019 Warren Street Townhouse

019 Warren Street Townhouse

Type: Townhouse Renovation and Addition
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Year: 2016
Collaborator: Tim Furzer

This four story townhouse in a historically landmarked block in Cobble Hill was renovated into a single family home with an independent studio apartment at the basement level. The existing façade of the house was restored in dialog with the criteria provided by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. A new three story addition to the back of the house activated the connection of the parlor floor and the rear garden.
The “old” portion of the house- the fireplaces, the existing stair, ornamental ceilings and detailed millwork were restored and painted a monolithic white to bring out the subtle relief in the existing ornament. The project involved a stripping back, repairing and reconfiguration of room layouts to create sleeping, living and storage rooms. The proportions of the old townhouse with the single run staircase and landing drove the layouts of the bedrooms on the upper floors.
The “new” addition at the rear of the townhouse opens up generously to the backyard with a garden room and a kitchen/ dining with its own communicating stair to access the backyard. Slender steel and glass doors, the suspended balcony and light steel railings create a distilled material sensibility within the brick facades of the historic fabric. The use of industrial materials on the back of the house- cast concrete for the counters, blackened steel and glass for the exterior openings and a floating stair made from raw wood timbers contrasts subtly with the hundred-year-old historic character of the existing house. The large openings towards the backyard, the balcony and the wooden deck connect the more informal indoor spaces of the house to the outdoors.