Renovation to a modern house designed by Yale University School of Architecture professor King-Lui Wu in 1952. The goal of the project was to preserve the elegance, materiality and connection to nature of Wu’s original design and soften the visual and acoustical surfaces of the renovated areas of the house. Existing conditions which were preserved included the Pennsylvania blue slate floor, cypress wood ceilings and large plate glass windows. The renovation focused on updating the kitchen, dining room and entry; reorganizing the master bedroom, closet and bathrooms; and redesigning the living room ceiling and specifying new light fixtures throughout.

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The refined ceiling grid in the living room helped to highlight the room’s center piece, a brick fireplace designed by Josef Albers. Natural colored felt on the ceiling panels as well as behind the new cypress wall slats in the bedroom provides acoustic insulation and subtle texture in the public and private areas of the house. The curved gypsum board walls of the walk-in closet and tinted concrete counter-tops in the kitchen softens Wu’s rectilinear design. New cabinetry and appliances in the kitchen enhances its function as a place for entertaining. New light fixtures throughout the house improve light levels while utilizing many of the original fixture locations which were fundamental to Wu’s design.

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Photos by Victoria Sambunaris

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