A Condo For All Ages - Design Bureau

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A Condo For All Ages

Friday, July 11th, 2014

Photos by Colin Kopp, colinkopp.com

By Risa Seidman

When Sean Moore began working on a remodel for a three-story condo in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the needs of his clients—an older couple—were paramount. “The main plan for them was to be able to completely live on the main level, so they wanted the master suite, the living areas, laundry, everything to be on the first level,” Moore says. “And then the plan was for the second and third levels to kind of create guest suites for their children.”

With those specific parameters in mind, Moore, of Sean Moore Designs in Minneapolis, set about creating a beautiful space that made the most of the building’s 16- to 18-foot ceilings and 12-foot windows. Along with installing an elevator that his clients could use to reach all three floors of their 6,000-square-foot condo, Moore included a dramatic staircase in his plans. “My main goal was to incorporate a staircase that was all three stories,” he says, “so that as you walked in, this light was shining down.”

Crafted with steel-beam supports and Brazilian-walnut treads, Moore’s staircase is the crowning achievement of his work on the condo. But getting the staircase into the building was no easy feat. “The beams actually had to be craned up six stories to get them into the building,” Moore recalls. “It was a good challenge.”

With the stairs completed, Moore wanted to incorporate the condo’s riverside location into its design aesthetic by building a waterfall in the main foyer. “This building is on the water in Oshkosh, so it’s on the Fox River between two lakes,” Moore says. “The waterfall is actually kind of like an underwater scene with the glass tiles representing the different colors of the waters that are in that area.”

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