Modern home integrated into historic neighborhood

Occupying an area of 3,800 square feet, Qb3 Design firm has completed a contemporary urban home design in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Entitled the Split-Level house, the newly constructed house stitches itself into the neighborhood on a vacant corner in the Northern Liberties.

Curved brick corners negotiate the irregular street grid, while the cadence of typical rowhouses and a palette of brick volumes and stone bases are translated into a new vocabulary. An interior palette of bleached and blackened oak, polished concrete and patinaed steel contrast the rich wood, hammered concrete and brick of the exterior.

The split-level section adapts these traditional elements to a modern language of continuous spaces and vast glazed openings. The three-story brick skin wraps the glass-lined interior, forming intimate exterior spaces where the two diverge. A private roof garden, sheltered by the brick skin parapet, extends views from the bedroom to the city skyline beyond.

Photos: Todd Mason/Halkin Architectural Photography

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