Part of an unusually narrow group of row houses near Jersey City's Hamilton Park, this home for a family of five needed a significant renovation and addition to better address the family's lifestyle. Our work focused on the ground floor living spaces and creating a second floor office and family room suite in this 12' wide home.
In order to better connect the living, dining and kitchen spaces, we removed several walls and reconfigured the kitchen to better follow the long, linear nature of the house. The kitchen work space occupies one wall while the storage space is concealed along the opposite wall. In order to brighten the otherwise dark rooms, the back wall of the addition consists of floor to ceiling, and wall to wall, glass doors that take advantage of a western solar exposure. The large doors have the added benefit of making the snug interior space feel larger through a strong connection to the rear patio.
On the second floor, the small rear addition extends an existing office space into a new family room. And like the living spaces below, the new family room has large folding doors that bring daylight in to the office and extend the view out to a nearby tree.
The roof over the second floor addition serves as a small roof deck for the adjacent bedroom and provides access to great sunsets. A galvanized steel framed "screen" unifies the rear facade and provides some privacy while addressing the need for guardrails and access to the patio below.
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