The project is located in the Chelsea district of Manhattan Island, New York, adjacent to Hudson Yards and the High Line Park, with an excellent location. Within walking distance, there are wide ranges of exquisite shops, industrial traces can be seen, and the art and life atmosphere of Chelsea District is blowing.

The project is a 380-square-meter independent building built in 1932. It underwent small-scale reconstruction in 2016. According to the permit, 200 square meters can expand it. Dushe Design was entrusted with the design of the reconstruction and expansion.

01 Chelsea to New York

The old area has a new look, the art is full of vitality, and the project is in a superior location.One of the most famous projects in the area is The High Line. The old railroad rebuilt sky green walkway stretches for several blocks, providing New York residents and tourists from all over the world with an excellent place for leisure and sports.

Perhaps it is precisely because of this geographical location and historical context that a unique Chelsea area has been created. The charm and frankness of her industrial relics, the freedom and abundance of art works, and the vitality and health of green spaces attract people from all over the world. In New York life, efficiency and relaxation coexist; freedom and warmth go hand in hand. The brilliance of Chelsea also comes from her protagonist - The New Yorker. Their needs for living and office space are efficient and complex.

In this design, on the basis of efficiency and convenience, 3 sets of residential units and a set of office space are created with their own characteristics. At the same time, special spaces such as gardens, terraces, and tea rooms are implanted to provide users with a variety of experiences. West 25th Street, where the case is located, is surrounded by mostly townhouses with a beautiful environment. Brownstone porches and fragrant vegetation can be seen everywhere on the street.

This case is a common 4-storey single-family building facing the street in Manhattan. This project needs to expand the building area and improve the quality of use while preserving the original facade style. According to the requirements of the street style, the front façade facing the street needs to continue the original style, replace the doors and windows of the original façade, and adopt the original style for the new part, mainly in terms of details.

The south façade facing the inner courtyard is not limited by style, and uses a modern style to maximize the demand for southern lighting. The entire building façade is derived from Chelsea's strong industrial history. Bold dark metal is used as the overall language of the building, with delicate beige bricks and light glass, which not only gives the building thickness, but also satisfies the lighting requirements of home and work space and sight requirements.

The transformation of internal functions is the focus of this case, and the owner requested that the expansion be carried out on the basis of retaining the three-family layout. On the basis of retaining the original main structure, the designer carried out a limited transformation of the original building, adding an elevator, and at the same time adding a directional rental studio, each living unit has its own characteristics according to the different area.

A. Bottom Jump Villa

The first and second floors are a 1812sf 3-bedroom living unit with a rare 50-square-meter courtyard in Manhattan. The south-facing double-layer floor-to-ceiling windows maximize the integration of indoor and outdoor spaces, and you can feel the changes of the four seasons in Manhattan, where the land is expensive. At the same time, the partially elevated living room space improves the quality of the home and makes the interaction of the space more closely.

B. Floor Flats

The four-story 945sf two-bedroom residential unit (Studio) is a common apartment form in Manhattan.

C. Penthouse

The fifth to seventh floors are a set of sky villas with two terraces. The unit has a north-south double terrace, which is a response to the outdoor leisure and spiritual needs of the residents. At the same time, the implantation of quality spaces such as the dining hall, open living space, and tearoom demonstrates the unrepeatable value of this unit.

D. Office Unit

The three-story plan is an office unit in New York, with an office scale of 4-6 people, suitable for flexible and efficient teams. The front of the entrance is the front desk. The long reception desk and the red brick background wall are interspersed, which not only creates a sense of sequence of the entrance, but also retains the historical charm of the building. The north-facing window is a compact and flexible office area, the south facing is an open meeting and multi-functional area, and the south-facing terrace is precious.

Epilogue

Every city has its own magnificence and extraordinary, New York is more like a musical, where the gorgeous and the reality constantly overlap. Respecting history and analyzing and responding to life in New York from the inside out from the perspective of space experience can resonate with people. At the same time, through this small step of "going out", we will participate more in the competition of foreign projects.