Design New England - July/August 2010

turn obstacles into innovation A lesser designer than Meichi Peng, of Meichi Peng Design Studio in Boston, might have retreated in distress when faced with 20J, an awkwardly shaped 1,100-square- foot one-bedroom unit that backs up to elevators and mechanical closets. Peng’s response: “Utilize the entire square footage by reconfiguring.” The master stroke is a corridor with spectacular city views that is now lined with custom floor-to-ceiling bookcases, and a 90-inch-long desktop surface tucked along the opposite windowed wall. Peng even turned the condominium into what the W Boston Residences sales office now describes as 1-bedroom plus study when she transformed a closet into a Murphy-bed alcove. “I like simple clean lines,” says Peng. “Less is more.”