Abelow Sherman Architects LLC

Abelow Sherman Architects (in association with Victoria Borus Design)
Partner-in-Charge: David Abelow
Contractor: Silver Rail Construction
Photographer: Eric Boman
Completed: 1996
Project Team: David Younglove, Lisa Odyniec

A New York pre-war triplex residence was extensively renovated to accommodate the owners' collection of paintings, drawings, and antiquities. The architect, decorator (Victoria Borus of B/5 Studio), and the owner held extensive conversations defining the curatorial needs typical of a small museum, and how to achieve their integration and balance within a residence that would maintain the sensibility of a home. The control of natural light became a paramount element of the design. A new roof opening, skylight, and bronze and glass lighting lay-light were created above a new stair near the center of the floor plan. This allowed light to penetrate vertically through the spaces, bringing in light where none had existed previously, and allowing the perimeter to be shaded to varying degrees almost continually during daylight hours.
Bronze and glass floors to ceiling vitrines were designed, their placement defining spaces by acting as the walls and openings of a traditional room. This served the dual purpose of creating a controlled environment for objects that could then be viewed intimately in the round, as in a museum, or by their visual integration into the experience of the life of the apartment.