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The previous owners had created the duplex by linking two apartments with a spiral staircase. A pendant lamp by Muuto now overlooks the staircase, which has been reinvigorated with a new birch plywood surround. The material is a unifying motif: The shelves and cabinets designed by Delaunay, including those in the kitchen, are made of it.

The steps can be easily accessed from the first floor, where the client’s mother keeps potted plants.

The sweeping, curved oak staircase with an oak balustrade leads to the first floor, which—unlike the ground floor’s polished concrete flooring—features herringbone oak parquet floors. Underfloor heating is powered by a 12kW ground-source heat pump with 600 meters of pipe buried in the garden.

A spiral stairway leads to the newly constructed basement. “It’s like a piece of playground equipment in the house,” says Sean Hogan of M Studio Architecture.

“The clients just loved board-formed concrete,” says architect Fraser Mudge. “That started the thought process for the rest of the house in relation to materials.”

View of aproach staircase to the main bedroom

“The second-floor framing is slightly pulled away from the stairs so that a sliver of sunlight can wash the stairway wall and some of the main floor below,” the architect says.

Curved forms reverberate throughout the property, including this spiral staircase that connects the two floors of the guesthouse.

Jinhee and John, looking east from the dual-story roof deck. The door behind Jinhee leads to the top floor of Andy Hong’s unit, where a bar fridge contains wine ready for parties. In the background is the boxy form of a traditional triple-decker.

Underneath vines hanging down from above, a dual-sided entertainment center provides partial separation of the public space. "We designed the dual functioning entertainment/bar fixture to visually separate the living and dining areas while remaining low enough to allow your eye to read the space as one continuous environment," says Melanie.

The mirrored villa rests on 43-foot-high pillars and is accessed via a long wooden staircase.

A new curling staircase accommodates the new layout. Formerly the staircase had been near the front entrance.

The new stairs replace a narrow set that was only 30 inches wide. The couple packed storage underneath.

A concrete staircase leads to a newly added mezzanine that contains Onur and Alix’s bathroom and a small sauna. A gloss-sealed MDF closet doubles as a headboard for the couple’s floating concrete bed. Behind the closet is the girls’ bedroom and bath.