LOT-EK
RUSSELL-FONTANEZ apartment

a playful reuse of steel doors engages the windowless areas along a stair shaft of this floor-through apt

completed

2010

location

East Village, New York

client

Maurice Russell + Jorge Fontanez

size

1,100 SF

collaborators

Virginie Stolz, design lead / Silman, structure / Craft Workshop, fabrication

photograpy

Danny Bright + Nicholas Calcott

awards

concept & vision

we flank the building staircase at the center of the space with two tunnels fashioned from 63 upcycled commercial steel doors to compressed service and mechanical needs into the middle portion of the apartment and free the open front and rear areas

program & use

one tunnel distributes all service areas – bathrooms wardrobe, laundry, storage, while the other, wider, tunnel houses a custom dining area, centered around a custom table of reclaimed sassafras and steel which comfortably seats 12. A built-in banquette, also from salvaged metal doors, provides seating along one length of the table, and includes hidden storage

impact & significance

originally two units combined by previous owners to encircle the central staircase, the original layout resulted in significant wasted space, awkward connections, and dark interiors. Our challenge to reconsider the difficult layout toward an open space maximizing storage encouraged the transformation of the least-interesting areas, now the most playful and surprising spaces, providing a unique distribution and character to the apartment

Dec 12, 2025

WE START WITH THE THINGS WE FIND

WE START WITH THE THINGS WE FIND