New! Straight From The Architect's Mouth
The program for this Park Slope brownstone’s kitchen came from a common lament: everyone likes an open kitchen, but no one wants guests looking at their dirty dishes. This family has young boys, so for supervision alone, they needed a wide opening between the kitchen and dining room, but since the kitchen is squeezed into…
The program for this Park Slope brownstone’s kitchen came from a common lament: everyone likes an open kitchen, but no one wants guests looking at their dirty dishes. This family has young boys, so for supervision alone, they needed a wide opening between the kitchen and dining room, but since the kitchen is squeezed into the little single-window room, we couldn’t sacrifice an inch of counter space. Our solution was to extend the base cabinets halfway into our new double-wide door opening. We based our design for the ribbed-glass and walnut double doors on doors found elsewhere in the house. When closed, the doors look original, but one of them slides into a pocket and the other hinges ninety degrees to allow them to open fully in the tight space. This unorthodox configuration also lets you bolt the slider closed for more formal occasions (that’s why the glass stops above counter height.), while servers come and go through the hinged door. The ribbed glass lets light through but keeps the kitchen private. At dinner parties, the kitchen glows like a lantern.
DELSON or SHERMAN architects pc is a licensed architecture firm with a broad range of experience in residential, commercial, and institutional design. Based in Brooklyn, they have built projects around the country, combining clean, understated design with careful space planning.
Park Slope Brownstone [Delson Sherman]
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Hey Mr/Mrs Artist: it’s Delson OR Sherman.
Their projects are too modern.
I am anon 5:03 and we didn’t use another architect after our horrific experience with Delson and Sherman–can you read? We are artists and didn’t feel the need to pay them for their “so called taste”. I am sure that they have many satisfied customers who are incapable of doing things for themselves or feel the need to brag about using Yale trained architects. We did not feel the need to do that after our initial experience with them. Good luck in all of your renovations!
We are brownstone owners and did a major renovation with Delson or Sherman (the Boerum Hill Brownstone on their website). Unlike many poster on this site, we are totally incompetent to do anything ourselves — all of our DIY projects are disasters. I can’t even pick paint colors or caulk the tub without it looking awful. Delson or Sherman listened to what we needed and brought us designs that accomplished all of our goals in ways we weren’t even considering. Their esthetic is modern, but they also respected our wishes for crown moldings and baseboards. The best thing is that they really really listen. We end up with a great mix of modern and traditional. They were very aware of costs and made lots of suggestions on how we could complete the project within our budget (which was just over $200,000)for a 2 floor near gut renovation which took about 3 months or so. They bid out the construction and acted as interface with the contractor because, as I said before, we are terrible with that stuff. They told us when to pay and when to argue. The contractor knew they were professionals and couldn’t pull any tricks in either quality or cost. Using an architect is not for everyone but we couldn’t have done a major renovation without one.
We worked with both Perla Delson and Jeff Sherman and would highly recommend them both. As for snootiness, we never saw that. There is no need for a firm to be all things to all people. Defining your market isn’t snooty, it’s just good business.
How do you pay architects? By project, by % of a project, or what? I have interviewed an architect I like for a project but he charges by the hour and I fear that could get out of hand. Any thoughts?
Sorry I used the word “majority”. I just thought it might be a way to defuse the anger….
Anon at 9:12 said “A majority brownstoner readers do not seem to see the value of working with an architect.”
What makes you think this is true? Who did your polling? I disagree on both points. Architects are extremely helpful (I am NOT one, I just finished a renovation), and I doubt the majority of people on Brownstoner don’t see the value in using one.
It might be useful to have a forum of brooklyn architects discuss this issue. A majority brownstoner readers do not seem to see the value of working with an architect and it might be useful to discuss the pros and cons.
I have no evidence to back this up but I’m inclined to believe anon 5:03pm is not being entirely honest. Odd that they don’t know the name of the architect they supposedly used. Doesn’t ring true to me.