Tucked away on Treat just off 19th in the Mission is a workshop that shows no apparent regard for the present time period. Slabs of uncut and unfinished wood are stacked in rows on a polished concrete floor, thick rope is bundled atop an old wooden work cart, and vintage stools of various colors are huddled together. Pieces of reclaimed lumber and old theater spotlights have been disassembled into their basic components, each arranged in neat piles next to the others. In a windowed office overlooking the entire workshop is David Pierce, surveying the scene and making sense of what appears to be chaos below. From the chaos emerges his brainchild: OHIO Design.

David began his career splitting his time between a job that utilized his formal training in landscape architecture and a part-time position designing and fabricating furniture for local architect Jim Zack. After just a few months’ time, it became clear that Pierce’s furniture-making hobby was destined to become a career. His original designs earned him a loyal following, including a handful of Castro residents who were impressed with the structural integrity of one of his beds while filming some rather risqué scenes in a local production (just use your imagination).

After having successfully commissioned a few pieces, Pierce founded his own venture, OHIO Design. His first shop was exactly 20 feet, 6 inches wide, giving him the ability to work with 20-foot bar stock, crafting his creations one item at a time.

check out the work of
David Pierce's OHIO Design