The new HQ of documentary production company Sandbox Films speaks to New York’s status as a cinematic icon as well as the old-school glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Age
Before cinema became an art form, it was a technological marvel. One Saturday in April 1894, crowds gathered at 1155 Broadway in Manhattan for a chance to peer into a Kinetoscope – a precursor to movie projectors that created the illusion of movement by rapidly running still images in front of a bright light.
New Yorkers put their eyes against a peephole and saw footage of cockfights, blacksmiths at work… Scenes of everyday life made new again by the magic of motion pictures. If technology is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, the purpose here was the celebration of science itself. Advances in chemistry and engineering had brought into existence a new way of seeing the world.
A short walk from where those first commercial Kinetoscope screenings were held, in what soon afterwards became known as the Flatiron District, stands a landmark 1920s skyscraper in which the intersection of science and cinema continues to be explored. Since June 2023, award-winning documentary studio Sandbox Films has occupied offices on the building’s 10th floor, designed by boutique Brooklyn-based practice Civilian. The brief, says the practice’s 37-year-old co-founder Ksenia Kagner, was to create an environment where “both the film and science communities would feel welcomed”.
Sandbox Films launched in 2020 with the mission of “illuminating the art and beauty of scientific inquiry”, and is best known for its Oscar-nominated 2022 film Fire of Love, which follows the lives of volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft. Through films such as Werner Herzog’s Fireball and Theo Anthony’s Sundance Special Jury Prize-winning All Light, Everywhere, it has brought to the screen the sense of wonder that animates disciplines as diverse as meteorology, medical ethics and lepidopterology (the study of moths and butterflies).
The new 390 sq m office is the studio’s first purpose-built workspace, and a very appropriate one, too. The Broadway address affords its six full-time staff members cinematic views of New York City, whose skyline evokes the mythic iconography of American film noir. References to the Golden Age of Hollywood abound in the interior details, from the old-school marquee lighting running along the beams above the reception-cum-entertaining space to the retro vertical brass sconces of the in-house projection room.
“Context is something that we use as a driver in our design narratives,” says Kagner, who launched Civilian with architect and designer Nicko Elliott in 2018. As with the practice’s work on Newlab at Michigan Central, a workspace housed inside Albert Kahn’s landmark former post-office building in Detroit, the designers were eager to situate the Sandbox headquarters in both its geographical and cultural contexts.
“In New York, we have a legacy of large-scale gilded movie palaces, so we wanted to bring in a lot of richness to the finishes and colour palette,” says Kagner, referring to details such as the burgundy door that leads to the 22-seat screening room and the walnut panels that mask its reverberators. “We were mesmerised by the black-and-white vision of Manhattan as a kind of moody character in its own right.”
The aesthetic of the office, Kagner explains, seeks to reflect not only Sandbox’s work as storytellers but also New York’s distinctive cinematic identity. “Our choices would have been different if the project were in Los Angeles or London. Alongside our fascination with film noir-era Manhattan and the bones of the building, this project stitches together the array of artist, builder and storyteller communities that forms the world of Sandbox.”
The décor of the office reveals a further reference point. From the curved, brown-toned custom sofa that anchors the entrance area to the Italian LC7 Cassina swivel chair accompanying a Swiss-made USM desk in a separate room, there is a clear focus on bold modernist design combined with time-tested European craftsmanship. American glamour is tempered by an Old-World sophistication. “Researching historical precedents is an important part of our process for every project,” says Kagner. “Custom and refinished vintage furniture creates a welcoming atmosphere that feels more like a home or entertaining space rather than an office.”
Ultimately, though, this is a workplace. The space provides an impressive collection of amenities to facilitate the main task at hand: documentary film-making. Until now, Sandbox was based in the offices of the Simons Foundation, a non-profit organisation that supports scientific research that has backed the production company from the start. With the new HQ’s elegant conference room, open-plan desk area, high-spec editing suite and Art Deco-style screening room equipped with Dolby Atmos technology, the dedicated facility signals Sandbox’s growing ambitions as a production company.
“After we settled in, we immediately began to see how the space fosters collaboration,” says Jessica Harrop, Sandbox’s co-founder and head of production and development. An Emmy-winning film-maker, she describes Sandbox as a mission-driven documentary studio that is committed to introducing audiences from outside the research community to subjects that they may not have otherwise sought out.
While the space is primarily a base of operations for Sandbox, Harrop envisions it becoming “a kind of salon for documentary film-makers” and the wider scientific community. “We hope to host regular events, and are working to create some exciting programming in the space.” Despite the seriousness of the scientific subject matter Sandbox deals with, there’s nothing clinical about these headquarters. Ralph Waldo Emerson once observed that wonder is the seed of science. Here’s a space that’s devoted to planting it.
Images by Chris Mottalini
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