Beaver Street Apartment, New York, New York

South of Wall Street, in the part of New York that began as the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam, the streets wind in a medieval pattern quite distinct from the Manhattan grid. An eclectic set of buildings from different eras share this tip of the island, presenting intriguing oblique vistas at every corner. This apartment sits on a high floor in an early 20th century commercial structure, now converted to residential use. The building's irregular trapezoid follows the surrounding streets, creating subtle shifts in geometry as you move through the space.

Daylight reflecting off neighboring buildings enters from three sides. The design strategy starts with a dark core, anchored to the elevator shaft, followed by a passage to a bright, sun-filled perimeter. As in many older loft buildings in lower Manhattan, the public elevator opens directly into the private apartment. The visitor arrives in a space where all surfaces are a deep blue black, except for a moon-like, knife-edged elliptical light cove cut into the ceiling, and the period decoration surrounding the elevator doors, painted a high gloss white. This contrast between the light and ethereal and the dark and moody continues as you circulate through the apartment, expressed in material and texture juxtapositions at both the large and the small scale. The kitchen, forming the heart of the family home, sits in its own white enclosure, lined on the interior with dark stained oak, and casting light from a hidden source onto the beamed ceiling above. The abstract language blends with spaces pragmatically designed for a family of five, and allows the occupant to step out of the routines of everyday life and contemplate the timeless interplay of darkness and light, set against the ever-changing cityscape of the oldest corner of New York, just outside the windows.

Photographs: Julian Wass / Styling: Carin Scheve
Project Team: Vrinda Khanna, Robert Schultz, Veronica Patrick
General Contractor: TCM Corporation
Mechanical Engineering: On Point Engineering