An arched entryway and “electric blue millwork” are among the features in a rowhouse in Philadelphia’s Society Hill neighbourhood that has been renovated by architectural studio TBo.
Designed in the 1950s, the three-storey building is one in a series of brick townhouses by the Chinese-American architect IM Pei that were integrated into an area with small, historic homes as part of an urban renewal initiative.
Pei used an uncomplicated and repetitive palette of materials for the townhouses – brick and concrete on the exterior and oak flooring, oak casework, brick and blackened steel on the interior,” said TBo.
The buildings feature deep-set arched doorways and rectangular windows. The top is lined with clerestory windows that recall the gridded facades of the nearby Society Hill Towers, a trio of 31-storey residential buildings also designed by Pei.
TBo was tasked with updating a townhouse for a couple with grown children. The clients desired a casual home tailored to everyday use by two people, yet flexible enough to accommodate visits from family.
TBo sought to honour Pei’s original material palette while creating “a new voice through experimentations with the colour and textural quality of these materials”.
“TBo focused on restoring many of the original elements, while selectively enhancing the space by incorporating earthy and natural elements and a palette of bright colours reminiscent of the early modernist experiments,” the team said.
In addition to a marble and oak entry niche, the ground level features a dining area in the front of the plan and a living room in the rear, separated by a kitchen and central stairwell.
Partition walls around the kitchen were removed, enabling a freer flow of movement through the house.
Along one side of the kitchen, the team incorporated warm oak cabinetry and a Blue de Savoie marble counter. The other side features a more unconventional solution.
“The clients eschewed traditional cabinetry here, opting instead for a sinuous band of electric blue millwork with matching concrete counter and sink,” the team said.
Upstairs, the first floor contains the primary bedroom suite, where free-floating closets and wall-mounted vanities help the room feel spacious and unencumbered.
Across from the main bedroom is a cosy library, which features shelving to hold the clients’ large collection of art books and historic Dutch maps.
A fireplace in the library has a brick surround that mimics the building’s exterior vocabulary.
“The studio chose to keep the original brick on the chimney breast, the same historically inspired brick bond and jointing used on the exteriors of the buildings,” the team said.
The top floor of the townhouse contains three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Drawing upon the clients’ love of texture and colour, multi-coloured cement tiles in a variety of patterns are found in the bathrooms.
Throughout the home, original oak flooring was restored, and oak doors and transoms were introduced to bring daylight deep into the home.
The home’s staircase was carefully rethought, as the clients wanted a taller and sturdier bannister to “help keep their light-footed grandkids safe”.
In turn, the team created a blackened steel handrail that takes cues from designs found in a handful of houses by Pei.
“TBo employed a strategy of combining simple geometries – circle, line, square – into unusual combinations,” the team said.
“The handrail is composed of very basic steel sections but becomes really dynamic in response to field conditions.”
The home is furnished with a mix of new and vintage pieces, including a dining table by furniture brand Form & Refine, vintage Clifford Pascoe chairs and a lounge chair from Hem.
Local firm Shiftspace has renovated another of the IM Pei rowhouses, while elsewhere in Philadelphia, ISA created a skinny metal-clad apartment building.
The photography is by Kate S Jordan.
Project credits:
Architecture and interiors: TBo
Contractor: Hivemind Construction
Millwork: Loubier Design
Concrete: Majestic Concrete Design
Metalwork: BenFab Architectural Metalwork
