This extensive gut renovation of a 19th Century townhouse involved the careful restoration of much original, historic detail, while also introducing a modern layer throughout. We achieved this by different means; spatially opening up a few spots, and adding strategically located elements that are very clearly modern. However, the budget did encourage the decision to keep the original house in tact as much as possible. Resistance imposed a mandate of not allowing our all new infrastructure (and structural repair) to impact negatively, and is all but unseen. We created an interesting tension between the original Victorian house and the Vintage Modernism that overlaps, sometimes highlighting the contrast, sometimes ambiguous as to what is original or is new work.
A clever feature of the kitchen is using the old fireplace chimney for the stove’s new exhaust hood duct, allowing the hood to be hidden. Enlarging the brick opening required a new steel lintel, which gets highlighted.
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This little Spindle Screen we invented is part of the new layer of work but clearly refers back to the house's origin.
We had some fun with creating a site-specific art piece, playing with Brooklyn’s love of history.
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we added historically correct windows, with laminated glass to mitigate the road noise, and designed a full height front door, and restored all the brownstone.