Demeter Millwork

Conceived around the idea of the carve, Demeter Millwork’s new facility reveals how layered thinness creates mass, translating craft and structure seamlessly across scales.

A new advanced manufacturing facility for Demeter Millwork in Woodridge, Illinois, is conceived around the idea of the “carve”—a response to what we call the “carve hypocrisy,” the desire for both architecture and millwork to appear thick and solid despite being constructed from thin, layered assemblies. Drawing from the logic of plywood and precast concrete insulated sandwich panels, where laminated veneers achieve structural rigidity at widely different scales, the building expresses mass as the result of thinness. Through moments of subtraction and reveal, the architecture makes visible the layered logic that underpins both industrial construction and Demeter’s precise craft, operating seamlessly across scales.

Daylight is strategically calibrated throughout the 54,000-square-foot facility, which includes 8,000 square feet of office space. Windows, skylights, and a north-facing clerestory illuminate the primary millwork shop floor, while areas dedicated to advanced robotics and CNC fabrication have limited daylight to protect materials and finishes from UV exposure. The bespoke office interior extends the carve concept inward, where millwork appears solid and monolithic at first glance but subtly reveals its layered construction upon closer inspection—quietly reflecting the discipline, precision, and material intelligence that define Demeter’s work.

Early sketches explore the idea that the new facility should be a place for people, with daylight and views and that to respect the neighborhood context, offices are placed to the north across from single family homes while loading is concealed to the rear across from a public works facility.

Varying window sizes break down the scale of the building while corresponding to specific program needs. A weathered steel corrugated cladding comprised of varying profiles lends further texture and scale.

Corners were studied extensively as essential moments of the carve, most evident at the loading dock and area well where they reveal the thinness of layered materials.

Daylight is brought into the shop space via skylights, windows, and a north-facing clerestory.

Millwork interventions throughout the office interiors are expressed both as solids whose thin layers are at times revealed when they are “carved” away.

Custom felt ceiling baffles provide acoustic treatment, softness, and texture to the open offices throughout.