The Boffice came about because of the peculiarities of the client’s home. They have a boat slip in the basement of their house that wasn’t practical to use for a boat because it faces the weather and would require constant dredging. But, there it was, a space to be filled.
John’s professional life was spent in the fishing industry. A friend of his built the structure, an aluminum hull, and he asked me if I could come in and finish out the interior. We were aiming for “fishing boat chic”, which meant making it like a commercial fishing boat, but nicer. A little more quirky than “yacht”.
While the hull was being built we came up with designs, settling on a curved ceiling, Sapele as the wood, and cabinet and counter design. I thought fabric panels would be nice, making for a quiet interior and a soft feel.
Once the hull was delivered, we began by cutting and installing frames to the ceiling that created the curve. 6mm marine grade plywood is bent to the frames and the battens are installed with stainless screws with finish washers. The screws tie in to the stainless portholes and also allow the ceiling panels to be easily removed should some wiring need to be added or changed in the ceiling.
The walls are also removable. We used the Fastmount clip system to hold them to the walls, and they can be simply popped off should there be a need to get behind the panels. This came in handy adding cables and wiring for the television and re-routing computer wires when the location changed.
The carving on the window sill was a little gift at the end of the project. It is a chart of the area where John had been located in Bristol Bay, with soft Maple stringing, Pomelle Bubinga veneer inlay, and the salmon is inlayed into the piece and carved from Walnut.