56 QUEEN LANE
Location Philadelphia, PA
Proposed Size XXXX sf
Team TBD
As part of a full-block revitalization in Germantown, C2 redesigned a deteriorated former garage as a modern home.
56 Queen Lane began life as a mid-19th century garage. Vacant and crumbling, the building still retained its midcentury form. C2 saw the opportunity to transform the garage into a modern home. The team wanted to avoid building a significant addition that might overwhelm the scale of the block or render the original architecture unrecognizable.
The large, open footprint of the garage lent itself well to an interior design for aging-in-place, with a first-floor primary suite. The remaining steel auto lifts were retained to add visual interest while the largest piece of steel was used to frame the upstairs addition. A dramatic switchback stair, clad in reclaimed floor joists, accentuates the height. The home includes three bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths.
Instead, C2 designed a subtle second-level addition positioned at the rear of the structure. A pitched roof and dormers achieve interior volume and height without adding a large mass. This approach left much of the garage roof available for two roof decks, compensating for the lack of outdoor space on the small lot. On the front, inset windows that create an entry sequence replace the original garage bay door. The front terrace repurposes Belgian blocks found on the site.
The comprehensive Queen Lane project involved restoring three deteriorated structures and building an infill fourth home. The undertaking was an opportunity to stabilize the block – less than a mile from the C2 office – and make an architectural statement that even the most deteriorated structures have inherent value. See also 58 Queen Lane, 62 Queen Lane, and 64 Queen Lane.
