In the shadows of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, on a hill overlooking the harbor (and a pesky, scene-stealing highway) sit the freshly refreshed officers' residences at the United States Army Garrison Ft. Hamilton. Fourteen mirrored duplexes spread between two very serious looking brick buildings, these three-bedroom residences were initially built around 1950 for – you guessed it – Army officers and their families. Badly in need of expansion, we worked with the Army to perform a surgical design/build strike on behalf of these weary brick soldiers. By removing only the rear wall of each mirrored pair, we retained nearly all of the existing structure and interior fixtures (like expensive kitchens and bathrooms) but could still easily add generous, attractive 2-story additions to each unit. The 47% increase in floor area (with only a 37% increase in footprint) allowed us to create a large living room, separate dining room, laundry room, full master suite and new rear patios overlooking the water. Even better? Nothing stands between these houses and increasingly unpredictable Atlantic storm systems, so the new water-side additions are heavily insulated, have deep structural footings and high-quality storm windows. Garrison indeed!

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