A penthouse structure was added to a landmarked historical building to contain the kitchen, dining room and two bedrooms as additions to a large studio apartment within the building. The penthouse responds to the intense context as both an object in dialogue with the dynamic historic roofscape and an interior modulation of sightlines and natural light. A skylight offers the Manhattan skyline as a backdrop to the upstairs bedroom, and a glass slot in the sloping roof of the space below allows a shaft of light through the separation.
In the studio below, a large sliding partition modulates the sitting area from closets, a media center and a small study near the south facing windows. Outside on the roof terrace, steel beams supporting the penthouse are wrapped as a wood deck floating over the historic brick pavers.
Completed 2001
Renovation of interior and addition.
Original building: c. 1874
Last renovation: c. 1973
