dSPACE Studio teams up with Studio Gild to craft a showstopping Lincoln Park home that is the epitome of sustainable design.
On the main floor, white oak wood flooring by Carlisle Wide Plank Floors sets a sophisticated tone.
Hired by a pair of homeowners eager to create a home crackling with daring design and a bold aesthetic befitting their lifestyle, award-winning architectural design firm dSPACE Studio embraced the project with gusto. The first step for founding principal Kevin Toukoumidis and principal Tom Hagerty? Reaching out to Studio Gild, the noted Chicago- and L.A.- based interior design firm, for their first collaboration together.
Filled with light and abundant with eye-catching detail, the main floor is expansive and invitingly open.
The home's design lets the outside in but preserves the clients' privacy.
“DSPACE simply had to show us an early exterior rendering of the house and we were in,” says Studio Gild co-founder Jennie Bishop. “The clients have impeccable taste and wanted a dream team, so we created one: dSPACE plus [the home’s builder] Fraser Construction plus Studio Gild plus daring clients—couldn’t really ask for much more.”
In the kitchen, custom white oak cabinets designed by dSPACE and fabricated by Trevor Wendell Design play off the handsome pewter quartzite backsplash and counters from Terrazzo and Marble Supply Companies.
“The client was a couple relocating from Manhattan wanting to get back to their Midwestern roots,” explains Toukoumidis. “They wanted a legacy home—a contemporary, design-forward home they could grow old in and pass down to their children. Their priority was to create a light-filled space with a strong connection to the outdoors that minimizes the impact on the environment and preserves privacy in their dense urban neighborhood.” The homeowners were also keen to keep wellness top of mind, adds Hagerty, “so our design blurs the boundary between the built and natural environments. The goal was to facilitate interaction with nature and increase exposure to natural light, which can reduce anxiety and lower blood pressure.”
The primary bathroom is a soothing oasis.
“COVID, COVID and more COVID,” notes Bishop of the primary obstacle for the project, a 6,500-square-foot new-construction home on a double lot. “We were building this house through the biggest challenges and delays created by the pandemic. We were navigating uncharted territory with design, meetings and construction site visits. COVID delivered many delays and curveballs for the team, but we obviously made it through. Thankfully, the clients were very realistic about the climate we were all in together.” The dSPACE team faced a particular design conundrum that could have caused additional issues but was resolved with some smart strategizing, says Hagerty: “The open design concept potentially conflicted with the couple’s desire for privacy, [so] we designed an L-shaped structure with a shielded facade. The rear elevation is defined by window walls facing south and east around the landscape, creating a secluded open-plan sanctuary in their urban neighborhood.”
The primary bedroom beckons with a custom bed and nightstands by Studio Gild.
For Toukoumidis, the latticed facade that protects the home from the street but still allows light to pass through is the project’s pièce de résistance. “In collaboration with Interstate Brick, we designed a custom brick that gives the wall a highly textured look. The brick is tapered on one side, resulting in beautiful shadows and a sense of softness and movement on the facade as the sun moves across the sky.” Hagerty concurs, adding, “Our design is a study in material transformation through light. The luxurious, velvety texture of the screen wall surprises observers accustomed to perceiving brick as hard and structural. This innovative design contrasts artfully with other exterior materials, including glass and exposed steel, which evoke a contemporary industrial aesthetic.” As for Bishop, there are countless interior design details that the Studio Gild team is thrilled with, but the primary suite wins out. “[It’s] probably the most soothing, hotel-like layout one has stayed in,” she enthuses. “Creamy, warm, neutral textures balance the creamy, cool architectural materials of the primary bathroom perfectly. It’s dreamy [and] tucked in the trees, creating the mirage of being secluded outside of the city.”
Paris Ceramics tile features on the walls and floor of the primary bathroom.
“The clients are thrilled,” beams Hagerty of the finished home, which “served as a sanctuary for their family through the pandemic and is now evolving into a gracious home for entertaining and visits from extended family. They are very proud of their home and are always willing to open their doors for dSPACE—it’s a favorite home of ours to tour with new clients. Adds Bishop, “I’m pretty sure they show it off to friends and family now that we’re able to congregate again. That is the true testament—living in and loving your house.”
Moooi's Menagerie of Extinct Animals wallcovering and a concrete sink basin by Kast add wow factor to the third-floor powder room.
TYPE
Single-family home
LOCATION
Lincoln Park
ARCHITECTURE
dSPACE Studio
dspacestudio.com
BUILDERS
Fraser Construction
fraserbuilders.com
INTERIOR DESIGN
Studio Gild
studiogild.com
MILLWORK
KWI Custom Cabinetry
kitchenwholesalers.net
A Cirque chandelier customized by dSPACE with Giopato Coombes in Milan anchors the dining room, which also features a custom oxidized maple and bronze table by Studio Gild and artwork by Takashi Murakami (@takashipom) and Minako Abe.
APPARATUS
Main-floor powder room sconce
apparatusstudio.com
ARMAZEM.DESIGN
Library glass doors and primary bedroom leather door
armazem.design
BRADLEY
Primary bedroom Vahallan Elko wallpaper
bradleyusa.com
CLÉ TILE
Main-floor powder room Erica Tanov wall tile
cletile.com
CORBETT LIGHTING
Primary bedroom pendants
corbettlighting.hvlgroup.com
DOOQ
Lounge sofa
dooqdetails.com
GIOPATO & COOMBES
Dining room asymmetrical pendant
giopatocoombes.com
HAUTE LIVING
De La Espada dining chairs, lounge &Tradition coffee table
haute-living.com
LOLOI
Primary bedroom rug
loloirugs.com
PARIS CERAMICS
Primary bathroom wall and floor tile
parisceramicsusa.com
PEG WOODWORKING
Primary bedroom bench
pegwoodworking.com
VERELLEN
Living room sofa
verellen.biz
A dedicated WFH area is tucked off the dining room.
The lounge features a Single Man couch by Dooq, a coffee table by &Tradition via Haute Living, and artworks by Stephen Eichhorn (@ stepheneichhorn) and Kim Keever (@kimkeever.art).
The home's interior and exterior effortlessly interact.
A custom latticed brick facade protects the home from the street but still allows light to pass through.
Photography by: Photographed by Tony Soluri
