Post Magazine

June 2016

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OPEN HOUSE www.postmagazine.com 42 POST JUNE 2016 estled right in the middle of 'Animation Row' in New York City's SoHo neighborhood, Not To Scale recently opened the doors to its new 1,200-square-foot studio at 21 Howard Street. We originally shared an old loft space on Broadway and Grand, but the building was being put up for sale and we had to move on. With a well-established office in London, the timing felt right for Not to Scale to find its own space in New York, so we hunt- ed high and low all over midtown and downtown Manhattan, seeing well over 20 spaces that had potential for a creative business via our agent Patti Rock at HomeWorkPeople. We quickly realized that SoHo was our spiritual home and really wanted to find a way to stay in the neighborhood, which has become known as the place-to-be for the best animation studios and visual ef- fects companies on the East Coast. On a visit to New York from London, I immedi- ately saw the space's potential. Amazingly in the end, considering the vast area we scoured, the new studio is less than 100 meters from our old front door, on a very cool little corner of Crosby and Howard. It's a classic New York space — high ceilings supported by steel columns and covered in battered old tin tiles. The room had not been touched since the 1960s and was like a barnyard find. It must have been one of the last undeveloped com- mercial lofts in what has been described as one of the most popular zip codes for a business in the US. The landlord was happy to get creative businesses into the building that reflected the vibe in the neighborhood and gave us carte blanche to make it over as we wished, which had a great appeal to us. Guided by our interior designer, Erika Stahlman, she shared some great ref- erence images with us and there were a few that we were really drawn to and that helped shaped the overall vision for the new studio. It's clean, modern and light with post-modern vintage touch- es. Erika was very resourceful at mixing mid-century US and European furniture with modern storage solutions and softer flourishes, like the hanging plants and pop colored kilim rugs. I also gravitate towards fun flea-market finds, so there's a lot of unique items around the office, old US ephemera and even the odd mismatched mid-century chairs we found online and brought into the finished space. The space itself is extremely versatile in that we can comfortably seat large production crews, welcome clients and seamlessly convert our conference room into an edit suite. We've also had a wall- to-wall party here, and the kitchen set- up works perfectly as a bar at the end of a hard day. Not To Scale has a global reputation for providing a highly cre- ative, friendly and collaborative produc- tion process, so it was important that we remained true to that and have both the studio's philosophy and personality reflected in the space's look and feel. We've created a functioning yet informal studio space that has various areas for staff and clients to sit and chat about creative solutions, whether on the sofa, around the domestic feeling conference table or perched at the kitchen bar shar- ing a coffee or a beer. Having a harmonious and well-de- signed space is really important to the way people feel about coming to work. We wanted the place to feel uncluttered, open and welcoming. People should feel good about the place they are working in and it's important to us to create a comfortable environment. We also feel that as a company strongly rooted in design, it's important to have a space that reflects a high quality of style with an attention to detail. And of course we can't forget Eve's dog Sammy, a regular in the studio. We also have two (fake) pigeons, leftover from a shoot. They are perched over the refrigerator and look disturbingly real. Named Winston & Churchill, they are an ode to our London studio. NOT TO SCALE MOVES INTO NEW SOHO SPACE N BY DAN O'ROURKE FOUNDER/PRODUCER NOT TO SCALE NEW YORK CITY NOTTOSCALE.TV After Before The new location sits at the corner of Crosby and Howard streets. C M Y CM MY CY CMY K

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