Rapt Studio NY marks move to West Chelsea

In April we left WeWork Times Square and moved to a space in West Chelsea.

Rather than a traditional office, we made a unique choice to move to a live/work space in one of the most vibrant neighborhoods in the city. We have several floors in a 1850s era brownstone which we have outfitted to serve the growing studio as we continue to bring on new talent.

On May 22, during ICFF and NYCxDESIGN, we opened our doors to 100 guests to mark our move and share some of our favorite things.

Guests were served Rapt Studio branded white wine and specialty cocktails: The Studio Spritz, Patio Paloma, and Garden Mule. Light rain couldn’t keep people from enjoying the back garden at the height of the spring bloom.

Bites from around the neighborhood included Luke’s Lobster rolls, Tia Pol tapas, Murray’s cheese and crudités, Fonda Chelsea Mexican, and cupcakes from Billy’s Bakery.

For our Housewarming event, in keeping with the favorite things, we brought in a few of our partners to outfit the space and share their work with our guests.

Furniture on display included several pieces from Hem, a bench from the Fogo Island Shop, and items from Souda. Calico Wallpaper provided two high-impact wall coverings which complimented lights from Foscarini, a pair of floor lamps and an Allegro Ritmico pendant. The studio broadloom carpet was provided by Bentley Mills, and Farrow & Ball provided paint in the following colors: Studio Green, Brassica, and Mole’s Breath. The signage including the neon Rawr!, which can be seen in our other locations in SF and LA, was fabricated by Drive21.

Artwork lent from Kyle Hamilton Fine Art included the work of artists: Olivia Boudet, Joseph Algieri, Drake LaBry, Derek Brahney, and RJ Raizk.

We had a “photobooth for the soul” from our friends at The Haiku People, delighting guests with a soulful souvenir in the form of a custom personalized poem.

Many thanks to those who made our #RaptNYHousewarming event special, and we look forward to welcoming you back to Rapt Studio soon.

Rapt Studio wins a 2018 NYCxDESIGN Award

The NYCxDesign Awards ceremony was held on Monday, May 21 at Pier 17. The event recognized the best product and project work in the culmination of the global celebration of Design in New York City, now in its 5th year.

Rapt Studio, as designer working with LB Architects as Architect of Record, was nominated in the “Tech Office” category for leading digital payment platform PayPal. The project was recently completed at 95 Morton Street in the West Village. Learn more about the project here.

With our New York team in attendance, we were extremely proud to have taken the trophy for PayPal. The “Tech Office” category nominees can be viewed here along with a full list of nominees.

Interior Design has additional coverage of the event here.

Congrats to all the other winning projects!

Event photo above by Erik Bardin.

New Plans Unveiled for San Pedro Public Market

Los Angeles-based developer The Ratkovich Company (TRC) and San Pedro-based Jerico Development, Inc. (Jerico) have unveiled new renderings, timeline, and updates for the San Pedro Public Market (SPPM) on the LA Waterfront. The plans showcase a world-class, urban waterfront destination for locals and tourists that re-energizes and connects downtown San Pedro and the surrounding local community to its waterfront. The updates were revealed to the public at a Town Hall meeting hosted by the Port of Los Angeles on March 20 at the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro.

SPPM is envisioned to become an environmentally sensitive and sustainable urban environment––a vibrant, family-friendly shopping, dining, entertainment and recreational themed destination that will bring jobs, renewed economic vitality, and business opportunities to San Pedro and the LA Waterfront. The design aims to embrace and build upon San Pedro’s colorful history and proud traditions, drawing from the existing authentic character and heritage of the San Pedro community and the LA Waterfront as a working waterfront.

Wayne Ratkovich, known for his innovative approach to urban development says, “Our mission is to produce an economically sustaining development that improves the quality of life for the Los Angeles Waterfront communities.”

The design team is led by Rapt Studio and includes internationally recognized firm James Corner Field Operations (“Field Operations”) and Adamson Associates as Executive Architect. Field Operations led the design and construction of the High Line, the twenty-three city-block long elevated railway reclaimed as an extraordinary public space in the heart of Manhattan’s West Side. Rapt Studio, architecture & design, is renowned for devising compelling spaces for clients such as Dropbox, HBO, LinkedIn, The Honest Company, Adobe Systems, and The North Face.

David Galullo, CEO and chief creative officer with Rapt Studio says, “Our concept is to create a genuine sense of place and a one-of-a-kind experience for SPPM visitors and retailers alike. In celebrating the rich, real-time theater of the working Port of Los Angeles and the diverse population and cultural fabric of the San Pedro region, we set out to design a series of architectural moments that were simple and powerful. The design plays off of the landscape and is reminiscent of the fishing sheds that may have once peppered the waterfront all the while, being a modern expression of civic gathering and a new kind of retail/dining/entertainment space. SPPM has been thoughtfully designed to weave together an array of curated shopping, dining, and entertainment venues with playful and purposeful landscape elements to fuel a perfect date night, a mid-morning produce run, or a full day of family activity. This is not just another mall on the water.”

“We are thrilled to be a part of the San Pedro Public Market project––the exciting next step in the Port’s reintroduction into San Pedro’s civic identity and a true extension of the city onto its waterfront,” says Richard Kennedy, senior principal, James Corner Field Operations. “We have reimagined the nearly three-quarter mile waterfront as a vibrant collection of markets, shops, restaurants, plazas, promenades, play spaces and social destinations that exemplify the vitality of San Pedro life and culture.”

Development Overview

The development team is a joint venture collaboration between The Ratkovich Company and Jerico Development, Inc. In 2016 the Board of Harbor Commissioners’ awarded a 50-year master ground lease to the San Pedro Public Market LLC (“SPPM”) for the Ports O’ Call site.

The SPPM development includes the site’s park space, parking improvements and buildings, and will sublease portions of the site to individual retail, dining and entertainment tenants.

The Port of Los Angeles and the local San Pedro Community conducted a decade’s long process of engagement and dialog, reimagining the commercial and visitor serving Port properties adjacent to the community of San Pedro.  The master plan developed through this collaborative effort was memorialized in the 2009 San Pedro Waterfront Environmental Impact Statement (EIR). The EIR and master ground lease calls for the Port to construct a 30’ wide continuous waterfront Promenade on the site, necessitating the Port’s demolition of all existing waterfront buildings as well as allowing it to conduct other clean up and site improvements necessary to make the site ready for commercial redevelopment. In addition to the Promenade,  the Port will also construct significant additional infrastructure improvements including the Harbor Blvd. realignment and traffic improvements; the Town Square plaza at the foot of 6th Street connecting the redeveloped waterfront to the historic Downtown San Pedro; structural waterside improvements including constructing a large visitor boat dock and providing upgraded electrical service to the site.

The work will be done in phases, with SPPM’s development being closely coordinated with the Port’s work. This phased approach will allow the San Pedro Fish Market, Café International, Crusty Crab, Spirit Cruises, and Harbor Breeze Cruises to remain in operation during construction. San Pedro Public Market is scheduled to open late 2020 or beginning of 2021.

 

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