Hicks Street Triplex

The project is a combination of two apartments located in a former parochial school building in a landmarked district of Brooklyn. The completed 2100sqft apartment vertically combines two high-ceilinged apartments for a combined finished height of over 30 feet. Taking advantage of the availability of a one bedroom duplex unit on the floor below, the owners of an existing two-bedroom apartment saw an opportunity to expand their space to accommodate a growing family. The apartments were stacked, but staggered with limited overlap. This necessitated a clear layout, both vertically and in plan, to provide organization to what could easily become a warren of rooms. A straightforward path of circulation establishes a sequence of spaces that experientially expand and contract while moving between floors. Custom stained walnut cabinetry; cork clad walls, monolithic stone surfaces, and minimal glass railings contrast the existing rough-formed concrete ceiling and the original maple floors. Interior transom windows let daylight penetrate deep into the apartment; recalling the strategy used in the original school building, where upper windows bring light into the internal double-loaded corridors between classrooms. Though preservation and reinterpretation, remnants of the architecture of the former school are sustained and celebrated in the form of the renovated space.