[Photo by Jason Schmidt / New York Magazine]
We’ve heard of water towers as art pieces, a hotel with a water tower-turned-bar, and even a speakeasy hidden inside a water tower. But New York magazine’s latest Design Hunting issue goes inside something even better: a penthouse apartment built into the water tower of an Upper East Side building. The owners, Lili and Lee Siegelson, worked with Olson Kundig Architects to seamlessly convert two floors of the building—the tower space, which functions as the building’s 18th floor, and the floor directly below it—into one dwelling big enough for the pair and their two children. While most of their living space is located on the 17th floor, the living room, kitchen, and a small office are all in the water tower itself. (It’s also surrounded by a lush rooftop garden. Can you say dream apartment?)
Will you offer us a hand? Every gift, regardless of size, fuels our future.
Your critical contribution enables us to maintain our independence from shareholders or wealthy owners, allowing us to keep up reporting without bias. It means we can continue to make Jewish Business News available to everyone.
You can support us for as little as $1 via PayPal at [email protected].
Thank you.
[Photo by Jason Schmidt / New York Magazine]
In addition to completely reworking the interiors of the 18th floor, the architects at OKA built many pieces of furniture specially for the Siegelson’s space—the wood-and-leather banquette in the corner of the living room is one of their creations, as is the couple’s bed.
[Photo by Jason Schmidt / New York Magazine]
The steel staircase that connects the 17th and 18th floors was installed in the apartment in sections, and is part of a unit that includes the steel bookshelves seen here. Those bookshelves aren’t just meant to be pretty, though—they also function as structural support.
[Photo by Jason Schmidt / New York Magazine]
One of the coolest features of the apartment: an outdoor shower, which was designed for the couple by Marcel Wanders for Boffi.
New York Design Hunting is on newsstands now. For more of Wendy Goodman’s design coverage, go here.
Read the full story at Curbed NY by Amy Plitt
All Home Design Coverage [NY Mag]
