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Designer Christopher Al-Jumah has created Daughter, a community-oriented cafe in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights with interiors informed by the staircases of local brownstone buildings. More
New York City-based architecture office Schissel Montgomery has completed a minimalist renovation of a three-bedroom apartment in the Park Slope neighbourhood.
Named Wendy’s, the studio decluttered the 1,300-square-foot (120-square-metres) apartment’s living spaces to create “a quiet, generous background for art and life”.
Schissel Montgomery Architects also converted one of the bedrooms facing the street into a study.
The kitchen uses only lower cabinets to create a sense of openness
The renovation centres around a new kitchen, which is partially open to the living and dining space. Previously, these two areas were separate.”The intervention focuses on creating connections between the shared spaces of the apartment and selectively removing materials accreted over time,” said the studio.
A key move was to declutter the apartment’s living roomA new banquette along the wall integrates storage beneath the seat while consolidating the previously separate spaces.
At the end of a corridor, the studio repurposed an existing bedroom to create a study for the owner. Furniture selections here include a table by midcentury designer Eileen Gray and a Barcelona Daybed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
BC—OA hides storage behind metal panels in renovated Soho loft
Since the apartment is at street level, Schissel Montgomery designed sheer fabric curtains to cover the bottom portion of the windows.
This gives residents more privacy, while still admitting light into the space.
The new study occupies a former bedroom at the far end of the apartmentThe project has a restrained palette with light wooden floors, white painted walls and selectively curated furnishings and artwork.
“The intervention focuses on creating connections between the shared spaces of the apartment and selectively removing materials accreted over time,” Schissel Montgomery explained.
The entrance includes a full-height mirror and built-in storageCustom details include a handmade concrete enclosure to protect the building’s steam pipe.
It is made of stacked, textured cylinders that resemble a classical column’s fluting motif.
Custom details include a concrete sleeve to cover the building’s steam pipeAnother additional at the apartment’s entrance is a floor-to-ceiling mirror that was to expand the space and brings more light to a darker area of the apartment.
“The intervention uses painted surfaces, whitewashed floors and window sheers to maximise bounced light in the space,” explained Schissel Montgomery.
The pipe enclosure nods to similar classical columns visible from within the apartmentThese pipes are left exposed in many New York City apartments and can become so hot that they are hazardous to residents, in addition to being unsightly.
Schissel Montgomery was established in 2019 and is led by two graduates of Columbia University’s architecture school, Michael Schissel and Talene Montgomery.
Other apartment renovations in the Brooklyn area include a townhouse by GRT Architects that is filled with eclectic art objects and a monochrome interior renovation by local firm Arnold Studio.
Photography is by Daniel Terna.
Project credits:
Architect: Schissel Montgomery ArchitectsConstruction: WK Renovation
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Granite, oak and rattan are among the materials found in a California winery’s hospitality building that has been refurbished by Danish designer David Thulstrup.
The Donum Home facility is part of the 200-acre (81-hectare) Donum Estate, which sits within the rolling hills of Sonoma County, just north of San Pablo Bay.
The Donum Home winery building features rattan elementsFounded in 2001, the winery is well known for its pinot noirs, along with the dozens of distinctive sculptures that dot its estate. The collection features work by famed artists such as Doug Aitken, Yayoi Kusama and Ai Weiwei.
Donum Home – which functions as a venue for tastings, dining and entertainment – opened in 2017 with a design by Matt Hollis of MH Architects in San Francisco. The modern-style building has a crisp profile and white cladding.
Sonoma County’s hills can be seen from the winery
In advance of the winery’s 20th anniversary this year, designer David Thulstrup – who leads an eponymous studio in Copenhagen – was brought in to freshen up the interior.
The project entailed adding new finishes and decor, along with reconfiguring the space to form three new tasting rooms. The aim was to create an environment that felt refined yet relaxed through a careful use of light and local materials.
Studio David Thulstrup designs “co-dependent” Pair side tables for Møbel
“The outcome is an honest, simple and not over-designed place that reflects its surroundings, while also paying an ode to my Scandinavian roots without any Nordic clichés,” said Thulstrup.
Rooms feature neutral colours and earthy materials, such as oak-and-rattan screens designed by Thulstrup, and walls and floors covered in oak.
A rounded walnut table is surrounded by woven chairs in a tasting roomIn one room, a rounded walnut dining table by e15 is surrounded by woven chairs by Thulstrup. An exuberant light fixture from Louis Poulsen hangs overhead.
In another room, a streamlined walnut table by Thulstrup is paired with a row of simple pendants designed by architect Peter Zumthor for Viabizzuno.
Original artworks feature all through the buildingFor the building’s great room, where skylights usher in soft daylight, Thulstrup created a table made of California granite.
Floating near the ceiling are three mirrored-glass balloons that were created by Danish artist Jeppe Hein. The sculpture, called Three Colours for Donum, moves gently with the wind and refracts sunlight.
Skylights bring soft light into the building’s great room”Their mirrored surfaces reflect the surroundings and you at the same time, so you become a part of the artwork,” said Hein.
The Donum Home also features a custom, hand-blown-glass vase by Danish artist Lene Bødker, and artwork by Chinese artists Yue Minjun and Liu Xiaodong. There also is a neon piece, titled Surrounded by You, created by UK artist Tracey Emin.
A neon work by Tracy Emin can be seen through a doorwayStudio David Thulstrup has designed a wide range of spaces and decor, including a photographer’s studio inside a former factory building and the Michelin-star Noma restaurant in Copenhagen.
Last year, the studio teamed up with Danish furniture brand Møbel to create a pair of tables – one made entirely from ceramic and the other from powder-coated steel.
Photography is by Eric Petschek.
Project credits:
Designer: David ThulstrupStyling: Dung NgoClient: The Donum Estate
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Google has opened its first physical retail space in New York’s Chelsea, designed by architecture studio Reddymade to include cork furniture and recycled materials. More
Enlarged windows and felt-covered walls are among the elements in a 1960s office building refurbished by Texas firm Clayton Korte, which occupies part of the structure. More
Interior designers Kate Hayes and Krista Sharif have created Brite Bodies, a debut collection of colourful furniture informed by the work of creatives including Vivienne Westwood and Ettore Sottsass. More
Following the death of architect Art Gensler at the age of 85, we look at eight key projects by his firm Gensler, from shops for brands such as Gap and Apple to a supertall skyscraper in Shanghai. More
Pastel colours and wicker furniture clash playfully with the leopard print fabrics in this Miami hotel, created by American designer Ken Fulk for musician Pharrell Williams. More
