Count on a pair of architects to use their own living space — in this case, a 700-square-foot top-floor condo unit in a 1920s walk-up — as a place to experiment. “In our own home, we like to test out ideas that, if they’re successful, we can implement in future projects,” said Oliver Valle of Oliver Valle Office.

Valle and Blandine Seguin of NOUS Studio both work from home in separate architecture practices. They live with their year-old son in what is “basically a shoebox,” Valle said, 13 feet wide and 50 feet long, with three west-facing windows along the long wall. They also have a private roof deck.

“The main space is everything — entry, work and living area,” Seguin said about what the couple calls Phase I of their project. (Phase II, including the kitchen, a bedroom and a sleeping loft above the bathroom, is not shown here.)

Their central problem, Valle said, was “how to maximize a small footprint, divide up the space and clearly define it, without introducing walls.”

The solution came in the form of a “landscape of wood,” as Valle put it — a custom-built white oak “ribbon” of functional seating, shelving, storage and work surfaces around the perimeter of the apartment, expertly crafted by Shengning Zhang of Studio SNNG in Red Hook.

The built-ins are supplemented by a few carefully chosen pieces of freestanding furniture, mostly Alvar Aalto-designed pieces from Artek.

Another challenge was maximizing light. “In such a small space, we did not want to create any shadow or darkness,” Seguin said.

Angled mirrors above each window, along with deep window casings lined with mirrored glass, “really expand the space, amplify the light and give us more view in a kind of magical way,” said Seguin. “We see trees and sky we would not see otherwise, have light coming in from all directions and get the rays of sun much longer.”

171018_MIRROR MIRROR RESIDENCE PLANS

Interior Design Ideas Brooklyn Studio Nous SNNG Prospect Heights

Interior Design Ideas Studio Nous SNNG Prospect Heights

At the entry door, the architects delineated space for taking off coats and shoes. “You’re not officially inside the apartment until you pass through that threshold,” Valle said.

Interior Design Ideas Brooklyn Studio Nous SNNG Prospect Heights

A bioethanol gas fireplace from Brasa is set into the wall that separates the seating banquette from the entry.

Interior Design Ideas Studio Nous SNNG Prospect Heights

Interior Design Ideas Brooklyn Studio Nous SNNG Prospect Heights

Interior Design Ideas Studio Nous SNNG Prospect Heights

Beneath the windows is a floating credenza 25 feet long.

Note the angled mirrors above each window, made and installed by All City Glass & Mirror in Flatlands.

Interior Design Ideas Brooklyn Studio Nous SNNG Prospect Heights

The cantilevered seating platform is raised a bit to feel like it’s floating. “Built-ins tend to feel heavy and we wanted to counter that,” Seguin said.

Artwork throughout the apartment is by Seguin.

Interior Design Ideas Brooklyn Studio Nous SNNG Prospect Heights

Black vinyl laminate from Forbo clads the plywood doors that conceal storage under stairs leading to the roof. A cut-out in the shape of a cat face serves as a portal to the litter box for the resident cat, Moshi.

The hanging fixture is by Alvar Aalto.

The apartment’s original floorboards were treated with a pickled whitewash.

Interior Design Ideas Brooklyn Studio Nous SNNG Prospect Heights

A detail of one of the windows shows the deep window casings lined with custom mirror glass. The unusual wool-felt sills came from FilzFelt.

New windows were sourced from Queens-based Quality Window Service & Repair.

[Photos by Shengning Zhang]

Check out the ‘The Insider’ mini-site: brownstoner.com/the-insider

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. Got a project to propose for The Insider? Contact Cara at caramia447 [at] gmail [dot] com.

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