GUZMAN PENTHOUSE

Client: Guzman
Type: Residential
Design: 1996
Location: NYC
Size: 1,500 SQFT
Photos: Paul Warchol

The residence results from the transformation of a mechanical room and the addition of a compact bedroom with patio at roof level, in direct view of the Empire State Building. The upstairs bedroom and a bay window at the main level are stacked upon each other in modular fashion. The bay window – made from the back portion of a truck container - is wedged into the south wall, while the master bedroom, a 20’ long truck container, is placed on top of the existing structure. The yellow aluminum container is partially peeled of its walls to create an outdoor patio. In the minimal interior, which is efficiently insulated and climate-controlled, the bed moves on tracks in and out of the closet to allow sleeping, as well as lounging. An internal steel fire escape ladder connects the bedroom to the living room. The interior of the existing structure is returned to a simple white shell with exposed steel pipes and beams, housing an open layout of living/dining/kitchen, along with a separate child’s bedroom. The longitudinal wall constitutes the visual and functional spine of this loft space. Refrigerators and newspaper dispensers pierce this wall and stretches the interior space towards the outside. The dispensers become small windows and the only lookout points along the wall. An exposed grid of bolts compresses an insulation layer between a corrugated metal skin on the outside existing wall. Its interior side is left unfinished but flush, and the traced guidelines remain visible. The refrigerator boxes are filled with technological functions: listen (hi-fi system), watch (video intercom, pull-out TV set and vertical monitor connected to a camera trained to the Empire State Building), and read (bookcase).