{"id":362572,"date":"2026-10-02T04:56:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T04:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/362572\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T04:56:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T04:56:11","slug":"williamsburg-duplex-draws-from-brooklyns-industrial-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/362572\/","title":{"rendered":"Williamsburg Duplex Draws From Brooklyn\u2019s Industrial Past"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>At a busy corner in Brooklyn\u2019s Williamsburg neighborhood, a new residential building rises from its narrow 25-foot-wide site, bridging the area\u2019s past and present, brick by brick.<\/p>\n<p>Completed earlier this year, the six-unit building nods to the area\u2019s richly layered heritage and extends it, says Sara Ianniciello, the project\u2019s lead interior designer and the founder of <a href=\"https:\/\/makers-collective.com\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Makers Collective Design<\/a>. \u201cThe goal was to contribute something contemporary and enduring to the block, acknowledging the site\u2019s evolution while remaining grounded in Williamsburg\u2019s architectural character.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-609766\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1.-2992-Photo-credit-Giada-Paoloni-800x1197.png\" alt=\"Modern living room with a white sectional sofa, large grid windows, views of city buildings, wooden dining table with red chairs, and an open kitchen under exposed wooden beams.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1197\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photography by Giada Paoloni<\/p>\n<p>To the west, Union Street zips past, a palimpsest of commercial spaces, workshops, and mainstay diners with their glowing neon intact; to the south, a run of hard-working row houses share the scenery with mature street trees jockeying for sunlight. The new building acts as a pivot point between the two, rooted firmly in place while offering respite, too, with rich interior finishes that evoke luxury and an enveloping sense of calm.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-609757\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/9.-2998-Photo-credit-Giada-Paoloni-1-800x539.jpg\" alt=\"Modern living and dining area with large windows, light wood floors, a round dining table, upholstered chairs, a marble kitchen island, and potted plants. Natural light fills the room.\" width=\"800\" height=\"539\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photography by Giada Paoloni<\/p>\n<p>To achieve it, Ianniciello looked to the nearby factories and workshops, using their proportions and materials as a kind of borrowed language, she says. Blackened metal, so prevalent in factory windows, signage, and doorways, informed the design of the divided-light steel windows, which create an interplay of light and shadows in the residences throughout the day.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-609770 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/3142-Photo-credit-Giada-Paoloni-800x1182.jpg\" alt=\"Modern kitchen with marble island, minimalist decor, three pendant lights, and large windows letting in abundant natural light. A sofa and dining area are visible in the background.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1182\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photography by Giada Paoloni<\/p>\n<p>Classic finishes like walnut wood, unlacquered brass, traditional wall paneling, and oak herringbone floors were chosen for their enduring character. \u201cIt\u2019s all connected to Brooklyn, but without becoming thematic in any way,\u201d Ianniciello says. (The site\u2019s own history is worth a pause here: It was previously occupied by a tumbledown, single-family house that had sat vacant for so long that an oak tree had grown up through the center of it, pushing the warped wood and vinyl siding out of its path. The developer carefully relocated the tree before breaking ground.)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-609768 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1012-Photo-credit-Giada-Paoloni-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"Modern kitchen with wooden cabinets, marble countertops and backsplash, three pendant lights, green barstools, and high ceilings with exposed beams.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photography by Giada Paoloni<\/p>\n<p>In the fifth-floor duplex, the entry hall opens to a living space with soaring 20-foot ceilings inspired by the lofts that still dot the area. A graceful archway leads into the kitchen, where the ceiling lowers to 13 feet and is visually demarcated by walnut beams that complement the classic shaker millwork below. (A ladder is enlisted to reach the double-stacked glass cabinets at the top.)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-609769 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1016-Photo-credit-Giada-Paoloni-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Open wood shelf with a black bowl and two stacked white bowls. Below, a ceramic vase, two bowls, and a teacup on a wooden board, all set against a marble backsplash and countertop.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photography by Giada Paoloni<\/p>\n<p>Swirling Calacatta Viola marble, selected for the countertops and backsplash, injects deep purple and pink hues that strike a balance with the patinated blackened steel used to clad the rangehood, yet another hat tip to welding shops and industry. Outside, lush permanent planters wrap the unit\u2019s window sills, creating the effect of a living wall in the streetscape below.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-609771 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/3140-Photo-credit-Giada-Paoloni-800x1067.png\" alt=\"Modern loft with large floor-to-ceiling windows, a round dining table with red chairs, a marble kitchen island with stools, and a white sofa in an open, sunlit space.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photography by Giada Paoloni<\/p>\n<p>Up the slim oak staircase to the second level, Ianniciello\u2019s background in hotel design comes to bear. Each of the three bedrooms is compact, yet carefully planned for comfort and quiet, like that of a small boutique hotel. The accompanying bathrooms are equally restrained, repeating the same Nordic grey marble in various sizes\u2014mosaic in the shower, large-format ion the walls and floors\u2014to minimize visual disruption and create a moody, spa-like ambiance.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-609758\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/3600-Photo-credit-Giada-Paoloni-800x1067.png\" alt=\"A sunlit bedroom with tall windows, a made bed with white and beige bedding, a plant, framed art on the wall, and shadows cast on the walls and floor.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photography by Giada Paoloni<\/p>\n<p>Spread out over 1,400 square feet (and quickly sold), it is a testament to the neighborhood\u2019s constant evolution, and its designer\u2019s, too. The project was the first for her now three-year-old firm and remains a touchstone for her work.<\/p>\n<p>After two decades working in hospitality and residential design mostly in San Francisco and New York, she struck out on her own to get back to design work and, she says, \u201cstay close to the narrative.\u201d This month, her team of four moves to offices in a former pencil factory in Greenpoint, Brooklyn\u2014a fitting backdrop to a story-driven practice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At a busy corner in Brooklyn\u2019s Williamsburg neighborhood, a new residential building rises from its narrow 25-foot-wide site,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362573,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,13080,9,24,63,1024],"class_list":["post-362572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-interior-design","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-penthouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}