Operable Boundary Townhouse/Garden | Dean/Wolf Architects

Operable Boundary updates the spaces of a traditional Brooklyn Heights townhouse that was designed to support nineteenth century lifestyles. In this bygone world, domestic living and domestic work were strictly separated - the low ceilings and small rooms of the lower level reinforced the secondary status relegated to servant spaces. Garden view and garden use were also separated by both a thick masonry wall and the difference in floor level between parlor and (rear yard) garden. These rigid separations conflict with the desires of a contemporary family that prefers to combine life and work, view and use. The servant functions at both the garden level and the parlor floor are removed to liberate these zones from their secondary status. The floor between parlor and kitchen is sliced open to diminish the hierarchy of privilege. The introduction of this two-story space releases the formerly suppressed and separated lower level and seamlessly links informal to formal. This influence floats up through the house and is amplified by the concrete stair that rises from the floor of the garden level to create a bridge into the parlor. The sandblasted-glass threshold separates new concrete from old wooden floor and creates a moment of heightened awareness where lifestyles are joined. The brick exterior wall is opened with a figural cut that joins house and garden. Deep stainless-steel frames of a door and window are inserted into this cut. When they are closed, they combine with the paired column to make three frames for the garden view. When door and window are opened, the silicone-glazed planes of glass at either side make the separation of house and garden nearly imperceptible. Sliding through this transparent boundary is a dramatic laser-cut steel table that extends the living space into the garden and reinforces the interdependence of inside and outside. When door and window open, the family dinner table becomes a garden party table, accentuating the role of the boundary in transforming relationships. Garden and dwelling flow access this fluid boundary - the compartments of traditional space are removed to free a field of multiple possibilities.