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Returning to New York City after long careers in Chicago, the Steele Residence is a complete gut renovation that reflects the personalities of a recently retired couple. The primary organizational strategy for the apartment is a central utility island that contains parts of the kitchen, mechanical and storage. This core, expressed as a maple volume, is the center of which all the elements of the apartment rotate around. The public areas such as the living room, entry and gallery are located more central to the core and bedrooms and offices further away. This rotation is further accentuated by the manipulation of the ceiling plane which compresses the private spaces, opens up to expand the public areas and curves directionally around the central core.