design challenge
Adaptive designs that skillfully repurpose structures, turning challenges into opportunities.
Skinny leonard transforms a slender 16-foot-wide wood-frame rowhouse. The renovation preserves the home's historic bones, while a new extension respects its existing surroundings
To double the living space for a family of four plus their cats and fish, noroof joined two East Village walk-ups into a vertical home, carving in a new stair, a bedroom for their son, and a fermentation kitchen.
Remodeling a tiny fifth‑floor walk‑up for a family of three is like building a small boat for a long voyage: desks, tables, beds and storage all fold, slide or stow away to make the vessel seaworthy.
When a young New York family planned to add a child, noroof turned a one‑bedroom into a light‑filled home anchored by a wedge‑shaped storage “Flatiron” and a cloud‑catcher sleeping pod.
A double‑deck addition provides outdoor rooms for each co‑owner of a two‑family house and grants both families access to the rear yard through interlocking platforms and a firehouse‑red stair.
This renovation preserves the 1879 Italianate façade and enhances its 20‑foot width, front porch, high ceilings and south‑facing garden with a new oculus over the stair and a double‑height interior porch.
A creative Greenpoint couple reimagined a worker’s house for their growing family by marrying modern black insertions with rustic bones, drawing circulation, light and exterior materials deep inside.