Generational Wisdom

Studio DB's Damian and Britt Zunino give new life to his childhood home in a classic Manhattan loft

- KATE GUADAGNINO

DAMIAN AND BRITT ZUNINO OF STUDIO DB STAND IN THEIR MANHATTAN KITCHEN, WHERE A BURNISHED-BRASS ISLAND AND MARBLE SURFACES COMPLEMENT CABINETS OF WHITE-OAK BURL; STOOLS BY CB2, RANGE BY WOLF, AND SCONCE BY APPARATUS.

Damian and Britt Zunino, the husband-and-wife founders of the sought-after firm Studio DB, must regularly balance their respect for the history of a place with their larger aim of creating homes that reflect the people who live in them. This was especially true, and important to get right, when it came to the couple's own Manhattan loft, where even the past was personal.

Damian's father-F. Anthony Zunino, who like his son trained as an architect-first rented space in the Renaissance Revival building, just south of Union Square, in 1970, looking for room to build inflatable vinyl furniture and enclosures. He purchased one of the full-floor units, the site of a former stuffed-animal factory, that same year.

It was there that Damian grew up, amid climbing structures leading to lofts within the loft. "I once fell out of bed and into the bathtub," he says with a laugh.