This project was for a family owning a brownstone in Boerum Hill. In preparation for a multi-year assignment abroad, the Owner requested that the existing basement be converted into a guest apartment for themselves so that while the house will be lent to the Owner’s sister, the departing family will always have a place to stay while visiting New York.Since the existing basement was primarily a storage space inaccessible from the floor above, a new stair was installed to connect it the first floor. With the stair, a new bathroom, and the existing building utilities suppressed and ganged together in a bar, the main living/bedroom space was free to become the featured element defined by a wooden partition and a widened and re-clad fireplace.The continuous radiant, concrete floor acts like a sea providing continuity between the "served and servant" spaces.