Press: Reddington Designs in Print

The penthouse duplex that came in from the cold

By Lisa Skolnik | Photos By Tony Berardi

Carving a cold, stark duplex apartment into a warm and inviting place for a Chicago executive was no small feat for local furniture designer Joe Agati. Situated on top of a high-rise that was built in the ‘70s, the space had been added on to the structure several years later as an afterthought. Thus it has the status of a penthouse but without the architectural significance that usually accompanies such a residence.

Although the apartment lacked character and definition, it did have a breathtaking terrace, beautiful views and a few simple elements on the interior that could be reworked, such as a floating concrete-slab stair-way. And it also had an owner with “very definitive ideas about what he wanted to do,” says Agati, who was brought in on the project because the piece in one of his collections intrigues the executive.

“He was attracted to a collection I produce that was inspired by turn-of-the-century designers,” says Agati, listing Frank Lloyd Wright and Charles Rennie Mackintosh as influences on his work. The collection, which had won several design awards, was included in an exhibition on the history of Chicago furniture at the Chicago Historical Society in 1984. But the rich wooden tones and elegant lines of Agati’s work were at odds with the setting of the apartment, which the designer describes as “extremely sterile at the time.”

So the first step was to address the overall atmosphere of the space, which Agati accomplished with the help of interior designer Carol Vanderlaan. Together they recommended resurfacing elements of the interior with woods and restructuring parts of the space with built-ins.

The concrete floors were made warmer with a flowing parquet; floor, and the staircase was made momentous with an overlay of ebonized maple. A place for a sleekly styled bar was carved out of the space by using an existing wall of built-ins and by adding a counter and stools.

But the entryway to the apartment, which is at the top of a flight of stairs, received the most dramatic transformation. It was changed from mundane to remarkable with a dramatic and structurally surprising wall unit that Agati and Vanderlaan created of avidore (an exotic variety of mahogany from Africa) and glass.

“The unit has no supports at the ends, “Agati explains, pointing out that the curved beams that pierce the glass actually brace the entire piece. “It’s a structural principle I’ve used before in other projects, but this was the first time I’ve had the opportunity to do it on this scale. And it was also pivotal in bringing a warmer feeling to the apartment, since it’s the first thing you see now when you enter. It defines the entire space.”