New York, New York Residential, Renovation 700 SF 2021 - 2023
MSTMA was asked to renovate an apartment in a historic mid-century Manhattan apartment building. Our proposed reconfiguration aimed to open up and clarify the previously compartmentalized space. The new layout maintains a distinction between public and private zones within the apartment, while allowing them to flow uninterrupted into each other.
Judicious removal of a few walls and rethinking circulation into the bathroom allows natural light to flood the living spaces of the apartment. Material transitions and new openings are utilized to increase the perceived size of the dressing area and enable it to function as a transitional zone to the most private space, the bedroom, while improving access to the bathroom for guests.
The expressed concrete frame typical of buildings of this period is subtly celebrated with a tonal shift in paint colors. Local stone, quarried in Vermont, is used for new areas of tile throughout. White oak custom millwork plays well with the original parquet floor and is finished in a zero VOC, plant-based curing oil.
Focusing on the impact of removals for the most radical alterations, we sought to limit new material introductions to help hold the embodied energy of the work low, while taking the greatest advantage possible of the inherent value of the existing space and materials used in its original construction.
Photography: Nicholas Venezia
Greenwich Village Apartment
New York, New York Residential, Renovation 700 SF 2021 - 2023
MSTMA was asked to renovate an apartment in a historic mid-century Manhattan apartment building. Our proposed reconfiguration aimed to open up and clarify the previously compartmentalized space. The new layout maintains a distinction between public and private zones within the apartment, while allowing them to flow uninterrupted into each other.
Judicious removal of a few walls and rethinking circulation into the bathroom allows natural light to flood the living spaces of the apartment. Material transitions and new openings are utilized to increase the perceived size of the dressing area and enable it to function as a transitional zone to the most private space, the bedroom, while improving access to the bathroom for guests.
The expressed concrete frame typical of buildings of this period is subtly celebrated with a tonal shift in paint colors. Local stone, quarried in Vermont, is used for new areas of tile throughout. White oak custom millwork plays well with the original parquet floor and is finished in a zero VOC, plant-based curing oil.
Focusing on the impact of removals for the most radical alterations, we sought to limit new material introductions to help hold the embodied energy of the work low, while taking the greatest advantage possible of the inherent value of the existing space and materials used in its original construction.
