“What was really unusual about this penthouse apartment was that it didn't feel like a penthouse—it felt more like a basement apartment,” says architect Thomas Morbitzer. Dark, outdated materials and stepped floor heights only compounded the impression, doing a disservice to the unit, which is located in an Art Deco building on the Upper West Side.

All of the ill-fitting treatments detracted from the apartment’s strengths, which include two floors, both with outdoor terraces, and wonderful city views throughout. The owners desired additional storage, and to take advantage of the space’s good bones, so they tapped Morbitzer and architect Goil Amornvivat, both partners at Ammor Architecture, for an overhaul.

Before: Living Room

After: Living Room

The architects started by “ironing out” the floor plan, which had been wrinkled by a series of interventions over the years that created too many hallways and too much unused space. “In the layout, everything led to a dead end,” says Amornvivat. “There were a lot of strange, unused places because the developer was just trying to maximize the space. We wanted to bring function back to the form.”

The different add-ons—a bathroom here, a new kitchen there—also introduced several flooring level changes. “In these old apartment buildings, you really can’t go into the ceilings and floors to run plumbing lines [easily],” says Morbitzer. “So, the way that the previous owner got around that was to just add levels.”

Before: Upper Staircase

After: Upper Staircase

The design team gutted the penthouse, which allowed them to address the systems upgrades and lift some of the ceilings. They also leveled the floors and added new white oak throughout.

A main-floor powder room was originally located between the kitchen and dining room, but it blocked the views—both between the rooms, as well as out to the city skyline. The architects relocated the powder room to an interior wall, and in its place, designed a triangular walnut unit that pays homage to both the Art Deco style of this building, as well as the iconic Flatiron Building in Manhattan.

Before: Dining Room

After: Dining Room

Before: Kitchen

During: Kitchen

After: Kitchen

The triangular millwork conceals essential mechanicals and provides storage without blocking the view from the front door. The corner angle “adjusts the perspective and the vanishing point so the view is focused outside,” says Amornvivat. “It does some magical stuff.”

Before: Closet

After: Powder Room

The clients (and their two teenage children) have a lot of parties and social gatherings, so they tailored the brief accordingly. “They wanted to make sure there were places for adults to gather, and kids to gather spontaneously—but not necessarily in the same place.” To that end, the architects created multiple office niches and a downstairs lounge for the teens.

Since the project wrapped in 2018, the architects have seen the family put it to good use. “Before the pandemic, we went to some parties there and it was a real joy,” says Morbitzer. “Just to see the kids run up and down the stairs with the dog—the house performed exactly as they had hoped.”

Before: Lower Staircase

After: Lower Staircase

Before: Main Bedroom

After: Main Bedroom

After: Teen Study

More Before & After stories:

A New York City Apartment Goes From Dark and Cramped to Daring and Capacious

17 Spectacular “Before & After” Reveals of New York City Renovations

Project Credits:

Architecture: Ammor Architecture / @ammorllp

Builder: Cortland Contracting Corp.

Interior Design: Ammor Architecture

Kitchen Cabinetry: Precious Woodwork, Inc + Bilotta Kitchen

Other: United Wood Floors

Upholstery: Peruvian Touch