Bruce Rubin and Jim Cordaro came to SteinDesign with an exciting challenge. They owned what was once a casket factory near the river where they intended to create a residential loft for themselves and studio for their graphic design firm, Rubin Cordaro Design. Their vision was to live on the top floor, work on the second, and the first was slated to be a bar which was already under contract and being designed. The 3-story building, built in 1883, had been subdivided in the 70’s to create apartments and it was a mess of small spaces and oddly implemented infrastructure. After our initial walk-through, and they explained their “big picture” dream where modern design would unite with the old architecture, we knew this was going to be an amazing opportunity.
We started with a demolition permit to clear the floors before we would start our laborious investigations. Once the spaces were clear and open the excitement was escalated. The structure was sound, beautiful, and expansive, but implementing their dream would be complex. For their home, they wanted open space with delicately designed modern conveniences. The floors were long and narrow, so efficiency and ingenuity were necessary. The solution we presented involved a single central structure that would provide two bathrooms, mechanical housing, and a laundry space. Bruce and Jim wanted the box to be clad in steel plates, but the weight would require additional structure, so we applied maple panels custom stained to emulate metal. This ended up being the only real structure in the residence and because they wanted a wide-open interior for the master bath, and the outside to be sleek and monolithic, the design required some unique features. The walls needed to be thick, so we used Soss invisible hinges and pressure latches to allow the restroom doors to disappear when closed and open 180 degrees to provide a clear passage. The challenge then was to make the doors apparent when one approached them. To achieve this, we applied a slightly more matt finish, in a different direction then the rest of the structure, on all the doors.
Jim was an avid cook and bread maker, so he wanted a kitchen that was beautiful in the open environment, where everything had a storage space, so it would always look clean and neat. After visiting numerous showrooms, we keyed in on the SieMatic Kitchen. With this manufacturer he would custom design every drawer and cabinet so everything he wanted would be in its perfect place. The cabinet fronts we selected were sleek powder blue with molded edges and linear minimal pulls. When the guys saw this model, they were reminded of the sleek trains in the London Underground, which they felt fit with their Swatch Watch addiction perfectly. As a finishing touch, we implemented a honed granite counter on the island which is a perfect surface for bread making.
For their studio they wanted a vibrant and dynamic interior that screamed DESIGN! Contemplating their love all things 80’s design including Swatch, Keith Haring, and Michael Graves, we developed a scheme of “shards” that zigzagged through the center of the space. For functionality, these elements were suspended form the ceiling to support light fixtures in the production space, and crash into the floor at various angles to divide the space on the way to the conference/collaboration area at the back of the space. Every surface and edge were painted a different color, and uniquely lit, to add to the dramatic affect.
The Rubin Cordaro Residence was featured in Architecture Minnesota “Housing for Lifestyles” in the May-June issue of 2003 and on HGTV “Generation Renovation” in May of 2005.
