A Multifunctional Storage Wall Solves a Tricky Spatial Situation

Our Focus series shines the spotlight on the details: the extraordinary materials, spaces, and ideas that take great projects to the next level.   

Traditionally, walls enclose and divide spaces, but in this Queens, New York, apartment, a wall unifies the space—and creates a sort of statement piece of furniture. In 2016, newlyweds Chris Roeveld, a graphic designer, and Lisa Cheng Smith, founder of Brooklyn artisanal shop Yun Hai Taiwanese Pantry, purchased a one-bedroom co-op in the Jackson Heights area. The apartment was standard for the neighborhood, with a massive bedroom and generous proportions throughout, but with plans to grow their family, the couple kept their eye out for a bit more. When a studio apartment next door suddenly went up for sale, the couple decided to purchase it and combine the spaces into a three–bedroom. 

Chris met Nicholas and Deirdre McDermott, founders of Future Expansion Architects, through work and tapped the Brooklyn firm to identify ways to merge the two apartments. "The puzzle was determining how we join these two things that were never intended to come together," says Nicholas. For reference, Chris and Lisa pointed toward old homes found across the Netherlands, where Chris is from, along with domestic alcovess featured in the movies of Japanese filmmaker Yasujirō Ozu.