The importance of collaboration (on a fireplace)

The myth of the architect as the lone creator is a pervasive one. Whether it is the fictionalized architect of novels, toiling away in his office or the starchitect being lauded for the work of a five hundred person firm, our culture seems determined to avoid thinking of creation as an act of collaboration. We recently had the pleasure of working on a project that is great example of how even a small project requires a great amount of collaboration.

The project was to update a fireplace mantle to fit in better with the rest of the house. Every other part of the house had been remodeled and the only remaining incongruous note was the fireplace. We designed a steel surround with a reclaimed wood beam mantle and clear fir casework. The casework has led lighting to back light the removable wine rack. The design itself was a collaboration between ourselves and the client, as always. In order to actually realize the design, we called on some of our friends that we work with fairly often. The steel was done by Morgan Elliot (http://morganrobertelliott.com/), The casework was built by Eric Nation (http://ericnation.com/), and the lighting was done by Lumenkraft Electric. As always, Brad Hanson from Hanson Construction was with us for the install work.

Here are a couple of pics of the finished job.