The client's eclectic and sophisticated museum quality art and furniture collection drove the initial design discussions for the gut, architectural renovation and interior design of a duplex apartment on the Upper East side of Manhattan. SPAN strove to create a gallery setting with residential detailing and warmth which as a whole would provide a modern and equally sophisticated back drop to these free standing elements. This was accomplished by ensuring spaces were seamlessly connected, that material application was sublime and that the details were taut and rigorously simple.
There is a balance which results in the sum being greater than the parts. Rooms through out connect with over-scaled openings and door panels so that actual spaces flow together and remain undefined and scaleless. There is a necessary abundance of clutter reducing, hidden storage to achieve the clean, extended walls through out the apartment. Carefully integrated lighting is both gallery quality and an art conceit in itself so that when an art piece is removed, the textural wall surfaces and spatial shapes made from the walls and coves become the item of contemplation.
The other primary design consideration was the central, vertical slot of space where the connecting stair was introduced between the two floors. Occupied by a transparent stair made of folded perforated steel buffered by fumed oak wall paneling, this vertical pin of space organizes the other programs around it, and creates a dramatic focal point for both the Foyer and Master Bedroom of the apartment. Photography: Adrian Gaut