A renovation of a three-story I. M. Pei rowhome in Philadelphia. Sited at the foot of the Society Hill Towers and designed in the 1950s, the Society Hill Townhouses were initially designed to bridge the gap between the 18th-century brick rowhomes and the dramatic concrete towers. The result was an expressive and tactile collection of homes built for city living. After layer upon layer of updates to the house, we were tasked with distilling the house back to its original vision while incorporating functional upgrades for a family living in the city.

Full-width glass sliders provide a connection to the outdoors in the dining room.

The house is organized around a four-story spiraling steel staircase, a defining feature of the original house. This became the programmatic anchor for the reimagined home, with living areas located around this central core.

The oculus on the third floor drenches the stairwell with diffused light