This Ingenious Home Office Rolls Into the Forest on Train Tracks

Many of us have a dream of having one's own space to work, sequestered away from daily distractions. Some might achieve this by repurposing a guest bedroom into a home office; others might go further by investing in or subscribing to a prefab office pod, or even just having a custom-built home office built in the backyard.

But one couple has gone even further in their home office aspirations—their home office rolls away from the house on train tracks. In an interesting twist, Seattle-based architecture firm Olson Kundig designed this unique mobile workspace that is inspired by the legacy of the region's rail industry.

Situated outside of Seattle, the clients are Lou and Kim Maxon, who made the big move from the city to this forested location for their growing family. The site is tranquil and quiet and features views out over a river valley. There is a slope to the terrain, which the architects say helped to inspire their design for the main house:

"The slope inspired the home’s cantilevered design and rectangular plan that maximizes views of the valley. A wall of full-height windows in the main living area frame the surrounding fir trees while countering the overall horizontality of the floorplan. Raw, honest materials inside reflect the simple program and turn the emphasis to family connections."

To emphasize these familial connections, the main home's bedrooms are deliberately designed to be on the smaller side, to encourage family members to gather in the larger communal areas. However, the couple always intended from the get-go that Lou would have his own home office, separate from the main house. As principal architect Tom Kundig recounts:

“We talked about the importance of leaving the main house and having a commute as part of the experience. I said, somewhat jokingly, ‘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 all wanted to figure out how to make it happen.”

It's certainly an interesting evolution: that offhand comment has now materialized as a two-story tower made of steel that rolls on a fifteen-foot-wide railroad track.

This mobile tower is intended to blend in with the rest of the main home when it is parked right beside it.

No doubt the unearthing of steel cables and railroad spikes on the site during the construction of the main house helped to influence the final design of the Maxon Studio. Additionally, the steel-framed structure is built much like a traditional train caboose, where the lower level functions as a space to work, while the upper level acts as a high-vantage lookout point, like the cupola on a caboose.

There is a cantilevered landing that juts out from the studio, bridging it to the main house.

The entrance is marked by a huge door painted in bright yellow—the same yellow matching the DuPont shade that once colored the stripes on Great Northern trains. Moreover, the project repurposed authentic wooden railroad ties that were taken from a Great Northern Railroad relay line. To beef up the studio's resistance to earthquakes, a stabilizing bar has been added to the studio's train track in order to prevent it from tipping over—a technique borrowed from Japanese high-speed rail lines.

Just beyond the door, there is a control panel that is also repurposed, from an old Burlington Northern train. It has now been re-wired and re-engineered to control electrical acceleration and braking for this moving studio.

The main desk floats at one end of the studio, perfectly placed to soak in the gorgeous arboreal views. In keeping with the train-themed aesthetic, there is a display shelf here with lots of train-themed knick-knacks, and a wall full of old train posters.

Opposite the yellow door, there is a steel ladder offering access to the upper level, plus a bench for sitting.

There are plenty of spots to store books and other items in the home office's top floor, where a series of welded steel bookcases line the wood panelled wall.

There is a dedicating area for sitting with a good book and a good view.

With its repurposed elements and mobile quality, this unique home office on train tracks speaks to our love of trains—not only do trains help cut carbon emissions compared to flying by plane, but trains also allow travelers to actually see the landscape. To see more, visit Olson Kundig.