WORK
From LA
to London
to Tallinn:
ROOMS
WITHIN
ROOMS
is the go-
to office
approach
DESIGNERS AROUND THE WORLD are
driven by similar impulses and draw on a
common vocabulary of forms, materials and
spatial strategies. So it’s no surprise to find
that a film-production company in South-
ern California, a dance studio in London
and a media headquarters in Tallinn share a
common feature: tiny rooms within a soar-
ing void. The concept can be traced back to
antiquity and the aedicula that enclosed the
altar in a temple. A richly modelled balda-
chin focuses attention on the high altar of
St Peter’s in Rome, and architect Charles
Moore used a minimal variant to make his
tiny house in Orinda, California, seem larger.
Grand or modest, singular or multiple, these
inner rooms establish a hierarchy of scale,
layering space and adding complexity.
In Tallinn, Arhitekt 11 was commis-
sioned to design and realize new offices for
Äripäev, Estonia’s largest business news-
paper, radio and publishing company. It’s
housed within the soaring volume of Luther’s
Machine Room, a landmark structure of rein-
forced concrete that two Russian architects
designed as a plywood-furniture factory
in 1912. ‘The building inspired us, though
initially we were a little afraid of it,’ says lead
designer Hannelore Kääramees. ‘We wanted
to preserve the character of the original
while creating a feeling of spontaneity.’
The company had formerly occupied
a four-storey building in which each depart-
ment was segregated from the rest. Its goal
was to put all 280 employees on the 2,330-m^2
main floor. Rows of workstations are »Richard Davies
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