Rugby Residence

Brooklyn, NY

As an early-20th-century Brooklyn duplex, our approach towards this residence was to listen to the existing structure, imagine a more refined flow through the home, and meditate on how materials and colors can feel both lived in and new at the same time. The result is a home that is eclectic, cozy, and comfortable to host gatherings. At the heart of the home, the kitchen peninsula, is reclaimed timber from one of America’s first bowling alleys.

Size: 1,300 ft²
Client: Private
Scope: Architect of Record
Press: Dwell
Completed: 2024
Team: Lindsey Wikstrom, Jean Suh, Emma Jurczynski
Collaborators: Cornell Design Build, Sawkill Lumber Company, Black Square Builders

Categories:

Color and material work in concert throughout the home. Upon entry, a soft, almost shadowless envelope creates calm, punctuated by rich passages of hue that guide movement: a juniper-green corridor draws one forward; an ochre stair hall invites ascent; and mulberry terra-cotta floors anchor the experience of the kitchen. These tones are not ornamentation. They function as wayfinding devices, turning movement itself into a chromatic sequence. 

Color and material work in concert throughout the home. Upon entry, a soft, almost shadowless envelope creates calm, punctuated by rich passages of hue that guide movement: a juniper-green corridor draws one forward; an ochre stair hall invites ascent; and mulberry terra-cotta floors anchor the experience of the kitchen. These tones are not ornamentation. They function as wayfinding devices, turning movement itself into a chromatic sequence. 

Reclaimed timber defines thresholds and transitions, particularly in the sculpted kitchen peninsula, where its historic stripes double as both structure and artwork. The unique composition of these lanes, hard maple fused with soft pine, designed for endurance under pressure, revealed an expressive grain pattern that transformed into the project’s conceptual foundation. The timber’s alternating stripes became both a tactile memory of its past life and a visual language for contemporary design.

Reclaimed timber defines thresholds and transitions, particularly in the sculpted kitchen peninsula, where its historic stripes double as both structure and artwork. The unique composition of these lanes, hard maple fused with soft pine, designed for endurance under pressure, revealed an expressive grain pattern that transformed into the project’s conceptual foundation. The timber’s alternating stripes became both a tactile memory of its past life and a visual language for contemporary design.

By allowing color and material to act as spatial instruments, and with the help of our extraordinary team and client, we crafted a home that feels intuitive and alive. This home is proof that architecture can be both rigorously sustainable and emotionally resonant when history and design are allowed to intertwine.

By allowing color and material to act as spatial instruments, and with the help of our extraordinary team and client, we crafted a home that feels intuitive and alive. This home is proof that architecture can be both rigorously sustainable and emotionally resonant when history and design are allowed to intertwine.

Reach out to start a conversation about your project and how we can bring it to life with thoughtful, sustainable design hello@mattaforma.com

Reach out to start a conversation about your project and how we can bring it to life with thoughtful, sustainable design hello@mattaforma.com