This 1872 SoHo loft was originally a silk warehouse, with soaring ceilings, massive windows, and an expansive open plan. We preserved the qualities that give the space its character – the original cast iron columns, rough hewn beams and hardware – while introducing a new organization for a family of six. Rather than dividing the loft into conventional rooms, we used changes in scale, millwork, furnishings, and color to define spaces for living, dining, working, and gathering within the larger volume.

The architectural interventions are deliberately quiet, allowing the original proportions and long views to remain legible. New rooms sit within the existing structure rather than competing with it, creating moments of enclosure and intimacy while maintaining the openness and flow of the loft.

The result is a home that balances the generous scale of the former warehouse with the more intimate rhythms of family life, preserving what is essential to the original space while giving it a new way of working.

The panoramic views of the park and city buildings made me feel like I was standing on an island in an archipelago. With Scandinavian island homes and spas as the inspiration, I started with shaped, painted, and stained wood, porches, and giant windows and doors open to the landscape. We created a rooftop aerie with framed city views from cozy, warm, secure, and enticing family and entertaining spaces. The mix of natural wood, stone, and tile came about through inspired work with Amy Lau. The giant open spaces flow from interior to terrace – fireplace to outdoor movies and rooftop gardens – a personal palace. 

Starting with an undefined, amorphous 10,000-square-foot gallery space on three floors, we created a clear home based on London townhouses. The three-level stair hall centers around a grand gallery, with subtle paneling and abstracted columns that bring scale to the large space. The sweeping stair connects a newly designed gallery with pilasters and mirrored walls to bring light into the townhouse interior. New arched openings define the rooms while repeating details from the exterior of the building. Working with Aman & Meeks, we refined the details in their elegant decoration with accents and colors from natural materials.

We updated an abstracted Art Deco with resolutely Modern ideas to expand this apartment we completed for an owner twelve years ago. From the high gloss mahogany and brass bar to the stainless steel “entrance cube” and Ivan Navarro closet door light sculpture, we created new, exciting spaces for chic entertaining and family living.

Longtime loft residents wanted to retain some “downtown feel” in this new uptown apartment. We transformed a choppy collection of small, dark rooms by removing walls, opening views over the city, and bringing light deep into the center of the apartment. Streamlined detailing nods to tradition in the overall modern design developed with decorators Foley & Cox.

Photographer: Bjorn Wallander

For this apartment — our third project for this owner — we were given the charge to create an update on a classic, pre-war New York apartment in an open space with no walls. Given an extraordinary setting overlooking Central Park, we made a large, central space for Living, Dining, and Library, and recreated the moldings from the owner’s then current living spaces. We used this classic detailing throughout the modern plan which gave long views through the apartment and out to the park. Modern elements such as framed glass walls and polished tiles and stone bring light deep into the apartment.

Photographer: Richard Powers; Stylist: Anita Sarsidi

This light filled, modern take on a traditional interior transformed a drab upper East Side Manhattan  apartment. We knocked down walls and opened up long views in a complete “gut” renovation. Working with Foley & Cox, we synthesized their interior design and our architecture to create an elegant setting for this couple’s collection of travel related art. Muted colors and simple, strong shadow lines in the detailing set up a framework for strong color pops in the art and furniture.

Photographer: Richard Powers; Stylist: Anita Sarsidi

The sleek lines of this apartment provide a comfortable setting for a family of six. Bright colors and textured surfaces are fun for the young children, while the architecture maintains an elegant framework for entertaining and dinner parties. Rich woods and marbles in crisp details and subtle contrasts show off Bella Mancini’s brightly colored, playful interiors.

Photographer: Peter Murdoch; Stylist: Olga Naiman

A lush palette of wood vestibules and rich marbles offsets the clean, white openness of this loft apartment. The detailing recalls crisp, mid-century French apartments and provides a strong background to the colorful decoration.

Mr. Wright led the design and construction administration teams responsible for this project while a Principal with Hart Howerton. Photographer; David Sundberg, ESTO

This pre-war apartment with beautiful views over the Hudson River had been designed for another era, and many of the rooms had fallen into disuse, with the family crowding into the TV room at the back of the apartment. Through minimal replanning of the halls, we restored the views (and sunlight) to the full apartment, making it an elegant home for modern living.

Photographer: David Sundberg, ESTO

With Sarah Magness, we designed a “Mindfulness Retreat” for the 2020 Palm Beach Kips Bay Decorator Show House. We remade the loft study overlooking a living room by Suzanne Kastler, to surround visitors with a gentle evocation of the senses, fusing the timelessness of antique Japanese furniture, sculpture, and decorative objects with a clean, transitional architecture. Subtle blues, greens and silvers weave through the architecture and decorating. Painted and natural wood beams frame Japanese plaster walls and a handpainted ‘Koi Pond’ wallpaper ceiling. A meditation bed sits at the center — a place to ease the tension of public daily life with peaceful reflection.