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project overview
Within the skylight-lit, 8-foot core of Finger 1.0, the kitchen was reconfigured to make way for a new connection to the unit below. There, a stainless-steel fermentation kitchen now supports the family’s brewing and kimchi making. A pre-fabricated single-stringer stair links the two levels, its treads tapered on site. To improve performance, the exterior wall was insulated from within and fitted with high-efficiency replacement windows.
The family flourished in Finger 1.0 for a decade, although by Western standards their initial footprint for four people was modest. The expansion increased the ability to entertain friends, host piano recitals, brew beer, work late from home, allow the son to watch TV all night and adopt a third cat.
The original kitchen in finger 1.0 was a single counter, compact but carefully tuned to the less thans 500-square-foot apartment. Its defining move was a subtle 3-degree angle that gave the narrow plan a perspectival pull—like the prow of a boat setting a course. When we inserted the new stair, we let that geometry steer the design once again. The cooktop was slide towards the refrig- erator, allowing tapering of the counter and overhead cabinets to align with the angled wall. At the same time, the sink found a new home on the opposite wall. Together, these shifts transformed a modest galley into something larger, calv- ing outward like an iceberg from the boat’s hull and almost doubling its foot- print. Even while making way for the stair, the redesign yielded more counter space—a kitchen both more generous and more useful than before.
Left:New gallery kitchen (finger 2.0) Right: Original kitchen (finger 1.0)
All of the original millwork was refinished. The father noted that it was fine to leave some of the wear on the fold-down table, "it's where the kids ate breakfast every day, and it's full of memory." The table still folds neatly away, though the main living activities, aquarium, piano and TV couch have no shifted downstairs.
Left: Cutting the stair opening revealed the lower ceiling could be raised six inches, making space for a transition soffit with LED strip lighting that echoes the illumination above.
Right:A new stair links the upper and lower levels. Light from the central skylight filters down to the new living room, anchored by the original brick party wall.
During the renovation the crew replaced all lighting with LED, upgraded the HVAC system, added new windows and wall insulation, improved the separation wall's soundproofing and air‑seal, and re‑arranged the upper and lower levels to improve circulation and comfort.
