Although this apartment is in New York, it is a fusion of East Coast style and West Coast, Pacific colours. It’s in one of New York’s classic brownstone buildings and is just steps from Central Park. Appropriately for a fusion design, it is the pied-à-terre for an empty-nester, blended family who live primarily in Seattle.

The original apartment was a garden duplex, but when the next-door triplex came up for sale, the owners bought it and asked the architects to combine them. The brief was to blur the boundary between the two units while creating private suites at different levels that would enable visitors to come and go independently.

The primary living spaces and bedroom suites are located on the garden level and the walls between the units have been removed to provide a clear view from the front through to the garden at the rear. The living room at the front was centred around a working fireplace, while white oak shelving surrounds the street-facing windows.

Designers, Barker Architecture Office, then employed a palette of colours drawn from the Pacific Northwest, with tones of greens, blues, deep greys, and white oak panelling. It is a modern, yet relaxed style that provides the perfect haven from the hustle and bustle of New York.

The colour scheme continues into the kitchen, where petrol blue cupboards contrast with natural wood and terrazzo.

In the informal informal dining area there’s a white oak tambour banquette (sliding door cupboards) with a black wood table and white oak chairs.

In the primary suite, the deep blue-grey bedroom walls are brightened by a white oak slat headboard and integrated nightstands. The oak slats continue in the bathroom (next page), where soapstone, terrazzo, and white porcelain penny tiles provide a mix of colour, pattern, and texture.

The rear guest bedroom is lined with a mural wallpaper which depicts a playful woodland scene. In the bathroom (overleaf), wood-look porcelain lines the shower. In a separate area, a copper Japanese soaking tub (also overleaf) enjoys views of the sky through doors that lead to the garden

A white oak stair leads down to a second family room towards the rear of the lower level. There, a teal blue wall wraps over the ceiling to define the sitting area, which is flanked by a terrazzo-lined bar. The floor is also surfaced in terrazzo and wraps up the walls.

Architect/Interior Designer: Barker Architecture Office/BAAO

Photographer: Gieves Anderson

With thanks to www.v2com-newswire.com for providing the materials for the article.