The living room boasts Future Perfect sconces, a custom sofa and rug, and DOOQ tables.
“I typically like to start a design process with a clean slate, free of preconceived ideas of what the project wants to be,” says architect Andrew Magnes. But from the moment he first saw a 4,500-square-foot Madison Avenue duplex apartment with 360 degree views of Central Park, he knew what had to be done. “I wanted to keep the perimeter’s attention on the spectacular views,” he said. But downstairs was another matter entirely.
Magnes referenced the work of Louis Kahn for reorganization, devising a central core with services including the mechanical spaces, storage, and stairs. New hybrid HVAC, electrical, and plumbing systems brought the space up to date, while the team only brought ceilings down when absolutely necessary. Downstairs, the kitchen and dining room open to each other, with hidden telescoping doors for privacy and sound absorption. Shiny Sparkle Studio cast a three inch-thick glass work counter for the kitchen, illuminated by interior coves in the elliptical, plaster ceiling. A copper backsplash leads the way to the wet bar, near a circular media room of blue lacquer.
A custom Roche Bobois defines the media room, with a Dedar Milano shade, Lorenza Bozzoli Couture.
Two sets of stairs—to the north, an anigre veneer structure and to the south, a corten spiral stair by Juan Alfredo Design—connect the lower level to the upstairs primary suite with alba Chiara marble shower and sink areas, and to three more bedrooms whose bathrooms each boast its own tone of three-dimensional tile.
Andrew Magnes Architects worked with Fawn Galli Interiors on the design. Galli similarly wanted to compliment the views. “We really thought about Central Park as part of the color scheme and feeling of the interiors,” she says. Warm grey walls bloom with compounds of colors and patterns. “I wanted to create something that was joyful, fresh, fun, and energetic,” she says. In other words, a space that’s entirely itself.
Walk Through This Joyful + Fresh Duplex
The living room boasts Future Perfect sconces, a custom sofa and rug, and DOOQ tables.
An Auchincloss chandelier and Paolo Franzin sconce illuminate the family room’s custom sofa and rug, CB2 chair, and ottoman by the Craft Code.
A custom kitchen offers cabinetry by Robert Scott, a ProDesign backsplash and island, and an Elkay sink with fittings by California Faucets.
Bedroom doors are rift oak with inset wallcovering by Pictalab, while Dedar made the wallcovering over the custom bed; the side table is by India Mahdavi for Ralph Pucci.
A white oak stairwell with a custom runner and an Anigre banister connects the downstairs living spaces and the primary suite above; the wallcovering is by Pierre Frey.
A Fernando and Humberto Campana sofa takes pride of place at the end of the white terrazzo tiled foyer.
Amazonia Stone from BAS clad the walls and form the sink of the powder room, with a Waterworks faucet and mirror by Gio Ponti.