Space in the city: three formerly dark and diminutive dwellings now live large

Residential Architect, August, 2004 by Nigel F. Maynard, Meghan Drueding, Shelley D. Hutchins

Floating in light one common drawback to apartments is that views are often unidirectional. This apartment was different. Located in New York City, it had views in three directions, including sightlines to Central Park, but it failed to fully exploit their potential. That's the principal problem the owners sought architect Louise Braverman's help to correct. "The main goal of the project was to open it up and bring in the light," she says.

Braverman first gutted most of the interior and positioned new walls to achieve uninterrupted sightlines. "I wanted to create axial and cross-axial views to get the sense you are in a tower," she says. Now the owners can sit in one space and see into a second or third area of the apartment. The spatial trick "makes the apartment feel expansive and gives the illusion that it is bigger than the square footage." Sliding doors open it up even more or, when needed, sever the space into private sleeping alcoves for visitors.

The apartment has an ethereal quality thanks to an abundance of windows bringing in copious daylight. The quality is underscored by a combination of strategic artificial lighting, including downlights for the clients' art collection and general purpose uplighting. Additionally, light trays built into the ceiling further augment the illusion of ample space while also contributing architectural interest.

This was an enjoyable project, Braverman says, because the clients were open to ideas like the fight trays and floating glass shelves. "These contribute to the lightness of the space," she says. "The design makes it seem as if everything is floating."--n.f.m.

project: Tower Apartment, New York City

architect: Louise Braverman, Architect, New York City

general contractor: T. Fox Contracting, New York City

project size: 1,900 square feet

construction cost: Withheld

photographer: Scott Frances

Paradise loft before semple brown design go to it, this downtown Denver loft in a former saddle factory counted as many minuses as it did plusses. Original exposed-walls and cast iron-clad timber pillars defined its 1,530 square feet of space, giving it the lived-in patina that makes lofts such a hot property type. But it only received sunlight from the north side of the building and contained little separation between its public and private spaces.

With the blessings of their Vail, Colo., clients, who use the loft as their city residence, project architect Dave Robb and his colleagues Kristen Sidell, Chris Craver, and Megan Hudacky engineered a transformational makeover. They divided the bedroom and bath corridor from the rest of the project with a series of translucent glass panels and sliding MDF doors. They also added a dropped, white-painted ceiling to the eastern half of the unit, hiding a new air conditioning system and providing a reflective surface for natural and artificial light.

Bright yellow plastic laminate cabinetry, another light-enhancer, lines the dining room and kitchen. And Robb's experience in retail design helped him devise the back-lit, translucent-glass-and-aluminum shelving that illuminates both rooms. Other thoughtful touches crop up throughout the loft. In the entry, built-in storage cupboards and a compact bar area lend clarity to a previously featureless vestibule. A sliding door in the master bath can be closed to make an independent half bath for the privacy of family or friends staying in the den/guest bedroom. Every new move the architects made, though, balances an old element they left in place. "The idea was to create a new skin inside the rough space, mixing the old vocabulary with crisp materials," says Robb.--m.d.

project: Arnold Loft, Denver

architect/interior designer: Semple Brown Design, Denver

general contractor: Cherry Hills Home Improvement, Denver

project size: 1,530 square feet

construction cost: $92 per square foot

photographer: Ron Pollard, except where noted

Capital improvement congress avenue in austin, Texas, leads directly to the towering pink state capitol dome. Lining the shady thoroughfare are a series of mid-19th century storefronts, ripe for live/work renovation. Seizing the opportunity, one owner approached architect Hobson Crow to design a bright and airy townhouse with retail space on the first level. She has just one caveat: He must recreate the original 1850s facade. A self-proclaimed Modernist, Crow was intrigued by the prospect of a historical restoration. "It was our first historical analysis," he says. "Very little original construction was left, so we worked from old photographs and with help from the city."

Once inside, the design skips several centuries to Crow's comfort zone--a contemporary loft aesthetic of glass, steel, and sustainable materials combined with refurbished character from the old structure. Existing interiors were excavated to expose limestone rubble party walls and to uncover longleaf pine ceiling joists supporting ceiling heights of 12 to 16 feet. Although in fine condition, the joists were removed to meet fire codes, but Crow salvaged them for use as flooring, floating ceiling panels, and even reconstituted joists.