Dwell Design Awards View the Winners
Dwell Design Awards View the Winners
The renovation, which focused on the living-dining-kitchen area, strikes a balance between intimate and inviting, hence the project's name, the Open/Private apartment.
A linear layout allows for air and light to flow freely through the apartment, making it an a open haven in the center of the city. An IKEA pendant and chairs surround a table by Zone Maison.
The refrigerator is Sub-Zero, the cooktop and hood are Viking, and the oven is Miele.
The central living area features an open-plan kitchen, living space, and deck with views of Louttit Bay. To maximize energy savings, the house has a ducted reverse air cycle system from Fujitsu.
The decidedly modern dining and kitchen areas open to the backyard through a floor-to-ceiling steel-and-glass door, fabricated by Optimum Window. One of the owners’ favorite features of the home is the “ability to connect the inside to the outside seamlessly,” Bangia describes. The living area serves as “a place for the kids to dance or ride a skateboard, a casual space that reflects the way they live.”
Two smaller, adjacent structures house autonomous bedrooms, each equipped with a full bathroom.
The couple relax in their open-plan kitchen with their twelve-year-old lab, Uma.
Impromptu reading time in the open-plan kitchen is encouraged.
The family's activity centers around the open-plan dining room, which does triple-duty as a living room and kitchen. Susanna prefers a motley set of dining chairs over a coordinated set; that way guests can pick their favorite when they sit.
The kitchen and adjoined dining space have a light, open feel, as does the rest of the home. Complementary design elements, like the low-slung steel bookcase next to the stairs, which Flournoy’s partner organized according to color, reappear throughout the house. Pops of color add an appealing break from the largely monochromatic palette, and reinforce the couple’s design aesthetic. The Bistro chairs are from Crate and Barrel.
The dining table in the open-plan space is custom, and the fireplace is from Napoleon.
Architect Ester Bruzkus of Bruzkus Batek redesigned a compact apartment in Berlin to serve as her home. The previous layout had two bedrooms and one bathroom, but Bruzkus created an open-plan arrangement with only one bedroom to free up space. A folding wall can be pulled out for privacy. Custom furniture joins pieces by Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller and Gervasoni. The bathroom is enclosed within the black cube, which can be entered from either the bedroom side or the living room side. The paintings are by Berlin-based artist Niki Elbe.
In addition to adjusting the windows, Carle dislocated all wall partitions from the main structure of the house to create a more open feel. “This way, we’re going back to the mythical plan libre dogma of those days, as a wink to our ancestors,” the French-Canadian architect jokes.
The 1920s building was converted into lofts in 2000. The client started out looking for new cabinet hardware and an improved connection between the laundry room and the guest bath, but ultimately decided to work with the firms on a full overhaul.
With the help of Sarah Zames of General Assembly Design, Brian Crano and David Craig merged two apartments into one while preserving their general layout. One apartment serves as a space for entertaining while the other, housing a bedroom and home office, retains a more intimate character.
In the open-plan main room upstairs, a midcentury modern table and chairs from a local antique shop mark the start of the eating and cooking area. Bertoia stools from Knoll tuck beneath the bar of the mahogany island, outfitted with a Kohler sink and a Grohe faucet. The cooktop and oven are from Wolf, while the other appliances are from Thermador.
Cedar planks and gray-stained oak flooring line the interior. A minimalist LED lighting strip by Systemalux runs through the kitchen area, enhancing the wood ceiling’s reddish tone.
The couple loves to entertain, so the kitchen connects seamlessly to the dining and living areas. The countertops are HI-MACS, the sink is Elkay, and the faucet is Blanco.
“The walls are painted brick to reinforce the connection to the exterior of the house,” Trimble says of the combined dining and living area. Clad in European oak flooring, the warm space features Series 7 chairs by Fritz Hansen, a Soverin Table by Andreu World, and a comfy, leather Marenco sofa by Arflex.
The open-plan living spaces act like a “giant kitchen” that invites guests to mingle throughout the house. The white rug anchors the living room furniture, which includes two red couches from Room and Board and a coffee table and end tables that were thrift-store finds. Roberston opted for commercial storefront doors over sliding glass ones for the back of the house. "It's the least expensive way to get a wall of glass," he says. The only drawback: The doors automatically lock when they close so Freeman and Feldmann have to be sure to always have keys on hand.