Operable Boundary updates the spaces of a traditional Brooklyn Heights townhouse that was designed to support nineteenth century lifestyles.

The brick exterior wall is opened with a figural cut that joins house and garden. Deep stainless steel frames of a door and window are inserted into this cut. When they are closed, they combine with the paired column to make three frames for the garden view. When door and window are opened, the silicone-glazed planes of glass at either side make the separation of house and garden nearly imperceptible. Sliding through this transparent boundary is a dramatic laser-cut steel table that extends the living space into the garden and reinforces the interdependence of inside and outside. When door and window open, the family dinner table becomes a garden party table, accentuating the role of the boundary in transforming relationships. Garden and dwelling flow across this fluid boundary—the compartments of traditional space are removed to free a field of multiple possibilities.