Shenendehowa Art Nyssa Shenendehowa Art Elementary New York State

Known for their holistic approach to design, Matt Berman and Andrew Kotchen, the founding principals of the New York firm Workshop/APD, transformed a young family unit's Greenwich Village apartment into a modernist and light-filled dwelling. Here, Berman and Kotchen reveal the inspiration and goals backside this high-tech projection.

ELLE Decor: With its floating staircase and the glass mezzanine that hovers harmoniously over the living area, this apartment feels more than country-of-the-fine art than near.

Matt Berman : We're constantly inspired by the digital aspects of our lives today, but as well by how we can use the latest engineering to craft and manipulate materials and forms in our designs. In this projection, nosotros took advantage of this in a number of ways, including in our pattern of the structural elements of the stairway, the vertical library, and the mezzanine. We used structural software to minimize the size of the steel components, which was integral to the success of the installation.

Are there other high-tech components here that aren't necessarily visible?

MB: In the chief bathroom, we used switch-light drinking glass for the shower walls—these can create privacy without distracting from the infinite's elegant, modern aesthetic.

Andrew Kotchen: The goal is always to make the technology invisible, which was the case in this home. The lighting and shade systems are from Lutron Homeworks, and everything, including the lighting, shades, speakers, and heating and cooling systems, can be controlled through an app-based Savant arrangement. We want dwelling house automation—shades, drinking glass, lights, music, TV, sound, and more than—to be blind, seamless, and intuitive. And of course, these systems are ever changing, so they demand to be integrated in a mode that has minimal impact on the pattern of the space.

In the apartment, the lighting, shades, speakers, and heating and cooling systems can all be controlled through an app-based system from Savant. The living room is centered around a custom sofa from DDC and a decommissioned missile that nearly reaches the 15-human foot ceiling. A chaise from KGBL and an ottoman from Jean de Merry class a smaller seating expanse.

William Abranowicz

In such a modernist infinite, how did you warm up the interiors?

MB: The architecture of the home has a make clean, modern feel, which is balanced past the curated and collected decor. Each piece of furniture has a shape, material, texture, and colour that complements and softens the architectural elements. In seeking out materials that take a crafted feel—whether they are made or manipulated by paw or by applied science—designs become warmer and more than personal and compelling.

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What were some of the more challenging elements that you incorporated into this apartment?

AK: The integration and operation of several large door panels around the kitchen was a real challenge. Nosotros wanted the ability to conceal the kitchen space, but we didn't want the door panels to be noticeable. The result is a set of sliding and hinged planes that are most xv feet tall and fully integrated into the walls and millwork.

A set of sliding hinged 15-foot-tall planes are fully integrated into the walls so that the kitchen can be curtained. The kitchen floors are poured concrete slab, and the counter stools are from Counter Development.

William Abranowicz

Back to that gorgeous mezzanine and staircase— what was the inspiration backside them?

AK: The geometry of the mezzanine was intended to create a fluid visual connection between the spaces. The intersecting curves were inspired by the idea of a floating bird's nest. For the stair design, the goal was to minimize material and class. By creating a serial of steel fins across the library and extending the vertical dividers of the bookshelves to form the stair treads and structure of the mezzanine above, nosotros were able to integrate the structure for the stairs in a uniquely dynamic, streamlined manner. Creating a fluid circulation through a New York City apartment tin pose unique challenges. In this home, we kept to a elementary palette of materials that helped to define the transitional areas betwixt rooms. This holistic approach to blueprint has been an aspect of our work that ties all of our projects together.

To integrate the staircase into the infinite seamlessly, Workshop/APD created a series of steel fins across the vertical library and extended the dividers of the bookshelves to grade the stair treads and structure of the mezzanine above.

William Abranowicz

What were some of your key goals while designing this space?

MB: The way the homeowners and their friends, family, and guests would use and experience the apartment was of class superlative of mind in the pattern process. By creating public and private spaces separated by transitional areas, information technology is both family-friendly and all the same fix for any use, including frequent entertaining.

AK: Our goal was to provide the owners with opportunities to display and curate their stunning collection of books and objets. We also wanted to create a habitation that flowed seamlessly from one room into another, while embedding the design with a sense of arts and crafts.

Is there anything in particular you learned while designing this apartment that you'll put to proficient use in future homes?

AK: Each project serves every bit a stepping stone for the next one, which is one of the things that makes this profession so rewarding. This flat allowed us to study and test out the structural composition of class in a unique way, which is work we have already carried forwards into many of our recent projects.

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