An art-loving couple honour the heritage details of an apartment in one of Manhattan’s most affluent neighbourhoods.
Space Exploration Design’s founder Kevin Greenberg realised the potential of this untouched pre-war building in the heart of New York the moment he stepped through the door. The young newly-weds who bought the apartment sought a renovation that marked the turning page in their lives. Combining a sophisticated palette with iconic pieces, their new home emerges as an escape from their bustling surrounds.
The compact kitchen features integrated Wolf appliances and striking Calacatta Paonazzo stone.
A stone’s throw away from New York’s iconic central park, this apartment expresses an appreciation of its context by capturing exterior views of brick facades. With an aim to emphasise the best existing elements of the apartment, the New-York-based design firm kept every possible piece of architectural detailing intact, and recreated these features where possible.
Reflecting the clients’ French background, the apartment adopts a Parisian character, complete with traditional mouldings and walnut details. The home’s warm interior has subtle flavours of blue, green and red laced into each space.
Upper West Side Apartment opens into a hall lined with white steel-framed french doors. Combined with black and white tiled flooring and traditional gold hardware, the space evokes an authentic Parisian feel.
The space that needed the most work was the kitchen. Space Exploration Design merged the existing cramped kitchen space with the adjacent office to create a seamless and intimate cooking and dining area. The firm enlisted various millworkers to create highly customised storage solutions and cabinetry to maximise the compact space.
“The composition of furniture feels both timeless and of the moment; lean and nimble where it needs to be and sturdy and grounded elsewhere.”
– Space Exploration Design founding principal Kevin Greenberg
The couple’s intimate dining space accommodates date nights in, featuring vintage Bruno Rey chairs with custom cushions.
Iconic furniture pieces and contemporary design come together in the living room, featuring the Le Bambole chair by Mario Bellini for B&B Italia, Alvar Aalto’s Artek Stool upholstered in vintage Alexander Girard fabric, the Pierre Jeanneret Kangaroo chair for Cassina and GUBI 9602 floor lamp.
The clients needed an extensive library to accommodate their passion for reading.
The Cassina LC4 chaise lounge in Cowhide designed by Charlotte Perriand
In the living room, an eclectic mix of old and new furniture are a nod to the couple’s extensive collection of post-war artwork. The design firm reupholstered iconic pieces to bring them up to date, such as Alvar Aalto’s Artek stool and Mario Bellini’s Le Bambole chair.
Elements of Parisian design emerge in the private spaces in the form of vintage mirrors and french chrome tap-ware, alongside striking Ceppo Bianco granite in the bathroom.
A romantic escape from its buzzing locale, the Upper West Side Apartment is a love letter to its post-war origins and those who reside there.
The guest bathroom off the kitchen makes a statement with soft green tadelakt plaster.
The bedroom space exudes a calm and charismatic energy, overlooking the bustling cityscape of the Upper West Side.
