Lincoln Towers Apartment

This home was designed for a recently married older couple who had separate homes filled with lifelong possessions and different aesthetic styles. The design challenge was to create their first home together within a large post-war co-op building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The newly renovated space transforms three units into a spacious, light-filled modern apartment with an efficient and open circulation. The cohesive design combines the downtown loft, artistic sensibility of one partner, with the utilitarian taste of the other.

The challenge of this project was to create a beautiful and comfortable apartment that did not feel like it was a combination of three units, while continuing to embrace the eclectic nature of the clients' taste and furnishings. The existing narrow and dark hallways were replaced by simple and clean circulation. The heart of the apartment is occupied by a large foyer from which one can access the kitchen and dining room, the primary suite, the living room and the three bedrooms. Adjacent to the primary suite, the open living room allows the light from the bank of windows on the west side of the building to flow through to the central foyer. This was achieved by removing the old, redundant, small galley kitchen and wet bar.

A natural, muted palette including off-white, green and taupe act as a clean backdrop for the owner’s eclectic, stylish furniture and art collection. Wood floors and white oak millwork envelop the space with warmth, and different types of marble elegantly invigorate the kitchen and bathrooms. Bronze screens in the shape of thin tree branches encourage light to flood into the dining room and through the living room wet bar, while still providing some sense of separation. The now open and flowing apartment allows the homeowners to enjoy these artistic elements that punctuate and define the spaces.