This year to celebrate EL Studio’s birthday we’re throwing a DETAIL-AVERSARY! We’ll be featuring details — the small elements of a design that come together to characterize the whole — of our past work!

University of Queensland

First up we have the Jacaranda screen at the University of Queensland offices at the Embassy of Australia in Washington, DC.

The main UQ campus is famed for its jacaranda trees; to collapse the distance between it and their DC office, we clad the office’s central space in perforated wood screens featuring an abstracted pattern of the jacaranda in bloom!

North Lincoln Street Residence

Next up: A new stair in a ‘70s home plays off existing slanted exterior siding patterns to imbue the interior with light. The stair treads are shaped to bounce light from a skylight above. The bamboo paneling tilts to conceal handrails and indirect lighting. The tilt is referenced again in a feature wall in the primary bath, making the entire renovation scope feel like one cohesive gesture.

DC Association of Realtors Headquarters

The new permanent headquarters for DC Association of Realtors includes a vaulted spine, extruded from the building’s arched windows, organizes circulation and creates a subtle gradation between public and private in this office space. The vault is made of simply materials — drywall and kerfed MDF. It bends to conceal cove lighting, splits to receive glass partitions, and is sheered to direct flow; but remains an anchor within the flexible office environment that surrounds it.

Illinois Street Residence

A studio favorite, a simple LED strip light embedded into a collar tie to uplight a vaulted ceiling makes for clean ceilings and lofty space.

Kent Residence

This handrail detail was forged during construction on our Kent Residence Renovation, but turned out so nice we’ve used it twice!