GUNDERSON DETTMER
Located within the historic 10-story First National Building in downtown Ann Arbor, MI, the 7,000 SF interior renovation for Gunderson Dettmer office included custom finishes and fabrication designed in collaboration with Rapt Studio.
An exterior perimeter of private offices with glass fronts outline the space and enclose a common area defined with a custom reception island and meeting table.
The island functions as a display reception as visitors enter the office, and as a kitchenette with the functional equipment and storage needs of a kitchen. Constructed of blackened metal steel panels, bent steel tubing and solid hickory, the materials are repeated throughout the space in related fabricated objects.
The most striking details of the space are the custom copper-coated door handles marking each private office and meeting room.
Tagged the “Asymmetrical Butterfly,” the peculiar shape of the door handles is the result of overlapping fields of research in 3D printing and Electroplating.
3D printed high tensile plastic and electroplated in copper, the fabrication process was tested as a means to explore full scale 3D fabrication and industrial plating techniques to create durable and striking pieces for the space and proof of concept that new forms of craft can be disseminated in mass customization. Copper has a profound relationship with history, consistently manipulated to meet the needs of the era. Electroplating was first discovered using copper in electrochemical deposition, therefore we found it logical to advance this history in conjunction of the 3D printing technological revolution.
The linear process begins as a polycarbonate and Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) blended filament 3D printed at a 0.14mm layer resolution. The part is post processed with light sanding and smoothed with acetone to achieve the desired texture. This unsuspecting nonconductive cathode is then coated with a Nickel conductive paint, rendering the 3D print conductive, and finally coated with copper through electrodeposition.
The interior renovation for Gunderson Dettmer’s 4th floor offices continued with the company’s expansion to include another floor in 2020. The expansion continued the design narrative from the previous 2016 renovation.
