Newport Residence

Situated 75 feet away from the elevated train tracks, close enough to hear “next stop”, as it’s announced over the intercom our clients desired to convert this masonry two-flat into a single-family home.

The existing conditions were dismal, nothing was level while dark interior, low ceilings and lack of connectivity between floor plates added to the complexity for the desired outcome. During design process we determined to eliminate everything within the existing masonry two-flat, preserving the exterior load bearing walls in-tact, while strategically puncturing the masonry shell for added daylight and views.  We then stitched all new building levels together utilizing an articulated stair within a contiguous void, pulling natural daylight downward and connecting spaces via the play of light and shadow throughout the day. Furthermore, the neighboring exterior common brick walls now become the backdrop for the interior, as spaces are visually stretched outwards, blurring the boundary between the interior and the outside as we selectively kept some brick as finish material on the inside of the home as well.

While the front of the house remained preserved, the rear embraces the alley and the elevated train. Traditionally the rear of these buildings along the tracks have been very much a non-design priority, however, to us and to our clients this elevation was as equally important as the front, offering a new vantage for those passengers that ride the EL., building a visual marker for the passer by.