The Poolhouse (MicroEichler) is coming to completion… the pesky final 10% of things are taking the longest. The last bit was the built-in floating desk… and now it’s done. This weekend, we’ll stock it (the sofa arrived this week) and start using it…
Unfortunately, given the garden wall behind the unit, mounting the HVAC unit below desk height wasn’t an option, but If we were to build another one*, that might be built into the overall plans. As it is, there will be desk accoutrements in front of it.
The space was conceived as a random outdoor crash-space but also as an impromptu office — Casie and I both do a good bit of work from home. We built a floating desk in our old place and I thought it might be good to replicate the idea here. Having the unit floating — secured only on the sides — give it a feeling of spaciousness as well as a place for wires, light and air to travel. We did something very similar with Laura’s built-in desk. Having something attached to the back wall would increase sturdiness ten-fold, but feel very, very trapped.
It’s a fairly simple solution, but structure can be a bit problematic. With a span of 88in, it needed span strength, so I fashioned walnut cleats (stud and anchor mounted) that support a pair of 1-1/2in (3/16in) steel rails — this provides most of the strength. I then mounted 3/4in walnut-faced plywood for the surface and 2-1/2in fascia rails. When the plywood and fascia are secured to the steel rails, it becomes very stable. While it was fairly sturdy, the addition of another pair of 1-1/2 rails really stiffened things up. I’m not sure of the “live load” capabilities (nor do I expect to test it by dancing on it), but it’s plenty sturdy for a desk (“dead load” — and light at that). That said, I do recall standing on the first one we made in our old place.
After a bit of sanding and a bit of lacquer and wax, the project was finished!
Framing out the desk involved a trip to the metal shop, but steel was definitely the right choice (over wood) given the 88in span.
All in all, there’s not a lot I’d do differently. I might have “doubled-up” the plywood (glued and screwed two pieces together… which would have made the fascia 3/4in thicker — potentially problematic) for a bit more heft… or I might have used 2in rails instead of 1-1/2… however, any structural deficiencies it currently has probably has less to do with actual span strength and more to do with “bounce” — and I’m wondering if any amount of reinforcement would completely conquer that. As-is, it’s a more than serviceable workspace at 88in (w) X 22in (d)…
We’ll post more photos once the room is “decorated”.
(* the next MicroEichler is currently in development at Dan’s house in Walnut Creek)