The layout of New York City apartments is often the result of serial
conversions over time. Grand pre-war
apartments are chopped into smaller unrecognizable units and often the changes many
buildings go through leaves any original sense or logic stripped from
apartments found on the market today.

PLAN often encounters spaces that no longer conform to the lifestyles
of modern dwellers. We find
opportunities in both the spaces and the new owner’s lifestyle for truly transforming
an old apartment.

PLAN found a unique solution for a 550 square foot railroad apartment
in Brooklyn. The search identified all
the difficulties with the space and transformed them one by one to advantages. The result is a unique hotel-like gem in an
urban setting.

There were several key challenges with this project:

·
Kitchen was in the rear of the apartment and the
bedroom was part of the circulation.

·
The long corridor consumed width and valuable
space.

·
Privacy was not possible in the existing layout.

·
Space was chopped up into many small rooms.

·
Existing material condition of the apartment was
poor.

The following is what we have achieved:

·
In the
tight plan of a railroad apartment, we successfully turned this disadvantage into
a feature by redefining the spatial categories.
A one bedroom apartment is composed of living room, kitchen, bathroom
and bedroom. In this project, the new
composition is “living room + kitchen” along with “bathroom + bedroom”. In the process of combination, we enhance the
bond of the spaces without losing a reasonable division and make all spaces
seem larger.

·
Lifestyles must be examined during design and we
often take reference from the past. By
taking a corridor and absorbing it into the bathroom, PLAN created a dressing
room that is often lost in today’s small apartments. It is a place to organize your outfit the
night before and an unhurried room to dress in the morning --- the corridor
becomes a room.

·
In deference to the past, all doors between
rooms are aligned in the classic manner.
From the living room, the entire length of the apartment is visible.

We also achieved the following:

·
In the most unusual aspect of the solution, we
opened up the bathroom and placed the bathtub in the bedroom. Bathing can now happen in a proper room with
a view beyond, rather than in a tight, cramped space.

·
Rather than fuss with imperfections in old
plaster walls, PLAN accepted them as part of the history and uniqueness of a
City apartment, and with simple well placed detailing combined new and old
parts into a contemporary whole.

Contemporary and classical styles may be two extremes, but in this
project, PLAN found the fine line between that put dwellers in a luxurious
hotel-like space in the heart of a great borough.