When Lou Maxon leaves his Carnation home and heads to work each morning, he hops onto his office on rails and rolls into the forest. The Maxon Studio is a 300-square-foot, two-story, steel and glass work of art.
Maxon, a brand and design creative director, has worked with global brands, including Microsoft, Starbucks and Brooks Running. Back in 2007, he and his wife Kim bought 21.5 acres in rural Carnation, and they wanted to build a unique home for themselves and their three young sons.
“Just more open and more modern, a little bit lower maintenance,” he said.
He knew he wanted to have an office, but not in the house. “It’s just hard to concentrate, and there is no separation when you work literally from home,” he said.
Acting as project manager, Maxon selected the award-winning Seattle architectural firm Olson Kundig, whose residential projects are renowned for exploring the relationship between architecture and nature.
Maxon met with Tom Kundig and told him he wanted his home to have a space where he could leave the house — but not the property — to work, and then when his workday was done, he could come back.
Kundig recalls joking at one point in the conversation.
“Could we deploy Lou out into the forest? How cool would it be to take his office and put it on tracks? It started as an offhand comment, but we quickly realized we wanted to make it happen,” said Kundig.
Olson Kundig’s resident “gizmologist,” Phil Turner, was tasked with figuring out how to do that.
“(Phil) helps us design custom, functional kinetic elements for our projects, which are also called ‘gizmos,’” said Kundig.
Maxon refers to Kundig’s “Willy Wonka wizardry” when speaking of the studio’s construction. It’s powered by an electric engine that was found on eBay, and the control panel came from Burlington Northern.
“It’s kind of an engineering hackathon, if you will, to figure out how to make it work,” he said.
The studio has a top speed of 5 mph and the track even includes a stabilizing bar to prevent the two-story structure from tipping during an earthquake.
Kundig said the context of the site was a factor in the design.
“The Tolt River Valley region of Washington has a strong rail industry legacy—we even uncovered steel cables and railroad spikes while excavating the main house,” he said.
The one-story main house is horizontal, so the studio has a vertical design.
“By giving the studio height, Lou has the option to be nestled in the trees or have his head in the clouds while creating or innovating,” said Kundig. “The addition of movement allowed Lou to ‘commute’ along the 110-foot-long tracks and stop anywhere to get a different view of the valley.”
The studio was inspired by the caboose, which was the office of the train, where the conductor would handle paperwork.
“And so, our house is sort of conceptually like the train,” said Maxon. “And then my office is like the caboose because the caboose had a cupola, where you could see over the train to make sure there was no danger ahead.”
The studio’s ground floor is the workspace, with a desk and shelving, while the upper level, reached by a steel ladder, is meant for relaxing. The vibrant yellow door matches the original paint color of the striping on Great Northern trains, while plywood was chosen for the interior due to its widespread use in railcars.
An authentic railroad signal from Great Northern, complete with light, stands next to the railway.
“When I’m working and don’t want to be disturbed, I can turn on the signal so people know not to come in,” said Maxon.
The track is 110 feet long, 15 feet wide, and the structure is 26-28 feet tall.
“We think it’s probably the shortest, tallest and widest private railroad in the world,” said Maxon.
The studio has been featured in Architectural Digest, Dezeen, Fast Company, The New York Times, Treehugger and Trains magazine.
Maxon’s research into railroads inspired him to explore local railway history.
“So (the studio) is like a little mini museum on rails of Northwest Railway history and then, you know, advertising and branding,” he said. His Maxon Railway Instagram page also celebrates railroads around the world.
Maxon Studio gives a whole new meaning to chugging through your workload.
Learn more about Maxon Railway here.
Susan Wyatt is a freelance writer for Seattle Refined, specializing in pets, gardening and all-around swell stuff in the PNW.
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