Chelsea Townhouse

A dense New York City residential and commercial area full of townhouses creates the context of this single-family, six-story house. Our architectural response arose by embracing the compact site, which called for a rational and straight forward organization. Positioned between the two 60’ high exterior concrete walls, the spaces are linked by a central staircase running through an atrium that opens up the vertical living scheme and provides the house with a light cascade coming from a bulkhead in the top floor.

On the ground floor of the house, two openings in the slab are created at the rear portion in such a way that, in combination with a bridge across the opening, an independent guest house is generated. The guesthouse is organized as an open living space with a storage wood piece and bathroom overlooking the expansive game room area. On top of the guest volume lies the rear yard and a skylight that introduces daylight to the levels below. The north and south elevations consist of four different assemblies that create transparencies, translucencies, obstructions and screening conditions to respond to the different needs of daylight and privacy.

On the main floor of the house, a double high space defines the main living area that is visually connected to the rear yard and garden by a double height unobstructed glass wall. To guarantee privacy and shading, an aluminum louver screen covers the majority of the façades surface, at the north to protect from neighbors and at the south to protect from direct sunlight.

The top floor is designed to accommodate a broad range of uses while keeping the views to the city, the louver screen gets interrupted at the south top end to generate a spectacular view of New York.