Gordon Lobby by Worrell Yeung

A minimalist redesign by Worrell Yeung breathes new life into the lobby of a historic NYC apartment building...

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From the architect: Worrell Yeung, the NYC-based architecture studio, has completed a gut renovation and minimalist redesign of an historic apartment building lobby near Madison Square Park. Serving as a liminal space between the urban and the domestic, the lobby is a reprieve from the street, facilitating the transition indoors as well as a moment to pause and reflect.

“A strong thread in our practice is our commitment to adaptive reuse and reimagining new spaces in older buildings,” says Max Worrell, co-founder of Worrell Yeung. “For projects of this nature, we aim to create contemporary objects or thresholds that highlight new and old with a minimal, textured material approach.”

Upon crossing the entrance threshold, the monolithic quality created by the light gray terrazzo lining the floor and the lower part of the walls is offset by crisp, textured wood joinery concealing a package room, the primary object defining the space. The use of terrazzo and textured wood offers a fresh reinterpretation of historically used materials–a contemporary nod to the building’s 110 years of history. A rectangular bench in the same terrazzo material rises from the floor adjacent to the package room, reading as a neighboring, domestically-scaled volume.

“The light gray terrazzo and the gray lime wash walls offer a soft, light backdrop allowing the package room to be the lobby’s focal point, defining the space,” explains Jejon Yeung, co-founder of Worrell Yeung. “We chose fumed larch to lend a deep warmth and richness. Battens, along with the wood’s vertical grain, offer texture and exaggerate the height of the space.”

The architects prioritized making the small, somewhat tight space function optimally while also ensuring it feels airy and open. “Being extremely efficient with space, we were able to keep the layout and forms simple and uncluttered,” notes Yeung.

Deft use of built-in cove lighting creates the impression of the package room ‘floating’ while also making the surrounding space feel larger than it actually is through visually blurring the edges between surfaces, and creating more depth perception. This sense of scaleless spaciousness has been enhanced by the removal of the existing dropped ceiling, allowing ceilings to now be 14 ft tall.

Acknowledging the transition from day to night, a singular, elemental light fixture from Artemide reads like an abstract sun during the day and transforms to a soft moon-like fixture in the evening. It casts an inviting glow in all directions, and can be seen from the street, like a portal to the interior. A pair of rectilinear peach mirrors by Ben & Aja Blanc provide subtle reflective moments upon entry.

The project’s scope included a sensitive restoration of the Gordon Building’s historic facade. Dating back to 1913, this had been patched and painted unevenly with various colors and mismatched window frames over the preceding decades. All the paint on the walls (both the masonry and cast iron detailing) has been stripped and repainted, and now features a muted, neutral palette that transforms the bottom two-story section of the building’s exterior into a coherent whole. A canvas awning which had been obscuring characterful detailing has been removed to allow this to be seen once more.

The exterior’s redesign also included new lighting, security upgrades (including a modernized intercom and virtual door person), a new service entry and new windows. The new, expanded entry door and sidelight, as well as the restoration of the historic clerestory above them, offers a visual connection to the street.

“We’ve fused a respect for heritage with classic minimalist aesthetic to transform this space into one which feels welcoming, bright, transparent and safe for the Gordon Building’s residents and their visitors,” says Yeung.

“We wanted to create a refined and nuanced interior that balances these transitions in an understated yet engaging way,” adds Worrell.

Architect & Interior Design: Worrell Yeung
Location: New York, USA
Year: 2023
Founder and Principal: Jejon Yeung
WY Project Team: Max Worrell
Project Manager: Beatriz de Uña Bóveda
Project Designer: Yunchao Le
Photography: Eric Petschek