Hard Core

Edie Cohen -- Interior Design, 3/1/2006 12:00:00 AM

No boring white box. not from design-build architecture firm Sand Studios, not for the owners of Sculpturesite Gallery, located a block from Mario Botta's San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. As the name of the gallery implies, it deals exclusively in sculpture, contemporary abstract and figurative pieces from around the world. So principal Larissa Sand and designer Oblio Jenkins responded with sculpture of their own: a grand gesture set off by intricate detailing.

"The space already had a Sheetrock core, all set up for a sculptural event," Jenkins points out. He and Sand simply took that central volume, expanded it to 24 by 34 feet, and clad its sides in sheets of hot-rolled steel—a signature of the studio. "Hot-rolling gives metal a smoky finish. We left the flame marks visible, using only a clear sealant," Sand explains. One of the steel walls cants slightly forward, a dynamic form visible from the 2,700-square-foot gallery's two street-front window walls.

Carving away one corner of the steel core, Sand and Jenkins fashioned a recess for a reception desk with a front of the same steel and a top of poured concrete, also used for the gallery's floor. Inside the enclosure, the architects placed an office, a kitchen, and a bathroom as well as a private room where deals are closed. The tall window between the closing room and the gallery proper is a clear panel of cast glass laminated with bits of ruby-red and gray glass for spark.

Details are subtle. Junctures are seamless. "We used to like an industrial look, with exposed rivets and joints," Sand says. "Now we're more refined." Edges and corners are concealed with a trim of steel that's been cold-rolled, a process yielding metal a shade or two darker.

Transformed from an obstruction into an organizing element, the core lends the surrounding interior a choreographed grace. As for the dancers, they come in all shapes and sizes, from a group of life-size male and female ceramic figures, seemingly flying through the air, to a constructivist bronze taking a stance on a steel cabinet and sculptural gold rings, presented in a down-lit niche.

At San Francisco's Sculpturesite Gallery, a bronze by Mark Chatterley stands near a central enclosure clad in hot-rolled steel; Chatterley's other figures are ceramic.

Clockwise from top left: Hans Van de Bovenkamp's bronze and Jeffery Laudenslager's stainless-steel and titanium piece flank the closing room's cast-glass window. A steel shelf displays a Jorge Blanco work in painted aluminum next to Clement Meadmore's bronze; bronzes by Bruce Beasley and Van de Bovenkamp stand on the steel cabinet below. On the back side of the central enclosure, a Nina Lyons bronze perches near a display niche with sliding glass panels. The reception area's wall cants forward 8 degrees. Reception's custom desk features a poured-concrete top and a steel front; bronzes by Beasley and Gerard Tsutakawa are mounted on the wall behind.

CUSTOM WINDOW (ENCLOSURE): LENEHAN ARCHITECTURAL GLASS. CUSTOM DESK, CABINET: JOE RUT CUSTOM WOODWORKING. CUSTOM DESKTOP, FLOORING: QUICKSAND STUDIO. TRACK LIGHTING: ELCO LIGHTING. SHEET METAL: STANDARD SHEET METAL. CEILING TILE: ARMSTRONG. CEILING SYSTEM: USG CORPORATION PAINT: DUNN-EDWARDS. LIGHTING CONSULTANT: LIGHT EXPRESS. GENERAL CONTRACTOR: SKYLINE CONSTRUCTION.