A Complete Renovation Of The Corporate Offices, California Cooperative Creamery
The design concept for this project responds to the nature of the client's business. The client is a fully operational creamery producing
milk, cheese, butter and other dairy products for a large customer base in the rich agricultural area just north of the San Francisco Bay
Area. The creamery is the eleventh largest cooperative creamery in the United States. Established in 1913, the creamery just celebrated
eighty years of business. The creamery has a long and rich history in this scenic and historic agricultural community.
This project was a complete renovation of the creamery's corporate offices. The old offices were dark, crowded, cluttered and outdated.
The hallways were long and narrow and the finishes and fixtures worn out. The image did not reflect the success of the company. The
interior spaces were gutted and opened up and windows added to let in natural light and view. The primary objective was to create a
pleasant atmosphere for employees and visitors for this busy company. The dairy industry was highlighted in a contemporary fashion,
while adhering to a limited budget. A palette was selected to bring in the warmth of the golds and greens of the dairy ranch grasslands.
The design team selected Pine and Douglas Fir as the dominant woods to feature. These woods have a warm and friendly quality and
they are also familiar to the industry - the packaging for the cheese is in pine cartons and the barns and farmhouses on the local dairies
are constructed of Douglas Fir and Pine.
A special wood wall near the reception area highlights the company's framed original Articles of Incorporation from the State of
California in 1913 and the framed signatures of the founding fathers of the creamery. Many of their descendants are currently active
members of the creamery cooperative.
A custom "attention getting" reception desk was designed of wood and galvanized sheetmetal. The desk is designed to display current
creamery products or old dairy artifacts. In the nearby waiting area a unique table was created by a Bay Area artisan from a solid wood
beam. The old beam is 18" wide by 24" deep! All of the office desks and guest chairs are constructed of oak or maple. To further tie the
use of wood into the overall design a wood trim detail on the top of all interior walls was custom tooled to match the edge detail of the
private office desks.
A photographer was retained to photograph pastoral scenes on the local dairies. He photographed cows being milked, newly born
calves, and cows grazing with the hillsides beyond. All photographs were enlarged to poster size, framed in wood frames to match the
furniture and carefully displayed throughout the new offices. |
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