Worrell Yeung Designs Chelsea Loft for Art-Collecting Family

Access Full Press Kit Here

NEW YORK, NY - New York-based architecture studio Worrell Yeung has completed the renovation and design of a 2,200-square-foot loft in Chelsea for an art-and-design-collecting couple with small children. The project marks the first close collaboration between Worrell Yeung and Jean Lin of Colony on the curation of a home’s interiors, resulting in a unique interiors scheme that both highlights and complements the client’s textiles and contemporary art collection.

The organizing design strategy of this renovation was to maintain contiguous public living zones and extend daylight as far as it can reach by minimizing partitions and concentrating private rooms on the north side of the apartment. Occupying a half floor of a classic early 20th-century loft building, historic elements of the building such as timber columns and beams, cast iron capitals, and wood timber ceiling joists were left raw and exposed, particularly in the generous living area, to maintain the spirit of the New York artists’ loft. Before Worrell Yeung’s intervention, the loft had been occupied by an artist and art handler for MoMA and had not been updated in nearly 40 years.

The open public living spaces, inclusive of the kitchen, dining room, and living room, are organized by two custom dark-stained ash wood storage objects, which are treated as refined furniture pieces, while a custom hand-troweled raked plaster volume occupies the center of the apartment and contains the bathrooms and other utility spaces. "Inspired by bush-hammered concrete walls made famous by Paul Rudolph and others, we worked with a local artisan to develop a softer, textured surface that would create an interplay of shadow and light against the more refined, elemental pieces in the apartment,” says Max Worrell, co-founder of Worrell Yeung.

A monolithic Ceppo di Gre marble kitchen island anchors the heart of the loft, extending Worrell Yeung’s interest in defining space through the addition of distinct, elemental objects. "There was a strong desire to express the island's ‘object-ness’ by keeping it very elemental in form, yet still arranging the stone planes to invite comfortable congregation with these square stone niches that embed into the wood floor,” says Jejon Yeung, co-founder of Worrell Yeung. The language established by the kitchen island is also carried into the master bathroom shower, which is defined by dark marble volumes and obsidian-hued walls. ​ 

Reclaimed antique heart pine floors were used throughout and juxtaposed with white pigmented ash wood closets and casework. Across the apartment, large sliding wall planes allow the spaces to be continuously opened to each other or closed off for greater privacy, while perimeter white walls elevate brightness throughout. As part of the sequence of spaces, a children’s bathroom is an unexpected moment of color with bright yellow tile creating a deliberate and graphic experience, while the powder room contains a smoky glass wall that reflects a custom Tinos Green marble vanity and historic wood column.

Worrell Yeung’s collaboration with Jean Lin of Colony, a New York-based design gallery and curatorial practice, inspired the loft’s interior scheme, which joins angular, articulated furniture and jewel-toned, subtly patterned upholstery, fixtures, and objects. Both firms describe the relationship as uniquely synergistic and smooth, with Worrell Yeung establishing the initial concept and Lin working intimately with the architects to articulate the home’s details through the entire design process. “The way we approach interiors, because we are not a traditional interior design studio, we are able to be more collaborative. It was really nice to have Max and Jejon set the groundwork with their intention,” says Lin. “Interior designers often come on late in the design process, and sometimes aren’t necessarily aligned with our own aesthetic intentions, so this was great and a true collaboration,” seconding Worrell.

Conceived with people, place, and purpose in front of mind, the loft’s interior design simultaneously reflects the architectural design of the space, the family it was built for, and the everyday interactions of the two. Precise architectural elements give the loft an airy, open feel throughout, while unassumingly creating privacy where needed. 

The interior colors, materials, and furnishings mirror this sentiment. In the living room, earthen jewel tones are anchored by a neutral base palette, and richly textured with antique Peruvian textiles from the client's collection and saturated velvets. A low-slung velvet maroon sectional by Cassina is the visual center, surrounded by antique Morroccan rugs and framed with Noguchi Akari pendants overhead. Broken geometries within the furniture and floor plan complement the strong architectural lines created by Worrell Yeung, while emerging American designers Vonnegut/Kraft’s lacquered black Releve dining table, juxtaposes the hand raked plaster architectural object behind it.

 The client’s art fine art collection, which features bold abstractions and arresting figurative paintings and drawings by artists such as Paula Rego and William Kentridge, accents these features. “The design and overall material experience of the home very much reflects the client’s playfulness and complements their eclectic art collection,” Worrell says.


Colony Consult is a design and strategy firm with a focus on creative direction for design studios, architecture firms and global manufacturers. Founded by Jean Lin as a companion to Colony Co-op, Consult works with a wide range of clients including small to mid-size design-forward architecture studios. Consult functions as a client focused, in-house interiors team, expanding each studios’ greater vision into the interior space.

Project Credits:

  • General Contractor: Bednarz Construction
  • Interior Designer: Jean Lin, Colony
  • Lighting Designer: Lighting Workshop
  • MEP Engineer: Engineering Solutions
  • Photographer: Eric Petschek  

Furniture, including Rugs, Design Objects, Lighting Fixtures:

 From Colony:  

  • Allied Maker: Bastion Pendant (hallway pendants)
  • Vonnegut/Kraft: Releve Dining Table
  • Grain: Pool Rug (Master bedroom rug) 
  • Grain: Dish side table (living room)
  • Grain: Drift Side table (kids bedroom)
  • Phaedo: Kids Table (kids bedroom)
  • Meg Callahan Rye Quilt (Master Bedroom)
  • Cassina: Mexcube (living room sofa), Rio (coffee table), Tabouret (side tables), Utrecht Chair (living room chairs)
  • Breuckelen Berber: Vintage Morrocan Rugs (Living room rugs)

Additional Lighting: 

  • Roll and Hill Eclipse (master bedroom pendant)
  • Moooi Non Random (Dining Room pendants)
  • Noguchi Akari Pendants (living room pendants) 
  • Noguchi Akari floor lamp (living room)
  • Lasvit Crystal Rock (powder room pendants)

Additional Furniture: 

  • Asa Pingree Living room daybed 
  • TRNK Arc Poufs (living room)
  • Steven Bukowski Bellow Sideboard (dining room)
  • Aardvark (master bed)
  • Hollis and Morris Corktown stool (kitchen)
  • Vintage Cesca Dining Chairs
  • Vintage Platner Easy Chair (master bed room)
  • Softline Bob Chair (kids bedroom)

 Additional Rugs: 

  • The Rug Company Frog rug (kids room)

Other Interior Product Credits:

  • Stained Ash Veneer Paneling - Custom (kitchen cabinets and entry volume)
  • Reclaimed Heart Pine Wood Floors - Madera (Throughout) 
  • Ceppo di Gre Tile/Slabs - BAS Stone (Kitchen Island and Master Bathroom)
  • Hand Troweled Vertically Raked Plaster - Custom (Dining Room, Hallway and Master Bedroom)
  • Tinos Green Custom Marble Vanity (Powder Room)
  • Fantini Plumbing Fixtures (All Bathrooms)
  • Decorative Glass - Bendheim (Master Bathroom and Powder Room)
  • DalTile 2x2 Ceramic Tile - Daisy (Kids Bathroom)
  • Corian Solid Surface - (Countertops, Sinks, Cabinets)

Art:

Liat Yossifor, Jorge Eduardo Eielson, Paula Rego, Rosemarie Castoro, Diane Victor, Fernando Goin, Palma Blank, Shawn Burkard, William Kentridge, Robyn Penn

 

Get updates in your mailbox

By clicking "Subscribe" I confirm I have read and agree to the Privacy Policy.

About Worrell Yeung

Worrell Yeung is an architecture and design studio based in Brooklyn, New York. Founded in 2014 by Max Worrell and Jejon Yeung, our practice synthesizes complex systems and needs into clear conceptual solutions that are precise and considered. Working across several scales and typologies—from adaptive reuse and public space to ground-up residential and cultural—we approach every project as an opportunity to create work that is adaptable to the present climate, focused on function, and enduring.

We approach conceptualization and construction with equal importance, making work that appears simple and unembellished but is rooted in a rigorous and innovative design and analysis process—from concept to realization. At its core, our work embodies a concise, poetic pragmatism that encourages discovery and wonder at multiple scales. We strive to create architecture that makes life better for people and positively transforms the experiences of its users and the wider community. 

Max Worrell is a licensed architect who has focused his career on creating architecture that is inventive, modern, and thoughtful. Prior to founding Worrell Yeung, Max worked in the offices of Allied Works Architecture, A+I, and most notably as an associate at Bernheimer Architecture. Max earned a Master of Architecture degree from Yale University in 2006, and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Oklahoma State University in 2001. He is licensed in New York State and a member of the American Institute of Architects.

Jejon Yeung is a licensed architect in New York State, a member of the American Institute of Architects, and an accredited LEED professional with USGBC. Jejon brings an open and engaging leadership to both clients and collaborators. Previously, Jejon was an integral team member at Architecture Research Office for over nine years serving as Project Director. Jejon obtained his Master of Architecture degree from Yale University in 2007, and a Bachelor of Architectural Studies degree from Carleton University in 2004. 

Contact

45 Main Street, Suite 546 Brooklyn, NY 11201

[email protected]

www.worrellyeung.com