The NoLIta (North of Little Italy) borough of New York is a trendy location that’s a far cry from the name it’s spawned from. Once a place filled with Italian-American immigrants, the neighbourhood has experienced an influx of yuppies and trend-seekers who have prompted the opening of restaurants, cafés and shops, ultimately creating an on-trend, desirable and upscale area.

Interior designer Piero Manara from design firm Casamanara is responsible for the revamp of the property, which was in dire need of some TLC. Previously owned by Italian actress/singer Romina Power, the space was a “disaster” and “hadn’t been renovated since the ’70s”, according to Piero. Add to that a personal relationship =QUOTE=with the client and the challenge of converting a one-bedroom, one-bathroom place into a three-bedroom, three-bathroom home for a family from Hong Kong.
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Using the apartment when visiting New York with their children, the couple sought a space that was simple, light and airy. “They wanted a place that makes people feel at home straight away,” says Piero. “Our intention was industrial chic as the clients requested. They also wanted to use simple, strong materials and finishes — reclaimed oak timber for the floor, cement on the walls and cold rolled steel and glass for the partition.”

Casamanara re-did all the ceilings and plumbing, installed a new air-conditioning system and platform to divide the space and cut out new windows to embrace natural light. At the completion of the project, the entrance, living room, TV room, kitchen/dining area, three bedrooms, three bathrooms, laundry, powder room and master dressing room all exude colour and a sense of energy.

In keeping with the industrial design aesthetic, colour also plays an important role in bringing elements of warmth into a space that could easily become cold and impersonal. Every room has colour present in one way or another through furniture or accessories, but there’s one structure that is an invaluable asset to the apartment — a clear view of the Empire State Building. What more could you want when visiting the Big Apple?

It’s hard to imagine this spacious home once consisted of just one bedroom and one bathroom. In a city where space and extra bedrooms are incredibly costly, clever design and innovation are key to making the most of what you have.

For more information

casamanara.com

Written by Annabelle Cloros
Photography by Evan Joseph

Originally from Home Design magazine, Volume 18 Issue 4

The post Real apartment: NYC beat appeared first on Completehome.

You can tell this apartment, dubbed The Penthouse, is going to be something unforgettable from the first moment you step out of the private lift. The foyer boasts a Zen garden with a reflecting pool that mirrors the East River below. Tip-toe across the stepping stones, beside a sculpture comprising a heap of porcelain sunflower seeds by renowned artist Ai Weiwei, and look over to the waterfall that gently flows down a 30ft slab of marble. Don’t miss the nearby Japanese tea house from Kyoto, which glows like a lantern come dark. Continue walking and you’ll reach one of the main living areas, with its towering 16ft windows overlooking Manhattan, and Luceplan chandelier, and you’ll be knocked back by the 360-degree vistas.

This home — which is also a place to display priceless artworks by the likes of Monet, Dali and Rodin — is not so much a home as a sublime, luxurious and opulent creation that has captured the attention of the media around the world.

Even the New York Post reported it “takes luxury to new heights”, and said the owner — apparently banking billionaire Chinh E. Chu, who snapped up the 89th and 90th floors of the lavish Trump World Tower to create it — “auditioned” 40 architects before hiring ODA Architecture.

“This apartment is one of the largest in Manhattan,” says ODA executive director Eran Chen. “It’s totally open from 360 degrees to the views of New York City. Add to that one of the largest private art collections in the world — on the 90th floor.”

Creating a home in a space so epic was a challenge for Eran and his team, but they came up with a reasonably simple solution: “What we decided to do was literally divide the apartment into two parts that connected via a main spine. The southern part is the private residence. The other is the entertainment section that includes listening room, wine room, cigar room, lounges, and a projection room. The challenge was to express the greatness of the space and the big perspectives that you get, without overwhelming you.”

Using the story of one family’s journey to New York City as a theme, Eran worked with the client to express different aspects of their personality in each room. The library and cigar room have warm, English looks, while the wine room, with its curved ceiling and dark shelving, feels very French. Meanwhile, the red Italian kitchen by Snaidero (the client reportedly has the yellow one in their country home) makes a real impact against the white marble.

Completing this project was a major feat over four years. Challenges included changing one of the chandeliers to one that wouldn’t swing when the building moved in the wind, and having to chop one of the marble tables in half to get it into the building.

However, Eran maintains it was approached as any other project. “It’s quite a rare opportunity to be able to design a home like this with the richness and scale of the art, furniture, materials and everything else that went into it. At the end of the day, even with something as remarkable as this, we approached it as we do every project. It’s all about the people who live here and the tools that we have as architects to express who they are.”

Our pick
Shimmering mosaic tiles create a luxe look in the wife’s bathroom. These are mother-of-pearl, while the bath is Duravit

Expert idea
Some of the paintings can be swung around to reveal another artwork on the rear of the panel

For more information
ODA Architecture
www.oda-architecture.com

Written by Sarah Swain

Photography by Frank Oudeman

Originally from Home Design magazine Volume 17 Issue 6

The post Once in a lifetime – luxury New York penthouse appeared first on Completehome.

Situated in trendy SoHo in New York City, close to the financial district, Brooklyn Bridge and the hip shops and nightlife of the area, this apartment already has a dream location. It just needed an interior revamp to make it suitable for a design-loving couple with a family.

It’s a loft situated in an old button factory dating back to the 1900s, and is home to Italian-born decorator Debla Manara Berger and her husband, acclaimed British fine art photographer Damion Berger.

Debla and her brother, Piero Manara, run interior decorating firm Casamanera, based in Monaco, and they worked on this project together. The new design had to be suitable for a family and have modern facilities, but still maintain that popular New York loft feel.

“The loft is located in an old industrial building in the Soho area,” says Piero. “The advantage of this property is that it has three exposures — east for the bedrooms, south for the main areas and west in the kitchen area. The purpose was to create a family home, which would also have the potential to be used for sophisticated parties.”

The entrance hall, dining room, kitchen, lounge and three bedrooms and bathrooms were all included in the transformation.

The design was inspired by natural light, and an initial part of the work involved opening up more of the windows of the characterful industrial building, a complex undertaking in a building which has “landmark”, or protected status.

The long space was then divided with three sliding partitions, which allow the area to be restricted or extended. The owners wanted to be able to see the TV from any part of the space so it was hung from the ceiling to create a focal point.

When it came to the decor, it was decided all the materials had to feel modern yet lived in, and be used across the project for coherence. Nothing too decadent was chosen to fit with the history of the space.

The woodwork, which was custom-designed, is oak, stained dark brown, with a low-lustre finish, while decorative Marmorino plaster finishes the walls in the living room.

The existing pine wood floor was bleached, and a new oak floor from Siberia, which was fumed and finished with two coats of white oil, was used in the more intimate areas guest suite and master suite. A carpet by Chilewich, woven from plastic, covers the office floor, while quirky wallpapers from funky Scottish design duo Timorous Beasties adorn the bedroom and powder room walls.

A stand-out feature is the red marble benchtop in a shade called Canyon Red, while photographs by Damion, as well as legends including Henri Cartier-Bresson, add the finishing touches.

“I do particularly love the way you naturally flow from public to private and are able to feel at home in both areas,” comments Piero of the completed apartment. “I also have a penchant for the office space, which was tailored for the husband and is really a sort of control deck of the whole ‘ship’ — present yet discreet at the same time.”

Written by Sarah Swain,

Photography by Evan Joseph

Originally from Home Design Magazine Volume 17 Issue 6

The post New York Loft: Luxe meets hipster appeared first on Completehome.

New York, New York: that famous city that never sleeps is home to millions of people pursuing their dreams. For countless individuals, their ultimate goal is to live, breath and work in this legendary city.

The East Village is a far cry from its former self in modern-day New York. From its humble farmland beginnings to the European immigration wave, the numerous neighbourhoods that make up the borough have been revitalised in recent years through the preservation of local landmarks and buildings.

This historic townhouse is set in the heart of the vibrant East Village. Ulises Liceaga and his wife saw the potential this building had and decided to give it the TLC is was crying out for, transforming it and bringing it into bustling 21st century New York.

Originally a dilapidated dwelling, the structure contained three loft-like apartments that were all dark and very small. Ulises decided to start afresh, redesigning the entire layout of the building and reconfiguring the structure into two dwellings, one atop the other.

“I wanted to go against the grain of the standard ‘row house’ typology and bring this townhouse into the 21st century,” says Ulises. “Gone are the small compartmentalised units and dim lighting; now there is an open, spacious environment bathed in natural light.”

Focusing on the top-floor apartment he and his wife were to call home, Ulises added an additional 620-square-foot storey that would become the master bedroom. From here he continued with the rest of the home, focusing on an open-plan living design that would connect the kitchen to the dining and living spaces. At the same time, Ulises didn’t want to take anything away from the traditional features of the residence; he simply wanted them to blend in with their new contemporary counterparts.

“Working within a landmarked building had its constraints,” continues Ulises. “We constantly had to adjust plans to keep in line with square footage requirements.”

Looking around the home, you’d be forgiven for thinking you had walked into an art gallery. There is not a dull space in the home. The walls are full of interesting and intricate designs, many courtesy of friends of Ulises and his wife. It is easy to see how the vibrant tones of Ulises’ Mexican heritage have made their way into the design; every piece of furniture or art is different, yet mesmerisingly appealing.

“There is a certain simplicity and sobriety within the townhouse, but one cannot ignore the playfulness that also shares the space,” says Ulises. “Collaborations with family friends, such as sculptor Emilio Garcia and light designer Ingo Maurer, add a whimsical flair.”

Nowhere is that whimsy more apparent than in the innovative lighting feature that covers the glass facade of the building. Faced with the dilemma of needing enough light but not wanting to compromise privacy, Ulises and lighting designer Ingo Maurer came up with the adventurous LED lighting design.

“With the LEDs fully lit we create a curtain — one that both blocks exterior views but lights the interior,” explains Ulises. “With the LEDs unlit our open plan is bathed in natural light.”

New York is a magical city. For anyone who has had the fortune to live there or simply visit, there is a certain vibrancy that inhabits its occupants and its streets. Ulises has managed to draw inspiration from this and create his own oasis that is surrounded by one of the busiest metropolises on the planet.

“This project will always hold a certain weight and importance in my portfolio because it was my first big commission in my new practice,” he explains. “I love being here because when I look around I see artwork created by childhood friends from back in Mexico City, I live under a beautiful glass façade that acts as my own starry constellation at night, and outside my windows I see a slice of history.”

By Tessa Hoult  
Photography by  Eric Laignel & Paul Warchol
From Luxury Home Design magazine Vol. 15 No. 6

The post REAL HOME: New York townhouse appeared first on Completehome.

A beautifully engineered combination of old and new, this New York apartment by Ochre exudes all the calm of a rustic countryside farmhouse despite being situated in one of the busiest metropolises in the world. 

From London to Paris to New York, Ochre, originally from the UK, has spanned the continents, bringing its beautiful collections of furniture and design along. The two founders, Joanna Bibby and Harriet Maxwell Macdonald, met at art school and were soon inspired to put their design ideas into practice.

Their collections are made up of a broad selection of furniture pieces and accessories — from lighting to upholstery to kitchenware — all of which manage to strike a naturally beautiful balance between old and new.

Ochre is also expert at interior design. This particular apartment in the buzzing city of New York encompasses all that the company is. The apartment is a classic Soho loft built in the 1860s and is situated on one of the most sought-after corners of the city. It spans the blocks from Crosby Street to Broadway, giving the apartment the unique feature of two entrances. The Broadway entrance is therefore also part of the living area, enabling guests to enter the house without walking through the rest of the apartment.

As for the other aspects of the layout, Ochre found these took some careful consideration. The previous owner had been a potter and had divided the space to suit her lifestyle, working at the front of the building and living at the back. When redesigning to suit the needs of family life, it made much more sense to reverse this and place the living area at the front, with sleeping areas tucked away at the rear. To implement such a huge structural change, Ochre had to gut every internal wall and found that none were original and had all been installed during the ’80s.

As the apartment was built in the 1860s, it has some special features. For example, exceptionally tall ceilings and massive windows that face west. It also has a large set of windows at the back that look out over an original courtyard. These were unique elements that Ochre was keen to retain, which meant nurturing already existing imperfections that came with the old building. Ochre knew that it could easily be completely refurbished, doing away with original fixtures to bring in new and modern elements to freshen up the place, but that’s not what was wanted. To create another “modern box”, as Harriet says, is not what Ochre’s about. Instead, they allowed the imperfections to flow and guide the design, and this is what really gives the apartment its charm.

Other elements that the design team tried to rescue and reuse were the original ceiling and walls. They also attempted to refurbish the original Douglas Fir floor, but “after a lot of effort and expense, Ochre had to throw in the towel and lay an inexpensive pine floor,” explains Harriet. Sad to let the idea of the original floor go, the designers implemented a very effective special wash that helped the new floor look softer and older. They weren’t afraid to include some traditional accents such as the beautiful John Soane fireplace (made by Chesney’s) as well as the super-modern Italian kitchen by Valcucine.

One of the truly stunning features in the space is the colour scheme and from the outset Ochre had a very specific idea in mind. Keen to create that antique yet modernised look, they spent time carefully selecting soft greys and browns. These colours, which easily could have made the space feel cold and inhospitable, work in the opposite way, creating a warm, alluring and approachable space that’s nothing short of inviting.

What we love about this space…

– The front living area’s large windows, which date back to the 1860s and the gorgeous Arctic Pear chandelier by Ochre, as well as the de Le Cuona linen and blinds by Knowles and Christou.

– The fumed oak dining table with a cast-bronze base by Ochre and painting by Jeri Ledbetter.

– The kitchen’s large eucalyptus wall light and ceramics in shades of jade green and blue by Canvas.

– The kitchen’s a main island by Valcucine and glass ceiling pendants by Niche Moderne USA

– The large Eclipse chandelier, Scorpion lamp and Zeffirelli chair in white, all by Ochre.

– The metal coffee table by Canvas paired with a pink armchair.

– The sleek bathroom features, especially the antique glass mirror above the bath.

– The bedroom’s white ash bed and a Moroccan tadelakt lamp, both by Canvas.

By Alexandra Longstaff
Photography by Ditte Isager
From Luxury Home Design magazine Vol. 15 No. 4

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