Unless you’ve tried to secure funding under NYC’s post-Hurricane Sandy Build It Back program, it’s hard to fathom all that the team behind this Brooklyn remodel went through from start to (ongoing) finish.
Photography by Mikiko Kikuyama, courtesy of Takatina.
Every building on the street was impacted, and to date this house is the only one to get Sandy funding—not because the money isn’t available, but because the process is so impossible no one else stuck it out.” (Read about the situation in the New York Times.).
The south-facing back of the house has new windows and stucco facing that’s crowned with aluminum industrial shingles that sparkle in the sunlight.
The mandate was to keep costs down while coming up with an inventive design that both fits into the neighborhood—the facade has its original brick—and has its own singular presence.
The shingles are made from recycled metal by Reinke Shakes of Hebron, Nebraska, and are designed to endure hurricanes and tornados: “They’re used in factories and warehouses and cost about $1 a square foot,” says Taka.
The entry, with a double-height frosted wire glass door, opens to a new “monumental narrow” stair positioned on the west side of the building.
The block-patterned flooring was a discovery by the owners: it’s from Brothers Cement Tile, a family-owned company founded in Cuba and now based in Mount Vernon, New York, where all of its tiles are made.
The loft-like living room has 17-foot ceilings and a giant quadrant of aluminum-framed windows that link it to the garden (the bottom right window is a sliding door).
The all-white kitchen came from Ikea, and features Ringhult cabinet fronts and doors in glossy white: “You can see the reflection of the trees in them and it makes the space feel bigger,” says Taka.
Taka and Tina worked with structural and mechanical engineers to get the building compliant: the toppled brick walls were rebuilt as a star feature, reinforced by steel beams that the designers left exposed and balanced out with insulated walls.
All mechanical systems, formerly in the basement, were inconspicuously located throughout the building, per flood-code requirements; the boiler, for instance, is hidden in a living room closet in the penthouse.
The windows are 14 feet tall and slightly off-center: “They’re placed to minimize views of the adjacent buildings and maximize the garden view,” says Taka.
There’s a garden designer in residence.
The deck was rebuilt using the existing metal framework and has a new metal stair.
Fermob Luxembourg Chairs surround a slatted wood table that the family reclaimed from storage.
The master bedroom is set on the mezzanine in the back of the room. (He also inserted hooks in the center of the exposed steel beams for hanging paintings.)
The bathroom—and also the kids’ bedroom—are situated on the ground floor in the front of the house.
Cabletech, a Czech company that belongs to friends of the owners, supplied the blackened stainless-steel netting that provides the master bedroom with a view of the garden.
“The space is a dialogue between the natural setting and indoor living,” says Taka.
Post-Sandy, nature was taking over the back of the house.
Before
Plans
Before and After elevations detail raised floor placements and the penthouse addition.
The first floor plan shows the location of the kids’ shared bedroom and the family bath under the mezzanine in the front of the house.