Two apartments had been combined awkwardly before our client bought it. Its front door opened into a narrow hallway, which led to other dark interior spaces. This renovation created an entrance foyer whose cubic form gives it a strong presence, raising the spirits as one enters. It enables the husband’s clients to visit his consulting office without going through the couple’s living spaces. The foyer is enclosed by thick walls with splayed openings, like a Romanesque church or chateau, inspired by the wife, a professor of medieval art. (The walls also conceal mechanical ducts and pipes.)

Three hanging glass soffits radiate diagonally from the foyer to define the dining space, between kitchen and living room, and a reading alcove off the office. At the dining space, colored glass accent lights shine through the soffits. Dropped ceilings give both spaces horizontal proportions favorable to relaxed sitting, and accommodate needed lighting. Opening the dining room to the kitchen gives it a second exposure to natural light. A screen of frosted glass panels opens up or encloses the kitchen at eye level, so that the wife as hostess can interact with guests or choose to hide kitchen clutter. (Mechanical/ Electrical Engineer: Guth-DeConso Consulting Engineers. Photos © Jennifer Krogh.)


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