Tour an Airy Tribeca Loft that’s a Lesson in Warm Minimalism
When interior designers Anishka Clarke and Niya Bascom of the Brooklyn-based Ishka Designs first got their hands on the penthouse apartment of a buzzy Tribeca factory building conversion, it needed a lot of work. The fireplace had to be shifted to balance out the living room. Ceilings and hallways had to be totally reconfigured. But if you stepped into the airy, modern home today, you wouldn’t notice any of that.
“Now you walk in, and it feels right,” Clarke says of the project, which was made in conjunction with contractor Pompa Development & Construction . “That’s how we like to work. We try not to be excessive with anything. It should just feel how it ought to feel.”
That light touch is what appealed to the clients, a young couple who work in the entertainment industry (he is a Korean American filmmaker, and she is a Japanese musician). The pair, who tapped Ishka in 2016 to create a home base for them in New York, needed a place where they could work, entertain, and, as it so happened, hunker down for a global pandemic. Trusting Ishka’s subdued, craftsmanship-forward style, they gave the designers, more or less, carte blanche .
As for Clarke and Bascom—who are partners in life and work—they started designing spaces together in 2006. The duo had already connected over their complimentary design aesthetic and Jamaican-Guyanese heritage. (Clarke was born and raised in Jamaica; Bascom was born in England but grew up in Brooklyn.) “This shared cultural background shapes the way we see and think about design and art,” Clarke says. “Timelessness, sustainability, natural elements, craftsmanship—all of these things stem from our Caribbean upbringing.”
It’s a visual language and approach they bring to each of their projects in subtle ways—always problem solving, always making something beautiful with what they have. “We both came out of very staunch work-oriented environments with limited resources,” Bascom says. “But what do they say? You take lemons and you make lemonade? Beyoncé talks about it. I think that’s the deal.”
You might say that this project, then, is one big, refreshing pitcher of lemonade. Here, blue chip design classics—a pair of Pierre Jeanneret’s cult-favorite Chandigarh chairs , Jean Prouvé sconces, and a svelte barcart by Vladimir Kagan —mix in with one-off commissions from local artists. A custom Lindsey Adelman chandelier from Roll & Hill hangs above a one-of-a-kind concrete-and-brass dining table by Eric Slayton and a bespoke headboard in the guest bedroom is like a poster child for Brooklyn craft. That last piece was designed by Ishka, carved from rosewood by Bellboy New York and covered in a collaged textile, and hand-painted by Maki Yamamoto —all based in the same New York borough.
Although the project was an exciting opportunity for Ishka to experiment, Clarke emphasizes that “the clients were the inspiration for the space. They’re the reason we chose what we chose.” She and Bascom were quick to problem solve for the homeowners, carving out spaces that meshed well with their personalities and careers. “They came from different ends of the spectrum,” Clarke says, “and you can really see their personality differences in the offices.” She needed bright, airy spaces where she could be loud (she’s a singer, after all); he wanted black-out shades and total silence for writing and editing film. Ishka had to sound-proof the whole home.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the homeowners come together around a love of entertainment. In the living room, which the fireplace left feeling a tad bit lopsided, Ishka balanced things out with a custom, three-piece modular media console for their record player and vinyl collection. After Clarke and Bascom installed a pull down projector screen for movie viewing, they delivered special cushions that extend the sofa over the cocktail table in order to simulate that watching-a-movie-in-bed experience. Is there anything more pandemic perfect than that?
Actually, after hardly leaving the house for nearly a year, the clients had plenty of time to evaluate and reevaluate the space. They gave rave reviews. As Bascom retells it: “They fell in love with the house all over again.”
Niya Bascom (left) and Anishka Clarke (right) of Ishka Designs in the living room of the airy Tribeca penthouse apartment they designed for a young couple in the entertainment industry.
Jean Prouvé articulating sconces give the homeowners variable lighting options in the living room. “They can change the mood of the space at will,” Anishka Clarke says. “We repeated that lighting strategy in the hallway.” The rug here in the living space is by Fort Street Studio. The clay sculpture is by Bernard Snyder.
In the low-lying living room, the sofa is by Rodolfo Dordoni for DDC , the maple slab cocktail table is by BDDW , and the lounge chair is by Pierre Jeanneret , originally crafted for Chandigarh, India, in 1955. The three-piece media unit—which houses the homeowners’ record player and vinyl collection—is a custom design by Ishka and fabricated from blackened steel, lacquered oak, and bleached white oak by Evan Z. Crane . The unit was made in an effort to balance out the large volume on the wall.
Ishka worked with Roll & Hill on the custom Lindsey Adelman chandelier that follows the line of the staircase to the roof terrace. The concrete and brass dining table is also custom, made with Eric Slayton . The leather and oak chairs are by Angelo Mangiarotti for AgapeCasa , and the artwork is by Anthony Olubunmi Akinbola .
“They cook a lot, and we wanted to make a kitchen conducive to that,” Clarke says of the open kitchen that features Christopher Peacock cabinetry, walnut and leather stools by Mater , a Fiddlehead pendant by Jason Miller for Roll & Hill , and a sculptural walnut bar cabinet by Vladimir Kagan . The open shelving is stocked with ceramics by Brooklyn-based Helen Levi .
Ishka created a custom concrete headboard for the main bedroom to cleverly conceal a funky part of the wall. The useful solution offers hidden storage as well as outlets for bedside charging. The wallcovering is by Calico , the ash wood night stands are by Ottra , and the oil rubbed bronze sconces are by Lumifer .
A vintage stool sourced from Roman and Williams Guild sits in the stone-clad bathroom. The shower is outfitted with Watermark fixtures.
“Three different sets of hands worked on this headboard,” Clarke says of the custom triangular piece in the guest bedroom, which was fabricated in rosewood by Bellboy New York and upholstered by Kirk McDeigan using a hand-painted collaged textile by Maki Yamamoto . The concrete side tables are by Souda , and the sconces are by Koncept .
In the wife’s sun-filled office, walls are covered in Porter Teleo’s hand-painted Japanese paper. The colorful wool-and-silk rug from The Rug Company is from the Rodarte collection , the chair is by Patricia Urquiola , and the pendant is by Workstead .
Since the husband is a filmmaker, and spends his time editing and looking at film, he wanted a very dark work space. “Basically a beautiful cave that he could work in,” explains Bascom of the space, which they covered in Porter Teleo’s hand-painted Japanese paper and the windows are outfitted with blackout shades. The rug is designed by Ishka and fabricated by Malene B in wool and silk.