This is what I am calling an open back half wall shelving or functional screening assemblage.

It is made up of three indivdiual sections, all of which are made of walnut in varying thicknesses. One inch thick for the sides and shelves, with 3/4″ thick partitions that break up the spaces.

This was made as three individual units so that it could be transported up a flight of stairs with a 90 degree turn. The pieces were lifted into place and affixed to each other, the ceiling, and the half wall with some tapered cleats. The connection to the ceiling is providing most of the anchoring power, but the cleats ont he sides, front and back in several spots ensure it will not be prone to tipping or sliding. In other words, its not going anywhere.

It’s a fairly simple constuction using rabbets and through dados. The shelves all have been shouldered and, in addition to sitting in the dados, they are also mortised into the sides. Basically there are mortises cut into the dados. I think I’ve heard this called a housed mortise and tenon joint. The entire piece was finished with a linseed oil/bees wax combination.

The center section is 58″ high x 24″ wide. The secion on the right is 35″ high x 34″ wide. The left section is ~21″ high x ~37″ wide.

The whole thing is rather shallow at 7″ deep, which was the width of the existing walnut wall cap. The dimensions account for the ceiling fan that you can see that had to be worked around.

I tried to work out a pleasing way to lay out the proportions of the shelves and partitions. Mostly the shelving positions are graduated, getting taller as you go up. I think that helps create more of a feeling of height, even though the room has a standard 8 foot ceiling. Some of the sizing was done to accomodate specific objects like books and how tall they are, and the computer monitor you see.

The basic idea for the composition was to give the room it is in some height in relation to the other architectural elements in the space, and serve as a both a focal point and one of practicality for storing objects.

The open back creates a feeling of…openess. One can still see the windows and walls behind it. Natural light is not blocked. I think it was a good way to use this dead space in the room to accomplish several objectives at once.

An added effect is that when going up or down the stairs, you get to see what’s ont he shelves from different perspectives, but also that the staircase does not feel closed in. Actually, when you are at the bottom staring up, the height is rather dramatic.