Project: Multistory Residence

Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 12/1/2011 2:00:00 AM

Winner: Parallel Design Partnership
Location: New York

Working on the Omnia hotel in Zermatt, Switzerland, principal Ali Tayar got to know Maryana Bilski, the project's American creative director. When she and her partner were planning a move to one of New York's finest cast-iron buildings, they turned to Tayar for the interior of their duplex-the final phase of a rehabilitation that included Bialosky + Partners Architects adding a glass rooftop pavilion as the apartment's second level. The 1,300-square-foot pavilion was constructed using­ a modular system devised in 1967 by architect Fritz Haller. "I conceived of the original loft, below, as a custom prefabricated system based on Haller's," Tayar says. Instead of subdividing the 4,500 square feet with conventional studs and plasterboard, he constructed pods for the master and guest suites out of squares of gray anodized aluminum, used either on their own or with larch panels snapped in. Not a typical luxury wood, the larch coordinates with original Doric­ columns.

Merit: Messana O'Rorke
Project: New York

In a gutted 1853 town house, pristine white walls required a judicious selection of flooring, either limestone or wire-brushed, lightly limed oak.

Merit: Ghislaine Viñas Interior Design
Location:  New York

Pop art color-blocking and black-and-white graphics join forces to tame the glass expanses and yawning spaces of a triplex, home to a young family.

Merit: Steven Harris Architects and Rees Roberts + Partners
Location: New York

A chandelier's vintage Murano glass drops bring color to an otherwise restrained dining area, its floor in limestone that extends to a terrace.