Hell’s Kitchen Residence
New York City. Completed in 2005.
This is a complete gut renovation of a two-bedroom apartment in a 41-storey tower in Hell’s Kitchen. The existing architecture was pretty condo-casual, and our client, who is an international music producer and singer, wanted something that suited him better. Richer materials, minimal details, a flexible layout, and a neutral background for his collection of colourful Pop art required removing all interior partitions, materials, and fixtures and beginning again.
We created a central storage block of bamboo that houses cabinets and closets as well as several large sliding doors. This allows a totally open floor plan when our client is alone in the apartment but also allows the office to become a private guest room when friends and family visit.
The floors are travertine tiles, the kitchen and bookshelves are white lacquer with a floor to ceiling wall of stainless steel tiles in the kitchen. A custom four-poster bamboo bed with toplit scrim is the focus of the master bedroom, and when all the bamboo doors are slid open, it becomes the focus of the apartment, too.
To maximize the views of midtown Manhattan from this 34th floor apartment, we mirrored the sides of the window openings so the skyline is endlessly repeated along the length of the apartment.
