Located in South Slope, Brooklyn, House Offset is a residential remodel that underwent a recent renovation with a focus on enhancing both interior and exterior architectural details as well as "preserving much of the exterior as a nod to adjacent residences and the traditional New York City townhouse typology." Beyond this, what makes the project stand out, however, is the designer responsible for the renovation is also its developer. 

Abigail Coover, founder and principal of Overlay Office, started her practice in 2019. With over 18 years of experience as an architectural designer and project manager, she has helped lead projects in major cities such as New York and San Francisco. We connected with Coover to learn more about the project and her experience as both designer and developer. 

Being both developer and designer allowed us to reinterpret the formula for the typical Brooklyn condo conversion project through the creative use of conventional materials.

Within the industry, this hybrid role of both developer and architect/designer is not common. While this discussion has become a frequent one on the Archinect forum, Coover provided some insight into her process and the freedom that comes with holding both positions. "Being both developer and designer allowed us to reinterpret the formula for the typical Brooklyn condo conversion project through the creative use of conventional materials," she explained. "With simple innovations like custom-colored faucets, figural material laminations, and two-dimensional painted projections, we were able to create three unique apartments that were also on budget and appropriate for the market."  

She also adds that projects like House Offset have become "a proof of concept for us that development can be innovative and well designed without sacrificing cost or timeline." The 19th-century, multi-family brick townhouse is a three-story project with an 18-foot-wide footprint. It was important for Coover to retain the building's existing front facade with an update using color and graphics as well as scalloped projections for a contemporary flare. 

Coover shares that the name of the project references the "layered, off-register doubling — or offsetting — of arches on the facade" in addition to the use of an arch motif found throughout the design. The name also references the floorplan's reconfiguration and how it emphasizes each unit and its unique layout. She adds, the project was "fun for our office to collaborate with long-term contractors, suppliers, and fabricators to put a new spin on a typology that we are working on daily for our clients."