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      Martin Hopp adds space-saving “micro elements” to his Manhattan apartment

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      New York architect Martin Hopp aimed to make the most of his dark, irregularly shaped apartment by using lots of white and creating clever “micro elements” like a retractable dining table.

      Encompassing 700 square feet (65 square metres), the Hopp Apartment is located on the garden level of a 1930s, multi-storey building in the city’s Chelsea neighbourhood.
      The unit has various limitations and idiosyncrasies due to renovations that were made to the building’s foundation.
      Martin Hopp renovated his small, irregularly shaped Chelsea apartment”Its odd layout and challenging features of exposed foundation walls and large structural columns were further complicated by being partially submerged below grade and hemmed in by foundations,” Martin Hopp, who runs the eponymous local studio.
      “This gave the apartment a subterranean feel that only allowed for brief moments of natural daylight.”

      Hopp used white to brighten the dark basement suiteHopp set out to introduce a feeling of lightness and brightness, along with maximising space by using built-in millwork and flexible “micro-elements” that enable openness, privacy and multi-functionality.
      In the L-shaped social area – which accommodates cooking, dining and lounging – he and his team lined the walls with all-white cabinetry.
      Built into one spot is a “rotating table” that can be easily tucked away when not in use. The team also added a folding door that forms a separation between the kitchen and the rest of the room.

      Across from the dining nook is a living room with a built-in, white sofa. Between the dining and lounge space are steps to the unit’s front door, and beyond it, a wooden deck.
      The bedroom is located just off the kitchen and is fitted with simple furnishings and ample storage space. To the other side of the kitchen is a corridor that leads to a bathroom and an office space.
      The apartment features a storable tableThe bathroom features shelving and backlit glass panels that were made possible by the discovery of a two-foot-deep cavity during demolition. The discovery “gave us the opportunity to think creatively about how to use the space”, the design studio said.
      Similarly, the team got creative when designing the office, which was formerly a large closet. In addition to serving as a work area, the space now doubles as guest quarters, owing to the insertion of a Murphy bed designed by Hopp.
      The bedroom is off the main roomPrivacy is provided by sliding wooden doors, along with a pivoting door that extends across the hallway.
      “A slightly oversized closet was an opportunity to create a multi-functional space that could be guest room, home office and storage area all at the same time,” the studio said.
      A Murphy bed in the office folds down for guests”Conceived of pre-Covid, the value of the multi-functional spaces have proven invaluable.”
      In terms of materials, Hopp and his team used an abundance of white oak, which is found on the floors and walls. Only oil was used to protect the wood and enhance its grain.

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      Additional finishes in the apartment include lacquer, fabric, terrazzo, stone and metal.
      “Creative lighting strategies work as additional micro-gestures to make the space feel more functional and pleasurable,” the team added.
      The bathroom walls are filled with backlit shelvingOther small apartments with space-saving strategies include a micro apartment in Ecuador that features a central organizing element with hidden furniture, and a tiny London residence that has an elevated sleeping area wrapped in translucent panels that reference Japanese shoji screens.
      The photography is by Fei Liu.

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      Tala Fustok Studio layers different metals to create calm ambience in Manhattan loft apartment

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      Tala Fustok Studio used different mineral textures and materials to soften the hard edges of this industrial apartment in New York’s West Village.

      Designed for a single female occupant, the apartment is located on a five-block stretch on Bleecker Street within a restored late 1800s building that was originally designed to house the Schumacher and Ettlinger lithographic printing business.
      A corten steel staircase connects two floorsThe 348-square-metre three-bedroom apartment is split over two floors connected by a corten steel staircase.
      The client asked London designers Tala Fustok Studio to create a calm, contemporary space using artisanal and mineral materials inspired by the city.
      Oversized windows let in natural sunlightThe designers reorganised the space to emphasise the apartment’s tall ceilings, oversized windows and natural sunlight.

      To create better clarity in the space, the staircase that connects the two floors was also designed to separate the kitchen from the living room.
      This monolithic piece is wrapped in a patchwork of welded corten steel produced by Brooklyn-based metal fabricator Gabrielle Shelton.

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      The studio also added a maple and glass wall that houses a Patagonia stone workspace and a display cabinet that showcases the client’s vase and vintage crockery collection.
      Patagonia stone was also used in the kitchen, while the apartment’s walls were rendered in limestone and textured glass was chosen to dapple the natural light, creating a serene and calm ambience.
      A display cabinet holds vintage crockeryIt was important to the studio and the client to work with local artisans like Shelton. Other locally-made pieces include the liquid metal bespoke bathtub and living area walls by New York-based atelier Courbet.
      The reclaimed walnut flooring was sourced locally and an array of different metals in the kitchen, such as the blackened steel cabinets and brass cooker hood, were all handcrafted by local artisans.
      The kitchen has decoratove Patagonia stoneThe London studio previously created an office with a blood-red bar and all-blue cinema room for a BAFTA-winning game developer in Cambridge.
      The photography is by Isabel Parra.

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      Light and Air updates Financial District apartment with open floor plan

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      Brooklyn studio Light and Air has renovated a loft in New York City’s financial district by removing partitions to create an open, inviting space.

      Occupying the 12th storey of a converted commercial building in one of Manhattan’s historic neighbourhoods, the apartment has generous windows and floor area, but previously made poor use of these qualities and felt cramped.
      The apartment occupies the 12th storey of a Manhattan building”The existing conditions stifled the unit’s access to light and air,” said the design team. The owners tapped Shane Neufeld, of  Brooklyn-based Light and Air Studio, to rethink the space.
      “The space featured a low-hanging storage loft that hovered over the entry and a sprawling closet that loudly commanded the center of the space, disrupting any potential for meaningful visual connections,” said Neufeld.
      It was updated to have an open floor plan”Our goal was to maintain the functionality of the storage loft while creating a more generous entry and rethinking the programming and materiality of the apartment in its entirety,” the designer added.

      The team removed many of the apartment’s internal walls and reduced the footprint of the overhead storage loft to allow taller ceilings. Within the reconfigured welcome area, custom closets, shelving, and a sculptural wooden bench provide plenty of storage, some behind a slatted wooden wall.
      A minimal material palette was used throughoutLight and Air also updated the flooring in this area, marking the transition between the concrete of the building’s corridors and the apartment’s hardwood. The polished concrete is also found in the kitchen and bathroom.
      Within the 1,200 square-foot (111-square-metre) apartment, Light and Air partitioned the space using open shelving, allowing some perspectives to stay open between the living room and bedroom.
      Custom desks were built into the space”Our strategy took the shape of an open floor plan with minimal partitions and reducing the existing material complexity through a more straightforward approach,” said Neufeld.
      The living and dining room is positioned in the corner of the unit and has windows facing in two different directions.
      “Two exterior walls with multiple southeast and southwest exposures allow for significant natural light and impressive views of lower Manhattan,” said Neufeld.

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      These spaces were connected to the kitchen, which remained in the same location, but was updated with matching cabinetry, new appliances, and an additional sink that provides more functionality.
      Throughout the apartment, the designers employed a minimal palette. The walls have no base moulding, there is flush cabinetry, and custom, built-in desks.
      Wood takes centre stage in the project”As one moves in and around the different elements (some floating effortlessly off the ground), its functional variety and formal character become more readily apparent,” Neufeld concluded.
      Light and Air studio, also known as L/AND/A, was founded in 2017. The firm also designed a townhouse in Brooklyn, with a skylight illuminating a central staircase.
      Other New York City apartment renovations include a “minimal but warm” apartment that was designed by Selma Akkari and Rawan Muqaddas, and a loft on Broadway that local studio Worrell Yeung reconfigured to meet the needs of a growing family.
      The photography is by Kevin Kunstadt.

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      Park Slope condo becomes New York City's “largest mass-timber building”

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      Local studio Mesh Architectures has completed Timber House, a condominium in Brooklyn that developer The Brooklyn Home Company claims is “the largest mass timber building in New York City.”

      Timber House is made of glue-laminated timber, a type of structurally engineered wood used to make mass timber structures, and is the largest mass-timber project in New York City in terms of square footage and height, according to The Brooklyn Home Company.
      It is also the first condominium project in the city to be built using mass timber, the developer said.
      The building has 14 condos”Timber House started with the simple notion of creating a sense of life in a building, which engages, stimulates, and at the same time, calms us,” said Eric Lifton, founder and principal of Mesh Architectures.
      “The way we do that here is by using a plant as the primary building material.”

      The building’s columns, beams and floor plates are all mass timber, while the core had to be made of concrete masonry because of city restrictions, the studio said.
      The apartments stretch across the length of the structureTimber House is located in the residential Park Slope neighbourhood in Brooklyn and comprises 14 condos that stretch from the street-side to the back of the building.
      According to Mesh Architectures, the building was “constructed with passive house principles”.
      While not passive-house certified, it was built with solar photovoltaic panels on the roof to provide energy, and mineral wool and polyisocyanurate insulation to reduce the need for air conditioning.
      Heating and air conditioning is provided by air-source heat pumps.
      The building was developed in collaboration with The Brooklyn Home CompanyIt also features passive house-quality windows with triple glazing, and the 10 parking spaces in its ground-floor garage each have an electric charging station.
      The building’s facade is characterized by a flat face made with Danish brick that, according to the team, was chosen to integrate the building into the mostly brownstone neighbourhood.
      On the upper levels, the envelope is sculpted into jutting windows and recessed balconies with glass railings. The balconies’ undersides are wooden, giving the exterior palette a touch of the timber within.
      The floors are also made of woodA rooftop terrace provides views of Downtown Brooklyn and Manhattan.
      Inside, wooden walls and ceilings line the corridors, which have hexagonal tiling on the floor that was designed custom by Mesh and produced in Turkey.
      The condos have 11-feet-tall (3.3 metres-tall) ceilings and feature exposed timber beams with LED lights that are integrated directly into the wood.

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      The timber beams also extend down from the ceiling to frame some of the walls and windows, providing insight into the building’s structural makeup.
      “The exposed wooden beams present in the home create a style reminiscent of city living in the 1960s and ’70s when we picture those large loft-style residences, which is really special,” said Bill Caleo of The Brooklyn Home Company.
      “As a city, if we want to lower our carbon footprint we need to prioritize mass timber.”
      In addition to the ceiling and beams the condos have wooden accentsFlooring in the living areas is wood, while the kitchen is floored with white tile to match the white cabinetry – accented with natural wood tones – and a long, white island.
      Other recently-announced designs for mass timber structures include the world’s tallest timber building designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen and a Henning Larsen-designed Volvo experience centre in Sweden.
      The photography is by Travis Mark. 

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      Amity Street Residence is a “minimal but warm” New York apartment

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      Interior design studios Rawan Muqaddas and Selma Akkari have renovated an apartment in a 20th-century building in Brooklyn, New York, adding warm and natural materials to the residential space.

      Amity Street Residence is located on the fourth floor of a stone building that was built in 1910, overlooking a quiet but central corner of the city at the intersection of Amity and Clinton street.
      Amity Street Residence has been renovated into an open plan apartment. Photo by Clement PascalNew York studio Selma Akkari collaborated with London studio Rawan Muqqadas on the 1,400 square-foot interiors, which have been updated from a “neglected” apartment into a space filled with warm colours.
      As part of the renovation, the studios rearranged the rooms to create space for an additional third bedroom if required.
      Rawan Muqaddas collaborated with Selma Akkari to create a warm interior”A dialogue of opposites was the main theme behind the creation; minimal but warm, understated yet rich,” said Rawan Muqaddas, founder of eponymous studio Rawan Muqaddas.

      “We wanted to retain the essence of the 1910 building by reinterpreting the original traditional details, which we were excited to build on,” she told Dezeen.
      “The previous owners of the apartment called this their home for decades, leaving behind layers of history and some areas that were left neglected.”
      Stained oak shelves line the back of the dining areaThe two studios transformed the single floor apartment into an open-plan living, kitchen and dining area. A handful of original features, such as the decorative cornice and bold skirting, were preserved.
      The living space now boasts views across the street from the two large bay windows, which had previously been obscured.
      Cream coloured paint lines the walls. Photo by Clement Pascal”The first thing that caught our eye was the 30-foot apartment frontage composed of the width across both bay windows,” recalled Muqaddas.
      “As it stood, the windows felt shy and in hiding; we wanted to do the opposite and celebrate the curve.”
      Large bay windows were made into a focal pointFloors in the apartment have been covered in warm wood, while the walls were painted in a creamy neutral colour. A couple of contemporary chairs frame the window and let the inhabitants enjoy the street views.
      “A warm colour palette was deployed to unify the spaces by way of gentle oak floors, cream-hued walls that contrasted with dark stone, and stained wood inset bookshelves,” said Selma Akkari, founder of Selma Akkari.
      A study area sits at the back of the room and could easily be swapped for a third bedroom if necessary, the designers said.

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      The studios also retained the apartment’s curved interior arches that run through its core. These openings help create a feeling of space.
      “To encourage a dialogue between the interior and exterior, we wanted to carry through the historic curved facade into the curved interior arches,” Akkari told Dezeen.
      “This was the guiding theme throughout the process: opening up the front area as the living and dining space and dedicating the quieter area to the more private spaces at the back.”
      The apartment has oak flooringThe apartment now has an airy aluminium-clad kitchen with an island counter and a long marble shelf in place of overhead storage cabinets.
      “We were very attracted to contrasting and unexpected colours and textures, in particular, the brushed metal counter topped with a veiny marble, with a backdrop of dark smoked oak shelving,” said Akkari.
      The same warm palette is continued in the bedrooms. Photo by Clement PascalThe warm material palette continues in the master bedroom and second bedroom, where the same flooring and beige furnishings can be found.
      More Brooklyn interiors include a townhouse with a striking staircase by New York studio Space4Architecture and a family-friendly townhouse called Bed-Stuy by Brooklyn studio Civilian.
      Photography is by Sean Davidson unless stated otherwise.

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