This rowhouse was one of two commissions on a single zoning parcel encompassing the end of a block in the Cobble Hill Historic District of Brooklyn. Though Cobble Hill remains the most intact 19th century neighborhood in New York City, the clients for this second commission were a family wanting a more modern residence. As the end house on the block, the challenge was to design a building that was consistent with the historic neighborhood fabric, yet exhibited modern aesthetics on its three visible facades. The interior plan arrangements, the building section, and the staircase configuration are modern in their design. The intent was to allow the major communal areas of the home to overlap both vertically and horizontally.  The design of the main stair funnels light from a roof top skylight down through the house’s five stories and celebrates the mundane act of vertical circulation so integral to life in a townhouse. Fully open from top to bottom, it connects the home’s garden, family room and kitchen to a top floor TV room with views of New York Harbor and downtown Manhattan. On the exterior, CWB manipulated the massing and detailing of the façades such that their traditional design belies the modern volumes within. They also tweaked exterior details to reflect a more modern sensibility.  (CWB Architects)