This small fishing cabin sits on the Nehalem River on the coast of Oregon. No one wanted to have the TV blocking the terrific views, so I designed and built this retracting piston for the TV mount. It allows the screen to be positioned in the optimal viewing location when in use and to be retracted up into an open gable space above the collar ties when not being used.

The weight of the TV is perfectly balanced by the custom flame-cut counterweights and the whole apparatus glides smoothly up and down with little effort. We kept the design very simple and clean, but the exposed mechanism and pulley wheels bring a nice element of style into the space.

This custom built range hood was designed to compliment the industrial aesthetics in this warehouse loft. There was no desire to use stainless steel, but instead they preferred to use a material that wouldn’t compete with the galvanized heating ducts in the living space. We decided to use pickled & oiled steel plate and lightly etched the surface to bring out a dull grey color.

This hood extends all the way to the ceiling, 14′ up, and connects to a fan installed on the roof. The intake is discrete and quiet, but very effective.

Having never worked with zinc prior to this project there was a bit of a learning curve. Certainly none of it came as intuitively as most other projects. But the finished product was precisely what we were striving for. Small interlocking panels of zinc broke up the large expanse of the fire door and brought texture and relief to the surface. In time it will age, acquiring a dark dull-gray patina but even new it still has the look of an old warehouse door repurposed for this residential loft.

Our custom track system is perfect. The precision bearing wheels roll smoothly on the sloped track and the counterweight system perfectly balances the door in any position. Even though the door weighs over 400 lbs. it can be rolled with barely over 25 lbs. of force.

This has been an incredibly fun and challenging project. The staircase in this remodeled home begins in the center of the house and turns 90 degrees at two landing before reaching an open mezzanine level. The guardrail continues along the mezzanine as it sweeps through another 90 degree arc and meets another short staircase up to a second floor bedroom.The guardrail plates are interlocked continuously and form one long sweep of steel from the first to second floors.

For this renovated warehouse we fabricated shelving built-ins from large sheets of steel plate and formed steel plates for the shelving. One unit will hold all of the lovely dish ware, the other will be used for firewood storage, all the way up to the 14′ tall ceiling.

All of the laser-cut edges of the steel plates were honed to a smooth finish, then all of the steel got a gun-blue finish. The shelving steel had a particularly nice bit of figuring on the mill faces. Some of it got muted down a good bit, but it still reads through the clear top coat finish.

We are building these planter boxes for an outdoor terrace of a downtown Portland condo. There will be 29 of these boxes in a variety of sizes ultimately covering most of this terrace space. Sizes vary from 16″ x 16″ x 8″ tall to 24″ x 24″ x 24″ tall. The plants will be 16 stories above the pavement but will create a lush, undulating terrain outside the condo.

The boxes are 1/4″ aluminum plate with concealed welds and a grained finish. The corners interlock in a box joint for superb alignment and are routed flush for a crisp outer corner. All boxes will be anodized black, like the first two sample boxes.

Just some nice little door stops for a large rolling door. These mounted up inside the overhead track.

We are building a rolling door in the style of the classic zinc (or tin) clad warehouse fire doors that roll on a sloped track. A counterweight suspended from a pulley holds the open on the uphill portion of the track until a fire breaks the chain allowing the door to roll shut.As the doors roll closed the bottom of the door seals tight to the floor.

Here is a link to a portion of our shop drawings for an overview of the finished product. We are making this door for a warehouse space that will become a beautiful living space but still retain the industrial features that give it its charm.

We have built the large door blank with an internal steel tube support frame for torsional rigidity. Around that we built a stout timber framework for securing the zinc sheets. The zinc sheet metal will interlock in a flat-lock style with raised seams where the panels overlap. All sides of the door will be covered in zinc and it will hang from heavy steel straps and custom built wheels.

We have been refining the wheel design and this version will roll on precision bearings. It should glide like a dream. So far so good, we’ll let you know.

A nice blackened steel frame for a gas fireplace insert. This pretty little surround helps the fireplace not get lost amidst the stunning artwork in this loft.

These tall entry closet doors were clad in sheet metal and given a fine dark patina. Each door is clad in a single sheet of metal with a small formed tab to create a pull. The doors swing on full length piano hinges.