The Insider: Glass Block, Arches Distinguish Bed Stuy Duplex Reno

Variations on the Brooklyn row house theme are infinite. Their original floor plans may have been somewhat cookie-cutter, but today’s re-imaginings result in one-off homes with unique layouts and wholly original interiors.

Architect Rachel Robinson and structural engineer Michael Dunham, whose full-service architecture and design studio, Dunham Robinson, is based in lower Manhattan, brought clarity and organization to the compartmentalized rooms of the lower duplex in a three-story townhouse. They found that layers of haphazard updates had done away with most original detail.

“Our first step was coming up with a floor plan based on our clients’ lifestyle,” said Robinson of the new homeowners, a couple with a baby. They flipped the more conventional layout and put living, dining, and kitchen on the garden level, with three bedrooms and two full baths on the parlor floor. “We saw that we could create a guest room/den in the front and a generous primary suite and nursery in the back, with two full bathrooms in the middle within the same footprint where there had been one large central bath.”

Dunham Robinson took advantage of an unusual site condition to bring in abundant daylight. Though the house is not on a corner, Robinson explained, “There’s an open access drive to the lot behind, so there’s no adjacent home on one side. Tax photos from the 1940s show there had been a wooden structure there.” At some point, illegal windows were put in along that lot line wall. To maintain that light but comply with code, Dunham Robinson used a special fire-rated glass block in the existing openings on both floors. “It’s considered part of the facade, and works so nicely, we actually added a couple of glass block openings.”

On the garden level (top photo), vintage moldings were long gone. “We softened large openings by curving corners where they transition into different rooms,” Robinson said. “The openings provide some definition, so the spaces feel distinct from each other, but there’s still an open plan feeling.”

Dunham Robinson also spearheaded the interior design. “The interiors are a soft, sunny wash of color, accentuated with brighter elements,” Robinson said. “We wanted the rooms to feel serene and warm, but also contemporary and fun and colorful, which fits with the owners’ personalities and tastes.” Furnishings are mostly new, with some custom pieces of Dunham Robinson’s own design, from their newly launched furniture line DuroDeco.

The family uses the downstairs entrance, where the architects crafted a tiled-floor mudroom with a custom alcove and storage bench. They also found an elegant solution to the large opening between the hall and living room. “There’s a beam in the ceiling there, so we sorted the corners of that beam to make a portal into that room, instead of just a dropped area in the ceiling,” Robinson said.

The living room is anchored by a clean-lined Ruby sectional from Mantle Furniture.

A custom table from DuroDeco, accompanied by Comma chairs from Herman Miller, is centered on an enlarged glass block window in the celadon green dining room. The racetrack-shaped table has a limestone top and white oak base, to coordinate with the white oak floors and kitchen cabinetry.

Instead of blowing out the entire back wall, as is the fashion, Dunham Robinson inserted a strip of sliding windows. “It’s kind of a ribbon cut into the rear facade in order to give a view of the backyard at eye level, but leave some functional space for cabinetry and a window still for plants,” Robinson said.

The green and gold terrazzo, used for countertops, was a key choice in developing the color palette. It was fabricated by Concrete Collaborative; the oak cabinetry was sourced from Reform.

In space once occupied by an oversized bathroom with a tub, Dunham Robinson carved out a functional prep sink area off the main kitchen as well as a powder room, with laundry machines in between.

The powder room’s charm derives from a Madrona washstand from Rejuvenation, amber zellige wall tile from Zia, and Alpine Garden wallpaper from Hygge & West.

The original stairs and front hall were incorporated into the owners’ duplex, with the carved woodwork stripped pale.

The custom curved wall and door, which offers occasional access to and from the outer hall and vestibule on the parlor level, came about as a way to separate the homeowners’ duplex from a top-floor rental unit, which has its own door at the top of the stairs. “We wanted to divide the space off, and a 90 degree corner felt too harsh,” Robinson said.

New French doors, matched to the stripped trim, were made to fit within the original opening.

The front room is now a sunny yellow guest room and sitting room, with a sleeper sofa. A nook near the French doors became a small home office, with a walnut desk from Blu Dot and an Eames-designed chair.

The guest bath, entered from the outer hall, gets light from a transom window in the adjacent home office nook and from a light fixture in the ceiling above the shower. Glossy green and white hex floor tile from Cemento Collection and reflective glazed wall tile help bounce light around.

The primary bedroom retains is original stamped tin ceiling. Roman shades and a custom maple window seat/radiator enclosure elevate the design.

The primary bath has a new window of glass block, with zellige wall tiles in seafoam green and Latte hex floor tiles from Nemo Tile.

[Photos by Nicholas Venezia | Styling by John Sheppard]

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The Insider is Brownstoner’s weekly in-depth look at a notable interior design/renovation project, by design journalist Cara Greenberg. Find it here every Thursday morning.

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