RENOVATION OF AN URBAN HOME, Philadelphia
Private Exhibits for a Museum President
Additions & Major Renovations - Architecture & Interior Design
RENOVATION OF AN URBAN HOME, Philadelphia
Private Exhibits for a Museum President
Additions & Major Renovations - Architecture & Interior Design
LIEU | LOCATION :
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
(Center City, Society Hill)
PROJET PAR | PROJECT BY :
Reed Axelrod Architects
Jessica Gutwein,
intern architect / project manager
responsible for : planning and design of interior architecture, technical drawings, construction administration and site supervision
MANDAT | MANDATE :
planning – exterior and interior design – technical drawings – construction administration
ANNÉE | YEAR : 1999
SETTING
A house from 1970
A closed brick fortress with a corner tower
guarding a private courtyard within
A museum president seeks a home in which to both present the social functions demanded by his post and protect the functions of a private family
PLOT
The 2-story fortress becomes a 3-story manor
and a family finds its place amongst the displays.
THE STREET WALL
The red brick street wall is extended from one to three stories.
From atop the brick walls, a new metal crown tops the new third floor.
Modest openings are carefully inserted into the brick, maintaining the sense of privacy from the street and the focus towards the inner courtyard.
THE COURTYARD
A new glazed ground floor addition allows the public spaces to spill out onto the secluded inner courtyard.
All rooms look out onto the pool at its heart.
A fragment of the original back wall is on display in the new grand hall.
THE TOWER
Anchoring the corner,
the new stair of cherrywood
and steel twists up three stories
to a crow’s nest beneath painted constellations.