Upper East Side Apartment

4000sf private Upper East Side residence.

Status: Complete

Living in New York often means navigating various constraints, and this project exemplifies that. The clients, a couple with a long-standing pied-à-terre, took advantage of an adjacent apartment to transform their weekend retreat into their primary residence. With a substantial collection of art and sentimental objects accumulated over a lifetime, their goal was to create a home that allowed them to live surrounded by their collection. The resulting 4,000-square-foot space includes a master suite, guest suite, media room, and generous areas for entertaining, all designed with a focus on showcasing their extensive art collection, making the apartment function as a gallery.

Each art piece was documented and organized into a curated “mosaic” throughout the apartment. Like the careful process of creating a mosaic, the placement of one object dictated the possibilities for the next, allowing for endless variations but grounded in a systematic approach.

The apartment presented some challenges. With ceiling heights typical of mid-century New York City developer buildings, just 9 feet, this posed a problem for one client, who is over 6 feet tall. Additionally, structural and mechanical offsets—remnants of an earlier decision to extend the building’s height during construction—created further spatial constraints. To work around these issues while maintaining comfort and adhering to code, creative solutions were needed.

To accommodate lighting and sound systems without sacrificing ceiling height, the ceiling itself was turned into a design feature. A faceted geometric design allowed for the integration of lighting and A/V systems while holding the ceiling as close to the slab as possible. This solution not only maximized ceiling height but also transformed a potential limitation into an opportunity for innovation.