A Treehouse Grows in Manhattan

This charmingly bohemian apartment is every urban parent's dream. Designed to foster work, play, and family bonding, the loft was created by combining two adjacent units on a high floor in one of Battery Park City's best buildings. The combined unit is strung along the western elevation of a LEED-certified building with all the primary living areas oriented toward Hudson River views. The "mom-in-residence", Kelly, grew up in sunny Santa Cruz California, a colorful beach town known for its outdoor lifestyle and playful boardwalk. Her goal with this renovation was to recreate the backyard she grew up with for her whole family but in an urban context. INC developed each area of the home to provide a unique series of environments that organize the different activities of the household. Areas are dedicated to playing, climbing, reading, craft projects, piano practice, sleeping, dancing, and homework. All visual design cues evoke and blur the lines between indoor and outdoor experiences. "A lot of my idea of 'home' involves the outside," Kelly has said. Birch tree trunks occupy the dining room, while a birch forest of wallpaper surrounds the "treehouse." The craft room is lined in reclaimed barn wood. A cartoon tree grows in the little girls' room. The playfulness of California design culture and the Santa Cruz boardwalk are significant influences here. Bright greens, azure blues, weathered surfaces, and vintage wall coverings evoke the halcyon childhood's southern California.

Project Team

Adam Rolston, Drew Stuart, Gabriel Benroth, and Tyler M Kleck

Services

Interiors, Architecture, and FF&E Design

Featured in

Business Insider 2016

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