DREAM HOMES COME TO LIFE BY ALEX TRAVERS
92 QUEST
THE ARCHITECTS at Gramatan Corporation start most of their projects from the outside, with location and historical context in mind, and then, as concepts transform into realities, move all the way down to the most specific of details: for instance, the custom height of a closet that will hang car racing suits. The firm, a sister company of Livingston Builders, Inc., is two years old, and is headed by architect Gerard J. Beekman. Currently, Gramatan—a full-service company with architects, builders, and interior designers—is making the leap from a budding Livingston offspring to an established team of cross-disciplined individuals known for proposing innovative living ideas. (Right before this story went to print, Beekman wanted to express his gratitude to Livingston and wrote in an e-mail: “Gramatan would not be possible without Jim Remez and David Palmer [Livingston’s founding partners]. They have an extraordinary rolodex of clients they’ve collected over the last 20 years. The generosity they have shown with sharing these clients, as well as the encouragement and financial support, is simply unheard of in our industry.”) Meanwhile, nearly every project, every home, Gramatan creates is rooted in classic architectural proportions, whether they are traditional or modern. Beekman wants to make that clear. After only two meetings, I certainly cannot claim to have
D R A W I N G S BY A N D R E J U N G E T; P O RT R A I T BY S E R G E A N T A R C H I T E C T U R A L P H OTO G R A P H Y
ARCHITECTURE