The clients had raised a family in their traditional solid brick detached city home, and had only renovated the basement. Now everything in the house was tired and worn out, and so they asked for a total gut, updating the finishes, the mechanicals and of course, the style, without adding any floor area. The back wall was opened up to the view, walls removed, and skylights introduced natural light. The pantry cabinetry was combined with a powder room to create a discrete but sculptural wood element into the family room / kitchen area. Working with their interior designer Shirley Meisels of Mhouse, all new furniture was introduced to give the entire house a late-modern esthetic.