White light through a prism.

Twelve years after commissioning Richard Meier to design their apartment, the owners decided that some changes and enhancements were due. Paul, who had been the project architect in Meier’s office for the renovation, knew which important features of the original design had to be treated with care as well as those areas that could grow. Two of our primary aims were to respect the Meier original while making it more of a home for our clients. The clients generously asked us to explore our own architectural vision.

We first tackled parts of the apartment that had not been part of the original renovation, turning three small rooms into one large kitchen. We created a gym and steam room from a small, dark unused bedroom. The bathrooms were totally renovated. New cabinetwork was added.

The biggest change to the pristine white Meier environment was the overlay of a bold color palette, a palette that takes white light through a prism and splits it into its component parts. This approach was also a perfect reflection of the animated personalities of our clients. As with other projects, we took the specific spectral colors from Matisse and employed them to articulate Meier’s original architectural interventions.

Photographs © Paul Warchol