US studio Charlap Hyman & Herrero has built in rows of metal workstations to create a futuristic yet comfortable work environment for an aerospace manufacturer's office in California.

Charlap Hyman & Herrero was tasked with designing the space to both inspire workers of the manufacturer and create a comfortable work environment.

The result is a retro-futuristic space with hard lines and edges in metal and exposed concrete, tempered by warm carpeting, subtle lighting and drapery that shrouds the south-facing windows.

It evokes the forward-looking interiors of mid-century firms such as IBM.

Spread over a main floor and mezzanine, the office features rows of custom-made, stainless steel work stations arranged in a herringbone pattern that divides the space.

The work spaces avoids the strict geometries of the classic cubicle and helps make the concrete shell of the space feel less cavernous.

"We created a cubicle without creating a cubicle," Charlap Hyman & Herrero principal Andre Herrero told Dezeen.

"The set-up allows for a sense of privacy and a sense of one's own space – it also makes it feel like you're not in this massive thing."

The custom workstations have dividers that come up to eye level, with towers that both articulate space and provide storage.

Holes in the metal facing feature soft lighting that works to create the feeling of comfort in the otherwise cold environment. These lights continue throughout the space, which, for Herrero, further emphasises the futuristic quality of the scheme as a whole.

"It's very sci-fi to us as if it's the energy source of the space station that you're working in," he said of the lights' consistency throughout the space, in the baseboards of the plush custom banquet lounge upstairs and in downward-angled faces of the kitchenette.

An enclosed block at the centre of the space, which is wrapped in stainless steel, holds utilities as well as custom-felt-lined phone booths complete with oval port windows.

For the desks and the phone booths, Charlap Hyman & Herrero worked with local studio SEED Design and Build to create the unified, space-age vibe.

Stainless steel planters hold spindly trees supplied by comedian Eric Wareheim's Los Angeles-based rare plant collection, Serpentine. The plants were chosen explicitly for their otherworldly qualities.

In terms of layout, there are two desk areas that flank the central core and come together at a point, where a seating area with glossy red chairs sits in front a sculptural spiral staircase.

This pop of colour leads upstairs to the half upper floor, where the lounge area meets a kitchen and more private executive office space.

The dining area was outfitted with Charlap Hyman & Herrero's custom Pool Table, whose central circle was threaded by another Serpentine planting.

In one of the executive offices, the designers sourced a rare Malibu coffee table by Italian architect Cini Boeri for Arflex.

Charlap Hyman & Herrero was founded by Herrero and Adam Charlap Hyman and has offices in New York, Los Angeles and Mexico City. Previous projects from the studio include a New York outlet for perfume brand Nonfiction and the conversion of a Hudson, New York factory into a hotel.

The photography is by Sean Davidson.