Empire State Apartment
We sought to open up new possibilities within this classic New York City apartment typology by creating new volumes of connected space with long site lines. At the core of the project is a central axis linking the private spaces in the back to a windowed view of the Empire State Building in the front, while blurring the division between “Hall” and “Room.”
One of the primary design objectives was to fully open up and connect the front three quarters of the plan. We needed an anchor element around which the life and experience of the space could rotate. In moving the kitchen to the throat (the narrowest point of the plan) we found our anchor, but also created tension with the entry.
We sought to open up new possibilities within this classic New York City apartment typology by creating new volumes of connected space with long site lines. At the core of the project is a central axis linking the private spaces in the back to a windowed view of the Empire State Building in the front, while blurring the division between “Hall” and “Room.”
One of the primary design objectives was to fully open up and connect the front three quarters of the plan. We needed an anchor element around which the life and experience of the space could rotate. In moving the kitchen to the throat (the narrowest point of the plan) we found our anchor, but also created tension with the entry. By laminating the interior wood body and veneering the faces we achieved sufficient stiffness to create both screen and bench in one form. A plank of structural glass spans the length of the bench uniting the entire structure into a single piece.
By laminating the interior wood body and veneering the faces we achieved sufficient stiffness to create both screen and bench in one form. A plank of structural glass spans the length of the bench uniting the entire structure into a single piece.
Video content courtesy of Jonathan Miller.