Project Description
Combining two apartments is a classic challenge. The discovery of utilities and immovable vertical chases that penetrate the apartments at random make the design process into a game of sorts. In this forced trial and error process, the goal is to achieve the elegance and simplicity of a single apartment.
The design strategy was the “barbell” notion of two separate bedroom suites on either end of a large central space, or courtyard for living. One design device that helped with the negotiation of some immovable pipes was the placement of “piers” within the open space. These doubled as buttresses for a bookcase and A/V center right at a transition between differing floor levels, without interfering with the feel of the open court reading.
This open “loft” is lined with windows on one long side and with services and storage on the opposite. The kitchen is tucked into the storage side, yet is open to and opposite where the dining “room” makes its place within the overall expanse.