Gaslight Commons, South Orange, New Jersey

We were engaged by the property management company Bozzuto Management to upgrade the property consisting of 2 apartment buildings with a central Clubhouse/Leasing office.

We were charged with creating an environment that moved away from their traditional look. A look which was more energetic and expressive and environmentally responsible (incorporates Green, recyclable products). The complex was 10 years old and while it was beautifully maintained it was in need of a new look.

The original flooring in the entrance lobby and adjoining hallways was ceramic tile and carpet. The lobby entrance was enclosed by a vestibule, then a second set of doors further enclosed the lobby, creating a more chopped up space.

Our intention was to open the space, and raise the ceiling to give the appearance of more volume. While we could not raise the entire ceiling and gain more height in the whole lobby because of pipes and existing air conditioning ducts, (some we moved, some were too costly) we were able to coffer a space 5 foot by 5 foot over the custom designed and created mosaic tile rug.

Speaking of the custom mosaic tile rug, it is comprised of dark emperador and crema marfil marble and copper glass. We bordered it with a Schluter in copper, separating it from the 18” square crema marfil marble tiles bordered by dark emperador marble. It is a stunning contrast to the way the original lobby appeared.

We removed the set of doors separating the lobby from the club room. We installed copper vinyl wall-covering and repainted all the walls and trim. The three chandeliers are made of reclaimed glass, and the circles mimic the circles in the floor mosaic.

We replaced the existing doors with contemporary doors with glass inserts. We removed the transom from the club room door and replaced both of them with full height doors as well as the windows where we inserted etched glass, wherever existing divided light windows were previously installed.

We gutted the bathrooms and installed the same marble floor, but put a honed finish on the tile as tenants accessed the bathrooms from the pool area. We enclosed the toilets with sheetrock walls and covered them with wallpaper. We changed out the toilets to power flushes and placed vented doors painted in the trim color.

The new countertops are Vetrazzo (made in the USA from 85% recycled post-consumer glass and a non-resin binder of Portland cement, Vetrazzo is a green countertop that contains no petroleum products or toxic chemicals.), with amber glass vessel sinks. Large bronze framed mirrors and a wall sconce were added to each sink area.

In the five existing elevator lobbies we replaced the ceramic tile floors with Crema marfil marble. In every case, the doors all required refitting and cutting as the marble was higher than the previous tile.

The leasing offices were totally redone. We installed wall-covering, new carpeting, a barn door to the leasing manager’s office, and new furniture. We analyzed the storage needs of the group and reorganized their closet to accommodate more storage. A new laminate floor was installed there as well. The old drapery was replaced with vertical panels that can be drawn and tilt to allow natural light in.

We gutted the mailroom, painted and installed new shelving to support the packages received every day. Adjacent to the mailroom is a conference room that was updated as well as the business center.

We procured and installed new artwork within all the areas on lock-tight devices.

We re-skinned the elevator interiors which were previously laminate panels. The new work involved using wire metal gauge panels. The gauge material comes in various patterns and textures. They are very heavy and we needed to make certain the weight could be borne by the elevators.

New entrance doors with a leaded contemporary design were installed to complete the upgrade.