned from cardboard, which you can fold, and refold as needed. They made transport and flexibility a breeze!”<\/em><\/p>\n

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“Being a small team we work in a very open and collaborative way in the studio and translating this to a small\u00a0caravan proved easy. We included two\u00a0\u2018break-out\u2019 zones in the planning of the space.” <\/em>The first was a flexible stand-up desk by Refold. This offered the option to take a meeting under a near by tree or a discussion over into the shade.<\/p>\n

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The second was a more permanent area for larger meetings, lunches or gatherings. For this they\u00a0brought along a\u00a0small white-board table and a few stools.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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They\u00a0implemented an\u00a0installation that was\u00a0developed for the studio wall titled \u2018 between the folds\u2019, hence utilizing\u00a0all the unused scrap paper the office produced. Through scrunching, twisting and fixing they\u00a0created a new ceiling canopy that gave the interior a bit of flare.<\/p>\n

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From there, they stripped the caravan right back, not only to keep weight down but also to provide more space for circulation and a calm environment to work in.<\/p>\n

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O<\/em>ne of the greatest\u00a0benefits, as an architecture practice, was mobility. An office on wheels allowed them\u00a0to park up on one of their\u00a0project site which \u00a0opened up the opportunity to gain new insight into the site.<\/p>\n

“We ended up chatting to lots of local users and gained real learning\u2019s into what they enjoyed about the site or what they wanted to see change.”<\/em><\/p>\n

“We really enjoyed the engagement with the public and community of the site and could see us employing a similar event for future projects at an earlier stage. We found the event gave the team a bit of a break from the\u00a0reputation\u00a0of working week in week out and seek to engage with future urban or\u00a0community\u00a0events which relates closely to\u00a0a lot\u00a0of the sport and\u00a0community work we focus in.”<\/p>\n

Everyone has asked us why we\u00a0went mobile- and we say \u201cwhy not!”<\/em><\/p>\n

Project Credits:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where:<\/strong>\u00a0Akarana Marine Sports Centre off Tamaki dive by Okahu bay
\nDesign Team:<\/strong>\u00a0Dion Gosling and Keri Cunliffe from studio106 architect<\/p>\n

Client:<\/strong>\u00a0Studio106 Architect\u2028\u00a0www.studio106.co.nz<\/a><\/p>\n

Photography:<\/strong>\u00a0Jo Wickham photography<\/p>\n

Words by:<\/strong>\u00a0Claire McCall and Keri Cunliffe<\/p>\n

+ Studio 106<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Watch the video of Studio 106’s mobile office:<\/p>\n