Case Studies
Lee Broom New York Penthouse
19 August 2021
Following the success of Lee Broom’s SoHo flagship showroom, the designer unveils The Penthouse, an elegantly designed duplex apartment in New York’s Tribeca.
The Penthouse, which becomes the designer’s own residence when he’s in the city, will also serve as an appointment-only space for invited guests in which to view existing Lee Broom furniture, lighting and accessories as well as his new collections and a selection of archive pieces.
Occupying the fifth and sixth floors, the building in Tribeca is the first sustainable restoration of a historical building of its kind in New York City of which 80% of the materials have been reclaimed or restored. The light-filled, 3000sqft space, accessed by a private elevator, has been personally designed by Lee Broom, his first interior design project since 2015.
With expansive high ceilings, flowing natural light and 300-year-old hand-restored, reclaimed wooden details, Broom has envisioned each room as a series of beautifully curated and captivating vignettes; each with its own defined personality, but all with signature precision. The two-storey space offers a living room, dining room, two kitchens, two bedrooms, a dressing room and study as well as two terraces.
A bespoke fireplace specifically designed for the space by Lee Broom has been carved from Travertine in Italy in a stepped formation design, inspired by the brutalist architecture of the Long Lines skyscraper, one of Lee’s favourite buildings in New York which is visible from the living room.
Having focused primarily on lighting for the past few years, Lee Broom returns to furniture and accessories this autumn with The Penthouse Collection, including the White Street sofa, Tribeca tables, Travertine Fulcrum candlestick, Musico dining table & Musico chairs.
The kitchen includes two Lee Broom Tube Lights created from Carrara marble and brushed brass. All the wood in the Kitchen is reclaimed oak and is over 300 years old.
Keeping with the importance of sustainability of the penthouse, the marble is from Vermont in the USA which is the largest underground marble quarry in the world.
In Broom’s private study, the designer has installed several works from his personal art collection, including an original leather jacket owned by the artist Keith Haring with a signature artwork painted on its back. Keith Haring owned the jacket and then as a gift to his partner before he died, he did a painting on the back of it. Lee bought it in a gallery in Philadelphia 15 years ago as it seemed like such a unique and personal piece of art. As far as Lee knows, he painted only a few of these jackets one of which he did for Madonna in the 80s.
Fluted metal piece: this was an architectural fixed item that was part of a wall from an interior of a New York Building/skyscraper. It is 70's but Art Deco in style. Lee put it in the room because the mix of brass and steel went well with the bed and also there is a view of the Empire State Building from the master bedroom and he thought it sat perfectly with that view.
The guest bedroom includes a Lee Broom Carousel XL light in matte black, Lee Broom Acid Marble table lamp and Mini Crescent Chandelier 3 piece.
The oversized headboard was taken from an exhibition Broom created for the London Design Festival in 2017 called ‘On Reflection’. It is important for Broom to re-use as much as possible from shows and exhibitions meaning that nothing is wasted.