In the kitchen, the custom cabinets contain special compartments that hide appliances from sight. The room draws in natural light from the balcony.

The renovation revealed a 30-foot-deep well beneath the bedroom, which the team half-jokingly considered turning into a fish tank. Instead, they opted for a simple bedroom with plenty of built-in storage.

Shibata made the 10-person dining table using $130 sawhorse legs from Maruki Wood Products Company topped with a sheet of birch plywood. A hole in the sliding wall fits over the table, enabling it to be used in both the library and the meeting room. malki.jp A movable wall clad in wainscoting on one side slides along tracks in the dining-room ceiling, dividing the room into a meeting space and a library. The Shiro Simple Modern Pendant lights can be easily removed and reattached after moving the wall. vanilladesign.jp

The residents use either the black steel staircase or a glassed-in elevator by Wittur to get around the house.

The fourth-floor kitchen features appliances by Miele, and Heracleum II pendants by Bertjan Pot for Moooi hang over both the kitchen island and the dining table.

The architects describe the home as one that "emphasizes the difference and the tension between romantic historical design and an industrial approach."

The raw industrial aesthetic gives way to a more livable space. The living area, featuring a B&B Italia Bend sofa and a Hans Wegner Shell Chair, flows into the open balcony that overlooks an adjacent courtyard.

While the lower floor was the site of more extensive work, the entire interior was redressed in a raw, industrial style, heightening the contast between old and new.

An outdoor courtyard is a classic touch from the original structure.

The new 860-square-foot basement contains a bathroom and additional living space. The designers chose to use pivoting glass doors so as to not cut into the space.

Pitsou Kedem's unique twist in the new basement is a two-part metal staircase with a gap in the middle. A slim Parentesi Floor Lamp illuminates the space.

The narrow balcony helps shade the residents while funneling the cool ocean breeze from the west.

Architect and designer Roy David was tasked with renovating a 1,184-square-foot apartment located in a luxury tower in Tel Aviv. The remodeled living room features a Gus* Modern sofa and an Eames lounge chair.

In the bedroom, black blinds and a headboard together form a single rectangular block that anchors the space. The pendant lamp is from Exclusive Lighting.

From street level, the home maintains its historic facade. Keeping up with the neighbors is important when your neighborhood is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Formerly the home of David Ben-Gurion, the country's first prime minister, the apartment had both historic significance and severe restrictions awaiting the design team of Irene Goldberg, Tamar Berger, and Pitsou Kedem. To add space yet save the facade from the risk of damage, the architects came up with a novel solution: aim lower. A set of temporary beams and pillars allowed them to engineer and excavate a new basemant and create a massive well of open space, framed by the steel beams that define each floor.

Sævik compares her house to a contemplative hideout. “It’s very quiet,” she says. “You can concentrate and let thoughts fly.” Her favorite summer pastimes include reading, painting, drawing, yoga, and “just sitting and feeling the forest,” she says.

Previously, the apartment featured a substantial balcony that David converted into additional living space. Cherner bar chairs pull up to the island. The dining table is surrounded by Wishbone chairs by Hans Wegner and Tom Dixon pendant lights.

The designers played with temperature in their selection of materials, contrasting glass with white-painted wood, and gray cement tiles with oak. They also mixed natural colors with bolder ones—black, yellow, turquoise, and even small pops of pink. “They create a luxurious look while opening up the space, providing a clean and fresh feel,” Zusman says. The living room couch is custom and the chairs are from Habitat.

“Apartments in Tel Aviv are usually in old buildings with some history,” Zusman says. They chose to reveal some of that by leaving sections of brick exposed. By the window, an Elephant chair by Kristalia tucks into a custom desk.

On the other side of the apartment, a bedroom doubles as a workspace.

Inside Out Architecture renovated an apartment in the Clerkenwell section of central London, removing interior walls to create an open, loft-like living space. The architects were taken in by the "dramatic geometry" of the existing board-formed concrete ceiling, and their design maintained and emphasized its dynamic criss-crosses and texture.

An older building doesn't mean that it can't also be modern, particularly in the kitchen.

Home Renovation Tip: Decide on a Sensible Scope of Work

The couple’s white Bulthaup kitchen is set within a double-height volume hung with Tom Dixon Beat lights, arranged in a custom configuration by interior designer Maria Rosa Di Ioia. Overhead, Cubit shelving artfully displays books and objects, accessible by a glass-walled footbridge added during the renovation.

The renovation was designed to preserve and call attention to the angular pattern of the crisscrossing concrete ceiling beams. Photo by Jim Stephenson.

Architects who practice in dense cities know its almost impossible to add square footage to an apartment. Yet at a garden-level residence in Boston's historic Beacon Hill neighborhood, Chris Greenawalt of Bunker Workshop was able to unearth 70 square feet of living space through a little excavation.

Originally designed as two separate apartment buildings in 1925, The Norman hotel brings them together: one half features Renaissance and oriental influences, while the other is a clean-lined, modernist structure.

As part of the update, the two bedrooms were expanded, and a number of smart features were added: automated lighting and curtains, along with double glazed windows with an electric shading system.

Sævik designed the wood tub in the bathroom, which features an adjacent sauna. The Inxx A5 faucet is by Mora.

A custom media unit with hickory detailing features built-in shelves for displaying objects.

In the bedroom, floor-to-ceiling cabinets with depressed handles serve as a de facto wall leading out to the main area. They contain spaces for hanging clothes and storage. Track lighting eliminates the need for floor lamps.

The New Project Group renovated a cramped, uninviting space on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The company gave the 400-square-foot apartment a gut renovation, with a new kitchen and bathroom designed for efficiency. A parallelogram-shaped window pane, rescued from an architectural salvage yard, was outfitted with steel edges and casters, and repurposed as a coffee table.

The historic apartment has been updated throughout with white paint and minimalist accents, adapting its rustic character to the 21st-century.

A black glass cube at the center of the flat adds a touch of drama. “The box protrudes into space, but with elegance,” Zusman says. It contains the guest bathroom, outfitted in fixtures by Hezi Bank, a custom sink stand, and custom cabinets.

“The upper floor includes the entry, cloakroom, guest bathroom, kitchen, dining room, living room, and terrace,” Hammer says. “In contrast to the lower floor and its separated rooms, the living area is composed as an open space with no walls.” Nerd Chairs by David Geckeler for Muuto surround a handcrafted nutwood table in the dining room.