014 St Francis Townhouse

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014 St Francis Townhouse

Year: In Progress 2012

Type: Townhouse Renovation 2800SF
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Collaborator: Philip Schmerbeck

 

A three story townhouse on a quiet tree lined block in Brooklyn was converted into a parlor floor apartment and a triplex. Within the shell of the existing brick building, we re-worked the interior spaces to let light enter more dramatically and to create a strong sense of movement along the axis of an existing oak stair. The second floor walls were removed to float an open kitchen with adjacent living and dining areas. The upper and lower floors function to house the more secluded activities of sleeping and study.

This house is a private project where the arsenal of salvaged doors, hardware, fixtures and other materials that we have collected through our years as dumpster divers, finally found their place. Participating in the physical building process allowed us to work more incrementally, realizing that the art of renovation is just as much about subtraction as it is about addition. The pine floors and white walls, common to a lot of modest Brooklyn apartments provide a canvas of the everyday upon which the more “designed” moves are inscribed.

The introduction of bright colors in the woodwork and furnishings introduces a way to distinguish the newly grafted elements in the eccentric fragments from the past.The images presented here document the house in its current state. This is a work in progress.