Light and Air

Sky-Lit House

Location: Brooklyn NY

Year: 2019-2020

Status: Complete

Program: Residential

Area: 2400 SF 

Photography: Kevin Kunstadt

This Sky Lit House responds to the client’s desire to have a light-filled interior that prioritizes transparency over opacity, illuminating the rituals of everyday life. Measuring only sixteen feet wide over three levels, the house is uniquely narrow and not particularly large. With a demand for more usable space, Light and Air proposed a horizontal addition with the aim of transforming the interior entirely. 

The addition, which extends both the first and second floors, is constructed of steel and brick, and is marked by several substantial apertures, two of which face the garden, and one large skylight that connects the new kitchen to the sky above. The skylight runs parallel to the building’s length, bringing light deeper into the house and results in a dynamic cross section that adds considerable drama to the space below. The kitchen is flanked by large, closed storage and a bench, so that the kitchen - the most light-filled space in the house - becomes a place to congregate and dine as well.   

Each level has a different function. The private programs, such as bedrooms and bathrooms, are bifurcated by the public parlor floor which separates the kids on the top floor, from the parents below. The master bedroom is located in the new addition on the garden level, Secluded and removed from much of the noise of the street, the master suite feels uniquely private, and is visually connected to the garden via large, sliding glass doors.