Magnolia House
Fort Greene, Brooklyn, NY
Stereometric interventions interlock within the narrow footprint of a brownstone to pack in new program and storage. New volumes open up to reveal jewel boxes: a powder room, a hidden bar, or a recording studio. The formal language is sided - at once monumental and minimal, creating thresholds and pockets for gathering and repose.
+ Talitha Liu, Lexi Tsien, Jamie Latimer, Zohreh Ahmad, Clara Syme
+ In collaboration with ALA Studio
+ General Contractor: Black Square Builders
Parlor Level
On the parlor level, the home’s main communal spaces are open and bright, framed by the theater-inspired proscenium, which allows fluid transitions between the living, dining, kitchen, and deck extending into the rear yard.
The archeological metaphor is also sectional, as one experiences atmospherically distinct environments from the parlor, basement, and cellar levels.
Basement Level
On the basement level, lower light levels encourage a deeper and more textural material palette, with distinct spaces for the garden level apartment and a listening room that doubles as a guest room.
Cellar Level
The cellar takes on a grotto-like quality with spaces carved out for a pool, sauna, steamroom, and icebath.
Generation House
Brooklyn, NY
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An intergenerational coinvestment to foster a model for intergenerational living; for an elderly couple, designer / architect, and a family. Surgical and minimal interventions bring functionality to three dwellings while carefully respecting and restoring historical details. Taking cues from 2001 Space Odyssey, Donald Judd, and the Lion Witch and the Wardrobe, various color blocks can be repositioned and reconfigured. Material contrasts between filagreed plaster and steel, reclaimed douglas fir and reconstituted foam, are meant to elevate each other.
+ Design: Lexi Tsien
+ General Contractor: Preservation Works
+ Steelwork: 618 Design
+ Landscape Consultant: Nishiel Patel Design
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Brooklyn, NY
+ Design: Lexi Tsien
+ General Contractor: Preservation Works
+ Steelwork: 618 Design
+ Landscape Consultant: Nishiel Patel Design
Concept:
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Mask Room
New York, NY
The Mask Room is the sister to Belnord Kommunalka, another bespoke renovation by Soft-Firm in the oldest apartment building in New York City.
The project updates a room historically used as maid’s quarters into a flexible family den and display space for an intergenerational collection of curios, handcrafted masks, and sculpture.
We imagined the space as two opposing masks in the original peach color of the room, unfolded to reveal an interior of deeper greens and ochre, in conversation with the adjacent kitchen.
One wall houses storage and a fold-out couch for a guest bed facing a media wall, which masks a secret bar and a compact guest bath in a checkered and striped tile. Embedding multiple functionalities allows a single room to become a a family hangout, guest room, and salon that bridges between art and the domestic everyday.
+ Talitha Liu, Lexi Tsien
+ unrolled elevation drawn with Daniel Chang
+ photos by Jonah Rosenburg
New York, NY
The Mask Room is the sister to Belnord Kommunalka, another bespoke renovation by Soft-Firm in the oldest apartment building in New York City.
The project updates a room historically used as maid’s quarters into a flexible family den and display space for an intergenerational collection of curios, handcrafted masks, and sculpture.
We imagined the space as two opposing masks in the original peach color of the room, unfolded to reveal an interior of deeper greens and ochre, in conversation with the adjacent kitchen.
One wall houses storage and a fold-out couch for a guest bed facing a media wall, which masks a secret bar and a compact guest bath in a checkered and striped tile. Embedding multiple functionalities allows a single room to become a a family hangout, guest room, and salon that bridges between art and the domestic everyday.
+ Talitha Liu, Lexi Tsien
+ unrolled elevation drawn with Daniel Chang
+ photos by Jonah Rosenburg
Belnord Kommunalka
New York, NY
Belnord Kommunalka is inspired by the kommunalka kitchens of the Soviet era that subdivided and redefined formerly bourgeois homes as intensely functional and collective. The apartment has been in the owners’ family for generations, serving as a gathering place where they have hosted friends and family through the decades.
Soft-Firm was tasked with splicing a modern kitchen into the space, while preserving the collective memories of loved ones who have gathered around the kitchen table. The project integrates the owner’s china cabinet and enhances existing arched geometries with custom lime and citrine hues, referencing the space’s previous color scheme. Linoleum counters and floors, stainless steel accents, and a vintage dining set sourced from upstate New York evoke classic moments of Americana.
+ Featured in Dwell Magazine
+ Lexi Tsien, Tanvi Marina Rao
+ Photo credit Jonah Rosenburg + Lexi Tsien
New York, NY
Belnord Kommunalka is inspired by the kommunalka kitchens of the Soviet era that subdivided and redefined formerly bourgeois homes as intensely functional and collective. The apartment has been in the owners’ family for generations, serving as a gathering place where they have hosted friends and family through the decades.
Soft-Firm was tasked with splicing a modern kitchen into the space, while preserving the collective memories of loved ones who have gathered around the kitchen table. The project integrates the owner’s china cabinet and enhances existing arched geometries with custom lime and citrine hues, referencing the space’s previous color scheme. Linoleum counters and floors, stainless steel accents, and a vintage dining set sourced from upstate New York evoke classic moments of Americana.
+ Featured in Dwell Magazine
+ Lexi Tsien, Tanvi Marina Rao
+ Photo credit Jonah Rosenburg + Lexi Tsien
Saltmans
Craryville, NY
The Saltmans purchased a small plot of land in the mid 1960s with a series of buildings dotting the landscape. The relationship between owner and builder spans nearly three generations, allowing for a construction method based on loyalty, trust, and adaptation over time.
Soft-Firm designed a second-story addition and expansion to the main residence to accomodate a new flexible and intergenerational coliving arrangement which was formed and sustained throughout the pandemic. The family prioritized nooks, crannies, and hide-outs to allow for a multiplicity of auditory and visual needs, for two musicians, grandparents, and their child with special needs.
The vernacular A-frame house is reinterpreted into a new primitive.
The cathedral-like roofline is calibrated with program to give a feeling of expansiveness to the sleeping areas on the second floor. A double height space allows for a writing nook and play room to overlook the entrance foyer.
+ Talitha Liu, Lexi Tsien
+ General Contractor: Mike Cottini
Craryville, NY
The Saltmans purchased a small plot of land in the mid 1960s with a series of buildings dotting the landscape. The relationship between owner and builder spans nearly three generations, allowing for a construction method based on loyalty, trust, and adaptation over time.
Soft-Firm designed a second-story addition and expansion to the main residence to accomodate a new flexible and intergenerational coliving arrangement which was formed and sustained throughout the pandemic. The family prioritized nooks, crannies, and hide-outs to allow for a multiplicity of auditory and visual needs, for two musicians, grandparents, and their child with special needs.
The vernacular A-frame house is reinterpreted into a new primitive.
The cathedral-like roofline is calibrated with program to give a feeling of expansiveness to the sleeping areas on the second floor. A double height space allows for a writing nook and play room to overlook the entrance foyer.
+ Talitha Liu, Lexi Tsien
+ General Contractor: Mike Cottini
