Following last week’s visit to Fearon Hay, we are keeping our Meet Your Next Employer series in Los Angeles this week to meet architecture, interiors, and furniture designers LAUN.
Founded in 2018 by friends Rachel Bullock and Molly Purnell, the studio has grown from its bespoke furniture roots to operate a team of four people delivering architecture and interior projects through a design process grounded in “curiosity and exploration.”
From their new office and showroom in Downtown LA, the firm is currently hiring over on Archinect Jobs. For candidates interested in applying for a position, or anybody interested in learning more about life at an architecture studio, we spoke with LAUN founding partner Molly Purnell for a behind-the-scenes look at the firm.
How did LAUN get started?
Rachel and I both grew up in colder climates (Michigan and Colorado) and we love the indoor-outdoor lifestyle of Los Angeles. We noticed there was a real lack of and limited breadth in contemporary outdoor furniture. In 2018, we decided to launch LAUN bringing together our backgrounds in woodworking, metalworking and architecture, to create sculptural, heirloom-quality pieces that can live both indoors and outdoors. My grandfather had a beautiful set of Walter Lamb pieces at his house in Pasadena that we were always admiring and that was a big inspiration as we were putting together some of our first collections.
Over the last year, we have also expanded our residential architecture practice, working on projects of all scales, from ground-up homes to renovations to outdoor and interiors.
Is there a particular meaning/message behind the name “LAUN”?
When we began brainstorming names for the studio we thought there was a nice parallel between LAWN furniture and LAUN. So there you have it: it's a play on words!
How big is your team?
When we started the business, it was just Rachel and I working from my house. We have grown the studio over the past four years and we are currently a team of four.
Describe the area of Los Angeles your office is located in.
We opened our new office and showroom in Downtown LA this summer. It is a neighborhood with such a unique energy and a concentration of amazing buildings, particularly the marquees lining the Broadway Theater District, many of which have been preserved and repurposed for retail and as concert venues.
There is a great mix of industry and dynamic urban life - rare for a city like LA. Our space is in the Fashion District in the Neo-Gothic Trade Lofts building dating back to the 1920s. Today it continues to be a hub for entrepreneurs across the fields of fashion, design and manufacturing. We’re so excited to be part of this community.
What is your favorite thing about working in Los Angeles?
As architects, we tend to look a lot at our surroundings. The incredible diversity of LA’s built environment and landscape has been one of our biggest influences. We’ve done pieces inspired by everything from the Art Deco Streamline Moderne buildings to the waves of the Pacific. In LA we also have the opportunity to partner with some very talented manufacturers on our furniture production and for custom pieces for our residential projects.
If you held a movie night for the team, what movie would you show and why?
Clueless. It’s such a fun story and the city of LA is a featured star. Also, it’s written and directed by Amy Heckerling. I’m not sure why it’s still rare to have a woman at the helm of a feature film!
If you could collaborate with one famous architect from another era, who would it be and why?
Eileen Gray. When we first started our company, before we had a name, we kept all of our business and design inspiration in a folder called Jean Desert. That was the name of her Parisian gallery, a male-sounding pseudonym she had given herself so that she would be taken seriously in the architecture and design community. E-1027, the home she built for herself on the coast of France and for which she produced her own furnishings, is a true architectural gem.
Is your office one open-plan space, or subdivided?
We share a 4,500 sq ft open plan space with our friends at the multiline agency Denvir Enterprises. There are two distinct showrooms for LAUN and Denvir but we come together in our common spaces and meeting rooms. LAUN has an extensive research and materials library alongside our design studio. Somehow though our sensibilities are very different, the space really works and has a great vibrancy that we love.
What does your office ‘sound’ like? Do you listen to music or radio at work? Can you hear the city life outside, or is it a place of quiet work?
We like good vibes while working. We play all kinds of music and we like when people have an interest in particular genres or artists. Mostly it’s pretty mellow music during the day, but you can definitely find us blasting Beyonce on a Friday afternoon. Oh, and yes you can hear the city life outside. Being in downtown we hear the sounds of the city, we love the energy of being in a bustling urban setting.
Where is the most popular lunch spot in or around the office?
We have so many great lunch spots around us, and fortunately, being in Downtown you don’t have to get in your car to get good coffee or food. Here are some of our favorites: Sonoratown, Basil and Cheese Cafe, Holy Basil, Civil Coffee and Yuko Kitchen. We’re also really close to a lot of great hotels like the Proper and the Ace for a sit-down meal with our team or a client.
What is the most popular design tool in the office?
Probably trace paper and pens. We do a lot of iterating so drawing outside of the computer is the most important design tool. But we also use Rhino quite a bit for furniture and of course AutoCAD and Revit for architecture projects.
How do your approaches to designing ‘spaces’ and ‘objects’ intersect with each other? Or do you approach them in different manners?
In designing ‘spaces’ we have so many constraints from the site to the permitting to the client that we really have a lot to push against. It is a fun challenge and it is critical to have something to respond to. For material palettes, we draw from historical precedent and from what our clients are interested in.
‘Objects’ on the other hand don’t have a lot of constraints outside of material and production limitations. So, we have to give ourselves prompts to work with. For a new collection we are developing, we found inspiration in the Hollywood Adventist Church. Not because we’re particularly religious, but because the building has this amazing presence just off the 101 freeway in Hollywood.
It feels like a very LA moment to be driving toward Hollywood and see this incredible building with soft purple mosaic tiles covering a Ronchamp-inspired facade with small windows. We love those kinds of moments. Here the church is a jumping-off point and we’re branching out with inspirations ranging from Hieronymus Bosch to Japanese lanterns.
Tell us about a completed project you are proud of.
We recently finished an interior remodel and addition for a 1930s bungalow in Silverlake. Nestled in a neighborhood known for its spectacular hilltop vistas, we opened up the space to maximize the expansive views overlooking downtown Los Angeles and into the home’s gardens.
The visual centerpiece of the house is its dramatic brass kitchen surrounded by a pink marble island and green lacquer “box” which functions as a standalone architectural object within the space subdividing the open space and housing a pantry, coat closet and art display wall. The client’s love of bold color and pattern is very present in the material palette of the project.
What position(s) are you currently hiring for?
We are hiring a Project Manager. We need someone who is both versed in architecture and interiors and who likes to get stuff done!
What project(s) are the new team members likely to be working on?
Though our studio does a lot of residential work, we're currently at work on a campus for a production company in Lincoln Heights. It’s a multi-year project and very fun. The client is adventurous and the site is incredible.
In three words, how would you describe LAUN’s design ethos?
Connection, Curiosity, Consideration, Integrity, Approachability. That’s five words but these are the studio values that influence all of the decisions we make.
Meet Your Next Employer is one of a number of ongoing weekly series showcasing the opportunities available on our industry-leading job board. Our Job Highlights series looks at intriguing and topical employment opportunities currently available on Archinect Jobs, while our weekly roundups curate job opportunities by location, career level, and job description.
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