Light and Air Architecture Retrofits Brooklyn Apartment using Baltic birch Storage Cabinets
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The New York-based studio Light and Air Architecture has retrofitted a two-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn with ample custom cabinetry and a spiral staircase. The two-story home is located inside a former schoolhouse building in Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights neLight and Air Architecture Retrofits Brooklyn Apartment using Baltic birch Storage Cabinets
The New York-based studio Light and Air Architecture has retrofitted a two-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn with ample custom cabinetry and a spiral staircase. The two-story home is located inside a former schoolhouse building in Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights neighborhood. Built in 1895 along Sterling Place, the original structure was constructed with brick, sandstone, and terracotta in the Romanesque revival style. Inside, much of the building has been overhauled over the years to accommodate modern residences, including the renovated apartment by Light and Air Architecture (L/AND/A). As per details provided by the architecture studio, measuring 1,200 square feet (111 square meters), the Sterling Place project was overhauled to feature an open-plan layout for its main living space, which occupies the upper level. The studio removed existing partitions, particularly a wall that divided the main floor into three separate rooms. Now, the home is arranged around a volumetric formwork built from Baltic birch. Talking about the new interior, the studio says, “Unlike the orthogonal constraints characterizing typical means of enclosure, this new and dynamic armature is flexible, continuous, and has the ability to change scale. Here, transparency is not so much the focus as is the framing of views as one moves from space to space. As a result, new connections between previously isolated rooms are formed, developing a visually rich experience that adds layers of complexity to space.” The structure divides different areas – particularly a kitchen, a bathroom, and a living room – and provides ample storage. As per the details provided by the studio, the custom built-in unit spans from the main entrance and encloses a central nook, and concludes with cabinetry in the kitchen. A slatted wood wall or “screen-shelf” conceals a corridor where the bathroom is located, as well as a new spiral staircase. On the lower level are the two bedrooms and an additional shower room. In addition to dividing the main floor, the wooden frame also accommodates a coat closet and various shelving systems. In the kitchen, the birch volume extends all the way up to the high ceilings, yet near the bathroom, the frame is brought down to lower the ceiling height. As described by the studio, “more than just a highly articulated spatial organizer, the armature functions as storage for the occupant. This function is what gives the armature its depth as well as its character.” Aside from the birch volume and wooden floors, the studio has kept the rest of the home monochrome to draw attention to the natural materiality. A black quartz countertop and a dark floor are used in the kitchen, along with a matching large dining table and a contemporary light fixture overhead. All of the walls are kept white, including an exposed brick surface in the living room and white-tiled bathrooms. Founded in 2017, L/AND/A is a New York-based architecture and design studio led by American architect and artist Shane Neufeld. https://www.blouinartinfo.com/ Founder: Louise Blouin Read more