Union Square Loft

Brooklyn-based architecture studio Worrell Yeung and cooperative gallery, design studio, and strategy firm Colony have completed the renovation and interiors of a historic 278.7m² (3,000-sf) loft overlooking Union Square. Together, the team transformed the loft into a textured, elegant home that shifts easily from a calming refuge into a lively gathering place for recitals organized by the homeowners, one of whom is a successful concert violinist.

The loft occupies the entire 3rd floor of a triangular, Renaissance Revival-style building designed by Robert Maynicke and built between 1899-1901. At its core, the renovation frees the apartment’s 14 northwest facing windows from obstruction, creating a true open-loft experience and continuous flow through the space. Windows throughout were replaced with Landmark-approved, historically accurate double-hung wood apertures that maximize daylight and improve acoustic and weather performance. Inside, window trims were recreated with more modern, streamlined casing that relates to historical detailing but is also new and unexpected. Throughout, stately plaster columns and beams were rehabilitated to their original design and condition.

Maximizing natural light and opening the loft made room for a series of interventions, or volumes, that define spaces and create layers of warmth, texture, and pattern. The entryway leads directly to the home’s interconnected living area, which combines the den, recital area, living and dining space, and kitchen. The den is envisioned as a home work space that can be acoustically closed off with sliding metal-and-glass doors that pocket behind the entryway bookshelf. Materially, this area is distinguished from the rest of common space by dark-stained ash casework and a low-slung Antique Gray marble hearth and bench. With the doors open, a Salon Club Chair in a mauve-toned linen selected by Colony offers additional seating facing the recital area. Adjacent to the den, the Mason & Hamlin grand piano serves as a focal point, emphasizing the importance of music in the homeowners’ life and the apartment’s rich history of music appreciation. Also an aficionado, the previous owner allowed musicians from Lincoln Center to use his space for rehearsals—and it is his former piano that still stands in the apartment.

A long hallway leads to the home’s private rooms, where the color and material palette is both striking and soothing. The powder room and primary bathroom offer the home’s most surprising, show-stopping moments—each contains a cylindrical architectural volume that mirrors the loft’s large, original columns. The powder room’s curved door opens onto an elemental, freestanding white sink surrounded by sage Mutina Biscuit ceramic tiles and a single slab, forest green Cipollino Apuano floor. Similarly, in the primary bathroom, a circular shower is clad in white Mutina Biscuit ceramic tiles and paired with a Blue de Savoie bench and floor. "This project is our second collaboration with Colony and we have found that Jean brings a unique and informed perspective on design that helps strengthen our own aesthetic vision for each project. By engaging early in the process, we develop a cohesive design that is not a singular point of view but a collective that builds on each other’s ideas to create thoughtful solutions," says Worrell.

聯合廣場閣樓住宅

布魯克林的沃瑞爾・楊建築師事務所（Worrell Yeung），與兼具藝廊、設計工作室及策略諮詢的公司Colony（「群體」）合作，為俯瞰聯合廣場（Union Square）的閣樓進行整建與室內設計。這座閣樓空間佔地278.7平方公尺（3,000平方呎），具有歷史特色，團隊將之打造為有質感的優雅住宅，由於屋主之一為知名小提琴演奏家，因此這處空間能從寧靜的避風港，迅速轉換成可舉辦演奏會的熱鬧聚會場所，。

此閣樓為新文藝復興式建築三樓的整層樓面。建築物呈三角形，設計者是有「現代閣樓建築先驅」之稱的美國建築師羅伯特・梅尼克（Robert Maynicke），興建時間為1899－1901年。在核心空間，本次整修過程把十四面朝西北的窗戶彰顯出來，不再遮擋，創造出真正的開放式閣樓體驗，空間也有了連續流動性。所有窗戶皆採用地標委員會（Landmark）核准、符合歷史建築準確度的木製提拉窗，以引進最多日照，並改善聲學與氣候的效能。在室內，窗緣飾則重新以更現代、更流線的窗框取代，不僅和歷史細部連結，還能呈現出新穎與出乎意料的效果。而屋內整體豪華的石膏樑柱皆予以恢復，展現出原有的設計與狀態。

引進最多自然光、將閣樓開放，如此就有空間來進行各種介入手法，營造出量體，以界定空間，打造出溫暖、有紋理與模式的層次。玄關直接通往住家彼此相連的起居空間，包括書齋、演奏區、客廳與用餐空間，以及廚房。書齋是以居家工作空間來構思，只要把金屬與玻璃構成的滑門一拉，即可阻隔聲音，而這扇門就在玄關書架的後方。從材料來看，這區採用深色梣木櫃、低矮的古典深灰大理石壁爐與長椅，能與其他共同空間呈現出不同樣貌。滑門打開時，Colony挑選的藕色亞麻沙發可提供額外座位，面對演奏區。在書齋旁，美森翰林（Mason & Hamlin）平台鋼琴是視覺焦點，凸顯出音樂在屋主生活中的重要性，以及這間公寓過去豐富的音樂鑑賞活動。前屋主也熱愛音樂，會讓林肯中心的音樂家來到這個空間排練——他之前的鋼琴，正是今天屹立在這公寓的這一架。

屋內的長走道可進入私人空間，色彩與材料色調既精彩又療癒。化妝室與主浴室是此宅內最令人驚奇的美妙空間，兩者都是圓柱形的建築量體，呼應著閣樓原有的巨柱。化妝室的弧形門打開後，極簡的獨立白色洗手台將映入眼簾，周圍則是灰綠色的義大利穆提納（Mutina）素坯磁磚，以及一片深綠色的奇波利諾阿普亞諾（Cipollino Apuano）大理石地板。主浴室同樣有圓弧形的淋浴間，並貼上白色的Mutina素坯磁磚，搭配薩瓦灰的長檯與地板。「這是我們與Colony二度合作。我們發現，設計師琴（Jean）帶有獨特且知性的設計觀點，強化我們對每項案件的美學理想。透過早期投入過程，我們發展出連貫的設計，這不是單一觀點，而是依照彼此的想法來建立的集合，這樣能提出深思熟慮的解決方案，」沃瑞爾說。

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沃瑞爾・楊建築師事務所   |   Worrell Yeung Architecture Studio  |  www.worrellyeung.com