rhea thierstein transforms a little used phone box into a better call saul themed office

saul, a tiny village in gloucestershire with a population of only 700, has become the surprise location for a new office: that of jimmy mcgill, the lead character in ‘better call saul’. the office was brought to life by leading set designer and art director, rhea thierstein. ‘as a show with a very stylised aesthetic, better call saul was a really rich creative territory to work with,’ explains rhea thierstein. ‘so, when i was asked to recreate jimmy mcgill’s office in an iconic red BT phone box I couldn’t turn it down, both as an admirer of the show and as creative brief.’ ‘better call saul’ is available on AMC, exclusive to BT TV customers.

the picturesque setting of saul, gloucestershire provided the perfect background to the office

working with clients such as hermès and tim walker, rhea thierstein is used to challenging set design. the tiny village of saul in gloucestershire is an incredibly picturesque setting for any sort of architecture. ‘jimmy’s on-screen office in albuquerque, set in a tiny room behind a retro nail salon actually provided the constraints and mood we needed for creating a believable office in a phone box’ thierstein elaborates, ‘his office is pretty chaotic, but there were several details that we could bring through to make it recognisably his, including the yellow lamp, the faux wooden pencil pot holder and ‘world’s best lawyer’ mug.’

local residents perch in the waiting area

a local resident explores the details within the office

a close up of the office includes details that make it recognisably jimmy mcgill’s

the iconic ‘world’s greatest lawyer’ mug adds to the recognisability

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynn chaya | designboom