The West Haven Co-op is a multi story residential cooperative in the heart of North West Washington, DC.   The most wonderful aspect of this project was the pure delight of transforming the dismal, wood-clad and smoke mirror lobby with soiled carpet and dingy furnishings into a light filled contemporary airy space which invites and refreshes.

In order to accommodate a limited budget we left the ceiling in place, but changed and enhanced the lighting, using low voltage halogens to replace recessed incandescent can lights.  We removed all the floor and wall coverings and remade the space with contemporary and timeless materials that are both durable and easy to maintain.  We designed the floor using Absolute black granite border and wainscot with a large commercial grade  travertine ceramic tile field in each space. The stark contrast of the two materials creates pools of light in the center of each room.  We clad the walls in a beautiful soft green natural grass wall covering which sweeps the wall and sits atop a low knee wall ledge of black granite which bleeds down to the  black granite border of the floor.  The tile pattern was designed around a large seating unit/planter angling out of the left corner of the east  wall as you enter the building.  The west wall features a bright orange “iconic” embossed wood wall to “POP” the space and create that desired “WOW” factor from the street opposite. Covering the back wall with mirror we visually expanded the space to appear twice its size while also reflecting light from out side into the inner elevator lobby area, and improving the security of the building.

Each section of the lobby was delineated by the floor tile pattern creating “carpeted” areas for the entry,  the elevator waiting area and the mail room. The stained oak wood entry doors were re-finished in a ebonized lacquer as were the wood back banding we added to the doorways and elevators.  The elevator doors were stripped of decades of industrial paint and the bare metal was laquered as a matte steel finish.

Past the elevator lobby area is the mail room with a new custom designed mail sorting credenza.  We extended the finishes from the lobby into this space and stripped the existing mailboxes and left them finished laquered metal to match the elevator doors.