The Santa Monica office for NEON Rated is full of movie easter eggs—but only if you look closely. Located in the original Santa Monica Airport Terminal Building, one of the oldest general aviation airports in America, the office for film production and distribution preserves and restores the pre-existing framework. Studio MUKA led the adaptive reuse, turning the 1940s structure into a cinephile’s dream.
The office is imbued with film references while avoiding overt clichés. They begin upon entry. A reception clad in rotary-finished stainless steel panels set a cinematic tone. Djinn Chairs by Olivier Mourgue will look familiar to fans of 2001: A Space Odyssey where the same chairs graced the space station lobby. Here they sit below a gridded wooden ceiling, an homage to the rigging of cameras and lights on set. From it hangs a chandelier of collected Fresnel lenses, an abstracted reference to vintage film set lighting.
Eschewing the trend of open office floorpans, the design unfolds into distinct stills, centered around workstations. NEON’s desire for a sense of community and communal working informed the layout of the desks as intimate clusters, interspersed by seating pits and lounges.
Custom desk modules are faced in oak, which wraps the booths of the seating pits and doors to conference rooms. The double portholes along both aren’t mere decoration; the detail references twin lenses of early Rolleiflex camera systems.
Furniture collages custom MUKA designs with classic pieces and works that join industry, architecture, and fashion. Work chairs include Vipp’s Swivel Chairs, paired with Apex Table Lamp by Hay. In the lounge, seats rest on I-beams, a design by the architects, and upholstered in Raf Simons textiles.
Along the side of the workstations, conference rooms each draw from films from NEON’s distribution. Bold colors make up the room referencing Parasite, while spare tones make up Anora’s homage.
In the CEO’s office, custom millwork creates an archive of NEON ephemera. Amidst abundant glazing and natural light, a monumental desk designed by MUKA features an oxblood leather surface with integrated wood shelving. On it sits a scholar’s stone from Parasite.
Of course, an office for movies isn’t complete without a place to watch them. A blue, acoustic-wrapped screening room references Space Age design with its rounded and steel reclining seats. Custom-designed sconces consisting of a single sheet of folded metal and subway grating continue the steel language.
No detail is spared special treatment, not the Projecteur Pendant Light by Le Corbusier in the kitchen nor the tiled bathrooms, each taking on a unique palette. Studio MUKA choreographs NEON’s offices as a spatial journey that, like a good movie, teems with anticipation to be unfurled.
