| |

Sarah Jefferys Prizes Sustainable Design, Natural Light + More

Sarah Jefferys leads her namesake design firm, Sarah Jefferys Architecture + Interiors, through a path of inspiration gathered from international design and cultures with respect for personal desires, constraints, environment, and budget. She has been acting principal since the studio’s establishment in 2001 completing numerous residential, commercial, and small institutional designs from new construction, additions, and renovations throughout New England and the United States. A passionate advocate for sustainable design and the environment, Jefferys is an expert in passive house design and strives to reach net zero on all projects within the next decade.

Over the past 20 years, Jefferys and her firm have made themselves known in New York City and Brooklyn for townhouse architecture and design, country home construction, and bespoke structures. Personally touching every project, she provides clients with a custom space that’s a joy to live in and experience every day.

A professional portrait of a smiling woman with long hair, wearing a white blouse and a circular pendant necklace.

Sarah Jefferys Photo: Morten Smidt

Jefferys identifies the importance of functional design in daily life, distilling her work through a contemporary aesthetic with a touch of elegance that brings pieces of the past and present together. The firm is known for perfecting modern design that features unique, minimalist, and warm spaces, each with an element of surprise celebrating small details. Every project is sure to reflect innovation with rich materials and technical sophistication, designed by the woman herself.

She’s received a number of awards and accolades throughout her career, including the Interior Design Best of Year Award, the Van Allen Fellowship, the Rethinking the Future Private Residence Award, and a NYCxDESIGN finalist nomination, among others. Prior to founding her firm, Jefferys earned a BA in Architectural Studies and History of Art from Tufts University, and a Masters of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania.

Today Sarah Jefferys joins us for Friday Five!

1. The Heart of the Home, the Kitchen

I love to design kitchens. The kitchen is typically the center of the household and the heart of the home, serving as a place for people to gather, cook fabulous meals, entertain, and more often now than ever, work or do homework. I love to cook for people, whether for my three boys and their friends or our family friends; a typical dinner in our house is for 10-16 people! The kitchen needs to flow, allowing for many people to gather and cook.

Three women in colorful sarees standing together.

Photo: Galyna Andrushko via Adobe Stock

2. Trips to India

India is the most incredible country, filled with gorgeous architecture, bright colors, extreme heat, enticing smells, and warm people – an overload and stimulation of all the senses. I adore everything about India and never tire of visiting. Each trip is a unique experience and has had a great influence on my work.

Vibrant colors of powdered dyes displayed for sale at a street market.

Photo: Matthieu Aubry

3. Bold “Happy” Colors

Inspired by these travels, orange, yellow, red, and pink have become my favorite color scheme. They make me feel happy and create a warm and cheerful space. Just a pop of one of these colors can transform a space from cold minimal to joyous.

A person relaxing in a modern chair, gazing out of large windows at a serene forest landscape from within a stylish room with wooden accents.

Photo: Kevin Scott

4. Natural Light

Natural light. I love large windows and doors with a lot of natural light flooding my space. The connection with nature and the world beyond is relaxing and centering. The infusion of natural light in a home makes all the difference to one’s mood. I am so much happier and grounded in airy, light-infused spaces compared to darker interiors.

A rendering of a multi-story building featuring circular windows and a facade integrated with lush greenery.

Rendering: @syntheticarchitecture

5. Sustainable Design

I am thrilled to see that passive house design, which is a means to make a home highly sustainable and energy efficient, is in higher demand. When designing a gut renovation or new build, passive house design is a no brainer! The principles are very basic: high levels of insulation, airtight construction, no thermal bridging, high-performance triple pane windows and doors, and a fresh air exchange system. Passive homes are quieter, healthier spaces with cleaner air that require approximately 70% less energy. I am excited to see that more people are turning to passive home design.

Work by Sarah Jefferys Architecture + Interiors:

Modern kitchen with minimalistic design, featuring clean lines, under-cabinet lighting, and large windows.

Park Slope Passive Townhouse Gut Renovation by Sarah Jefferys Architecture + Interiors Photo: Morten Smidt

Jefferys was tasked with building an entirely energy-efficient home, known as a passive house, through the gut renovation of a 3,000-square-foot brick townhouse in Park Slope. Designed to read as an interactive sculpture, the entry to the kitchen is outlined by an LED light cove, visually delineating the space from the living and dining room. The kitchen is defined by full-height cabinets made with handcrafted, slatted oak detailing that wrap up the ceiling and back down around to an opposite wall of drawers. Crafted as an artful tunnel leading to the outdoor garden, the precisely cut, custom wooden slats embed unexpected textural intrigue into each surface of the kitchen.

Modern residential addition on a traditional brick building, blending old and new architectural styles.

Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, Modern Rooftop Addition to Carriage House project by Sarah Jefferys Architecture + Interiors Photo: Morten Smidt

Jefferys designed a unique modern rooftop addition on top of an existing two-story, 1,300-square-foot brick carriage house in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. Set out with the intention of creating additional living and outdoor space for the couple and their three children, the design seamlessly fused the existing carriage house, built in 1899, with a striking sky house addition.

Modern living room with a mix of rustic and contemporary elements, featuring exposed brick, a central staircase, and vibrant furniture accents.

Red Hook, Brooklyn, Light Beacon Addition project by Sarah Jefferys Architecture + Interiors Photo: Morten Smidt

Through the construction of this Red Hook gut renovation project, Jefferys created a bright, open-concept living room clad with rich blues and oranges, flowing patterns, and a warm and cozy yet open allure. Tying the levels together, the cabled staircase, which creates continuity throughout each floor of the home, leads to a custom designed bulkhead skylight. Expansive glass windows capture and flood light through three floors of the home.

Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she’s likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.

Similar Posts

  • Light Fixtures That Instantly Upgrade Your Space

    There’s nothing like the refreshing upgrade provided by new light fixtures! Whether you’re decking out your space as part of a renovation or you’re on a tight budget and need a new look for less, updated fixtures have the power to transform your interior. We walk through rooms each day that feature basic lighting that […]

    You’re reading Light Fixtures That Instantly Upgrade Your Space, originally posted on Decoist. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Decoist on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

  • Refurbished Attic of Single-Family Home Functions as an Independent Apartment!

    When we think of attics, the first image that comes to mind is of a dark, dingy and dusty place that we climb up to, in order to dig out those Christmas lights that we boxed away last year. That is a perception which is bound to change once you take a look at this […]

    You’re reading Refurbished Attic of Single-Family Home Functions as an Independent Apartment!, originally posted on Decoist. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Decoist on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

  • Messner: A childhood dream comes true

    At the foot of the Sciliar, in the picturesque area of Alpe di Siusi (Bolzano), the spirit
    of a barn is reborn as a home. The project, realised by noa* (network of architecture), has
    at its core, the South Tyrolean tradition combined with surprising features internally,
    resulting from design of visionary and unexpected spaces. An almost magical ambience is
    created, inspired by childhood memories. Keep tradition in mind, but at the same time move away so as to create an original
    identity, a new way of living, a different structuring of the domestic space, and to search
    inspiration from a childhood passed in the mountains. This, in summary, was the challenge
    faced by noa* in the project to construct a new home at Siusi in Sciliar, a construction to
    take the place of a deserted house in the centre of the village, with the original
    structure dating back to 1850. The job, completed in 2017, needs to be understood in its complex and delicate context. We
    are talking about South Tyrol, and a project executed at a height of 1100 a.s.l. at the
    foot of Alpe di Siusi, a part of the Dolomites recognised as a Unesco World Heritage due to
    its outstanding natural beauty. It was therefore extremely important to respect the
    parameters of the original structure and the urban planning requirements and regulations of
    the village. For Stefan Rier, founder, together with Lukas Rungger of the noa* studio, and
    in this instance ‘his own client’, the project was an opportunity to give a personal
    footprint to his own property. In this sense there was a move away from the traditional
    principles of spatial distribution, this being achieved in part by recalling memories of a
    childhood spent in the mountains. “We wanted the project to respect the aesthetics and the urban aspects of the village, a
    village where wooden barns alternate with plaster-fronted houses destined for farmers and
    the keeping of cattle.”, explains architect Rier. “With this in mind, we finished the
    exterior structure with a ‘coating’ in keeping with tradition: a wooden grid on all 4
    sides, just as is used for alpine barns. However, as far as the interior is concerned, I
    decided to leave tradition behind me, and thereby free the design from any preconceived
    limitations. In this way I was able to look forward…but also a little back in time to the
    beautiful years of my childhood”. The outcome of the project is a dwelling, having two aspects which confront each other in
    their style. The exterior represents the traditional alpine location, splendidly immersed
    in the local topography, whilst the interior boasts the visionary impulse, the surprise of
    a space freed from the general scheme of things, almost permeable, osmotic, and certainly
    innovative. On the ground floor there is a common area which spreads out almost in a ‘piazza’ fashion
    for (habitational)and interactional use: there is a dining table to enjoy with friends, an
    ample sized kitchen to accommodate more than one cook! The rest of the house develops in a
    vertical way and instead of the classical room division there are what can be described as
    ‘hanging boxes’, which are positioned at different heights and interconnected by stairs and
    walkways – they giving the sensation of walking up a mountain path towards the peak. The
    hallways are carefully designed so that, apart from their connecting function, they
    accommodate other essential areas such as the library and open ‘bathroom’ areas with tubs
    and showers (only the WC are closed in). The entire structure is conceived in a way that
    the further one goes up the level of privacy and intimacy is heightened. The highest ‘box’
    which features a sauna opens out to the splendid view of the Santner mountain. The revolutionary distribution of the interior spaces can be noted also from the exterior,
    and a sort of counterpoint is created with the traditional presentation of the exterior
    itself. To the north the two boxes of the bedrooms, finished in bronze, can be seen behind
    the wooden trellis shell, and as a result the material contrast is evident, while to the
    south it is sauna box which protrudes the glass facade. It is an architectural concept, both extremely innovative and courageous in nature, but
    which also has the value of being able to evoke an atmosphere of time past. Viewing the
    structure from a distance, the larch framework which supports the hanging boxes with its
    roof supported by 12 metre high wooden columns, seems to be the outline of an old barn. “Thinking about it, I spent a lot of my childhood playing in barns”, underlines Stefan
    Rier, “and one of my lasting and favourite memories is of when I used to climb high up in
    the barns and then throw myself down into the hay. Maybe if I had not had that experience,
    I would never have come to design this house …”. THE STRUCTURE: A DIALOGUE BETWEEN TIME PAST AND TIME PRESENT
    The house mirrors the construction type of the location’s rural buildings. On the stone
    foundation (10x8m), is a wooden structure in larch on three levels, and which supports the
    gable roof, typical of the village’s dwellings. A wooden trellis covers the whole house in
    a shell-like manner, screening the light and heat of the sun in the hotter periods, and as
    a whole it is suggestive of the typical structures of alpine barns. Two boxes, one in
    bronze and one a glass structure ‘peak out’ from the trellis, to the north and south
    respectively, and so revealing to the exterior that there is something complex to the
    interior layout. To the south there is a glass facade and a terrace which opens out to the
    magnificent view over the landscape of the Dolomites, a view which is dominated by the
    splendid sight of the Sciliar massif. THE INTERIOR SPACES: A STATIC CHALLENGE
    Inside the house, the distribution of spaces and functions is really unusual. The ‘boxes’
    which house the three bedrooms are supported by the wooden beam structure, visible in its
    totality (12 metres high). The bedrooms are designed as micro-homes, each one having its
    own particular design, these boxes seem to almost ‘hang’ in the ample volume of the
    interior (1,100 cubic metres). One gains access via a staircase and a walkway system, which
    as well as having a connecting function, accommodate the ‘bathroom’ areas with tubs and
    showers (only the WC are closed in). On the last floor, a box plays host to the sauna with
    a panoramic view, extending out of the southern front. Preceding the sauna, there is a
    book-lounge with an antique majolica stove, which has been taken from the pre-existing
    building. The library together with a cloakroom area complete the private spaces on the
    higher levels.
    The ground floor is a large open space with three diverse ‘island’ functions: the
    relaxation area, the dining area, and the kitchen, resolved with a large working surface
    feature in natural brass, and decorated on the sides with artisan earthenware tiles. MATERIALS
    As well as incorporating materials having a local tradition – wood and stone – the project
    introduces others of a more contemporary nature, in some cases recalling a Mediterranean
    style. The floor resin, giving uniformity to the ground floor appearance, alternates
    between baked clay and sea-blue tiles, the same as used for the side covering of the
    kitchen’s work surface. The brass gives brilliant warm tones to the furniture details and
    to the work surface which also incorporates the cooking essentials and sink. The staircase,
    in finely worked steel recalls the grates of Arabian tradition, creating a chiaroscuro
    effect which is extremely unusual for the Alpine environment. Furniture and Cloth
    The furniture has all been produced to design specification, adhering to a zero-kilometre
    regime. Attention to detail has been scrupulous, as has the search for original solutions
    from both a formal and functional stance. Cloth chosen plays an intricate game with wood in creating an atmosphere almost theatrical
    in kind. Flowing blue drapes act almost as stage curtains in enclosing various spaces and
    giving different and new perspectives. There has also been a coming together of texture and
    décor for the box-like bedrooms, this evident even in the wallpaper in blue tones, and so
    creating a functional soundproofing barrier. Light
    The project strives to make the most of natural light: to the south the facade is a
    complete glass construction, the light being filtered by the external wooden grid
    positioned at 2.5 metres from the principal structure, whilst the jutting out roof shades
    protect the interior from the extreme heat of the summer months. On the roof, a skylight
    opens to the east providing another source of light. To the north there are windows.
    As for internal lighting, in the very high living area, there are suspension lights to
    guarantee sufficient light and in particular for the specific functional areas (dining and
    kitchen areas). Many of the lamps in the house have been design created.

  • Bridge House: Sea Views on All Sides Await at This Stunning Contemporary Escape

    A natural retreat for the family is one we all long for and very few of us have the privilege to enjoy one that is as spectacular and relaxing as the Bridge House designed by Mackay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects in Canada. The house has been crafted largely in wood and sits on a rock with the […]

    You’re reading Bridge House: Sea Views on All Sides Await at This Stunning Contemporary Escape, originally posted on Decoist. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Decoist on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.