Located within a warehouse building in Vancouver, the LAJ Office/Shop consists of an office space with a connected retail space for the new Leah Alexandra Headquarters.

Plastered walls with smooth curvatures simultaneously separate, connect, and guide you through diverse areas needed for all aspects of the jewelry studio. These areas are seamlessly connected within a coherent, flexible, and functionally calm office. Surprising encounters of diverse stones in the space, complemented with soft shapes, textures and materials, create a refined fun environment to be in.

Leah's brief was a multi faceted and flexible office space including a private executive office, operations and production areas, shipping/receiving, a small kitchen, an eating area and significant storage area for jewelry pieces, tools, materials, safes, and office supplies. Simultaneously, she wanted the space to be flexible enough to hold private events and workshops related to her jewelry business. Finally, it would also need to incorporate a small retail area to showcase her jewelry collections. As a city requirement, the retail area had to be separated from the office area by a wall and it could only occupy 33% of the entire floor area.

Leah required that there would be no base building or structural changes to the existing space, including the ceiling. As such, the starting point for the space planning was guided by the existing columns in the space. To separate the retail area from the remaining office, a plaster wall follows the columns through curvature that creates softness in the open space. Similarly, existing columns determined the placement of a grouping of perlino marble countertop islands that create a delineation between the work areas while also connecting them. From there, there was a layering of work areas to fulfill the client's requirements and provide visual depth.

Like the pieces in Leah Alexandra's jewelry collections, long-lasting natural materials were sourced from environmentally responsible companies. For the plaster walls, we selected EM diatomite, which is fossilized-algae that assists with humidity control, deodorization, energy control, and has self-cleaning capabilities. Tiles for the kitchen were selected from the Ann Sacks Alo collection that are made from recycled glass from disgarded TV and PC screens.  Drapery from Kvadrat meets Green building standards and is recyclable, upholstery for the task chairs from Maharam meets similarly high environmental standards and is made from recycled materials. Onyx and marble pieces were shaped by a local craftsman into pieces that will last for many years and are reusable. All these considerations of natural materiality and textures were considered to ensure a healthy and invigorating environment for staff and customers.

The project contributes to the neighbourhood, currently mostly industrial and office, inviting passersby see and understand the making of the jewelry they can hold in their hand.