Combining the best of a comfortable suburban home with the sophistication
and location of a city apartment, this 6,700 square foot, full-floor gut renovation
creates the perfect house in the city. The generous foyer, kitchen, dining room,
living room and family room are designed for hosting functions and communal
events. On the other side of the home, Studio ST Architects created a large
“basement playroom” for the family’s three young sons by combining two
bedrooms. A service entry was converted into a mudroom. The design conveys a
soft opulence that is at once comfortable, beautiful and functional.
Esther Sperber, founder of Studio ST Architects, believes that design is a
collaborative process. She recently published a cover story in Lilith Magazine
titled “Gender and Genius,” exploring the psychological and architectural aspects
of collaborative creativity. In order to foster a collaborative design process on
this project, the firm created numerous photo-realistic computer renderings of
each room. This use of renderings as a design tool rather than their more typical
application as a depiction of the final product supported a lively dialogue between
the architects and clients and sparked unexpected design possibilities.