The Urban Sanctuary
Originally a church, this building was converted into townhouses in the 2000s. The 5-story units feature polished concrete floors, single-stringer staircases, and original stained glass windows salvaged from the church. Of course, it’s been nearly two decades since the conversion, so this unit needed a refresh.
Our scope was to completely redesign the master bedroom floor, refinish some areas on the main living floors and kitchen, add some casework, and refinish all the bathrooms.
The master bedroom level was redesigned to include a large walk-through closet and — most significantly — a fully-operable, folding glass partition that allows the bedroom to easily close off, or open fully, to the rest of the master suite. Clerestory windows allow natural light to reach deep into the space even when the partition is closed.
Unlike other units in the building, this one did not feature the exposed brick accent walls that bring some visual warmth to the other units. To make up for it, we created a faux brick wall — carefully detailing it to hide the fact that it’s not actually a wall of brick, but rather applied brick tiles. The brick material is, in fact, clay-fired and hand-laid as real bricks would be; but, each brick is only 3/4” thick, essentially applied as a tile, rather than stacked and mortared. The visual warmth of the brick and its rustic texture offer a balanced respite from the clean lines of the rest of the townhouse.
In the kitchen, we added custom, steel light fixtures with an industrial feel over the counter to further balance the crisp modern details with industrial materials.
There are also custom details for the non-human residents of the condo, such as the cat-shaped entry hole to a dark napping den under the dining room banquette.
Finally, adaptable casework in the study gives the room new functionality. The casework converts from its closed form — which leaves the room with plenty of open space, much like a library or reading room — to a guest room with a pull-down bed, or even a home office.
This project was built by Schuchart Dow.
Our scope was to completely redesign the master bedroom floor, refinish some areas on the main living floors and kitchen, add some casework, and refinish all the bathrooms.
The master bedroom level was redesigned to include a large walk-through closet and — most significantly — a fully-operable, folding glass partition that allows the bedroom to easily close off, or open fully, to the rest of the master suite. Clerestory windows allow natural light to reach deep into the space even when the partition is closed.
Unlike other units in the building, this one did not feature the exposed brick accent walls that bring some visual warmth to the other units. To make up for it, we created a faux brick wall — carefully detailing it to hide the fact that it’s not actually a wall of brick, but rather applied brick tiles. The brick material is, in fact, clay-fired and hand-laid as real bricks would be; but, each brick is only 3/4” thick, essentially applied as a tile, rather than stacked and mortared. The visual warmth of the brick and its rustic texture offer a balanced respite from the clean lines of the rest of the townhouse.
In the kitchen, we added custom, steel light fixtures with an industrial feel over the counter to further balance the crisp modern details with industrial materials.
There are also custom details for the non-human residents of the condo, such as the cat-shaped entry hole to a dark napping den under the dining room banquette.
Finally, adaptable casework in the study gives the room new functionality. The casework converts from its closed form — which leaves the room with plenty of open space, much like a library or reading room — to a guest room with a pull-down bed, or even a home office.
This project was built by Schuchart Dow.
Project Year: 2018
Project Cost: $150,001 - $200,000
Country: United States
