Downtown New York City Pied‐à‐terre by Sandra Weingort

Sandra Weingort’s downtown New York City pied‐à‐terre stands as a restrained, Japanese-inspired interior – an ideal soothing antidote to the business of city life. The light-filled apartment became the perfect blank canvas for Weingort to transform into an intimate retreat injected with warmth and soul.

The success of the project can be traced back to the strong relationship between client and designer. Joaquín Mollá, an Argentinian advertising executive fell in love with Weingort’s work before he decided to engage her for his own New York City home. Their shared passion for art, design, and all things beautiful launched a collaborative relationship that produced such a striking outcome. The design brief was to create a private, calming atmosphere for a Buddhist student.

The original apartment existed as a plain white box in a newly refurbished building – lacking any soul or edge, but with loads of potential. Weingort wanted to bring warmth to the space, carving out a protective enclave separate from the noise of the outside world. The ceiling was peeled back, slowly and carefully by hand, to expose the existing concrete slab. Weingort explains that she “really wanted to dramatically juxtapose ceiling heights with the furniture to emphasise the feeling of space, light, and air. So, I was very specific about keeping all of the furniture low”.

With such a light-filled space, a palette of rich dark colours was chosen to create a tranquil and intimate feeling. Dark stained wood and raw steel are counterbalanced by soft furnishings in muted blue tone. There is a delicate equilibrium that exists between hard and soft surfaces and light and dark colours, a balance that creates equally interesting and welcoming spaces. Weingort explains, “the best way to keep the client excited was by showing him very unique and amazingly crafted vintage furniture, objects, and materials. The rarer things were, the more excited we both were”.

A collection of eclectic objects that include Jeanneret chairs, a Nakashima table, and an African headrest used as a side table, bring character and warmth to the scheme, perfectly capturing the personality of the artist and contemporary art connoisseur that now lives within.