Super Eco

Photo credit: Because We Can

Why can't we work someplace this cool? We're not really sure why workers in offices designed by Because We Can designs would want to leave at the end of a work day. Steampunk cubicles ... Giant octopus tentacle cushion seating ... Client goals like "make our office an over-the-top, amazing and fun place to be so we can attract and keep top talent" ... All done with an eye on sustainability. We're so there!

This Oakland, California, interior design and custom furniture outfit is driven by the eco-friendly creative energy of husband-and-wife team Jeffrey McGrew and Jillian Northrup. They call Because We Can a design-build studio, "a mash-up of designers, artists, architects, fabricators and builders that handle the design and production of interiors, buildings, furniture and products." The company creates not only unique workplace environments but also one-of-a-kind pieces for the home.

No matter how high the team soars with its imaginative designs, sustainable materials and building practices remain the foundation. "Building something always means something else is destroyed," claims the design duo on their web site. "We're in it for the long haul, so we focus on using sustainable, recycled, and/or local materials and labor. We don't want to work with toxic materials or in a bad environment and our clients shouldn't have to live with such things either. We also try to make our projects in the most efficient way possible and make them to be as effective as possible, so that they will last a long time and be gentle to our world."

Feast your eyes on Because We Can's interiors, furniture and art and display work. Because we wish we could, too.