A Hidden Mezzanine Keeps This Narrow SoHo Loft Looking Crisp

ByMyProperty Life

The undulating walls of this light-filled loft reference the building’s past life as a silk warehouse.

Architect Julian King’s creative approach to incorporating a bedroom without sacrificing natural light: creating a narrow mezzanine with undulating walls that act as both art and a link to the building's past as a silk warehouse.

How can you maintain the essential character of a New York City loft while trying to insert a bedroom into a seemingly impossibly narrow space? This was the critical question that architect Julian King faced when approached by a client who had purchased an apartment in a former silk warehouse in trendy SoHo.

Architect Julian King’s creative approach to incorporating a bedroom without sacrificing natural light: creating a narrow mezzanine with undulating walls that act as both art and a link to the building's past as a silk warehouse.

Architect Julian King’s creative approach to incorporating a bedroom without sacrificing natural light: creating a narrow mezzanine with undulating walls that act as both art and a link to the building’s past as a silk warehouse.

Read another article:Design Trends for Creating a Vacation Vibe at Home

Photo: Michael Moran

The building was originally constructed in 1872, and the current apartment layout was not doing the building’s original features—think high ceilings, brick walls, and double exposures—any favors.

The new layout of the apartment allows for light to stream in from the north and the south. The original brick wall is washed with a continuous, slim LED light. The door to the bathroom is a custom 13-foot-high sandblasted pivot door.

The new layout of the apartment allows for light to stream in from the north and the south. The original brick wall is washed with a continuous, slim LED light. The door to the bathroom is a custom 13-foot-high sandblasted pivot door.

Read another article:Hot Trends: 20 Best Farmhouse Style Kitchens in White and Wood

Photo by Michael Moran

At the time of the purchase, the apartment was “terribly cluttered with an exposed mess of sprinkler piping, poorly configured and built rooms, and a landlocked kitchen,” describes King. The room layout, in concert with the exposed ductwork, plumbing, and wiring, obscured the 13-foot-plus ceilings, and took away from the daylight provided by windows on either end of the apartment. King sought to “preserve what makes a classic SoHo loft a loft,” but also wanted to consider creative ways to incorporate a bedroom without losing any natural light. 

With the kitchen at the south end, planters receive direct sunlight that is unobstructed by any upper cabinets or shelving. The old single-pane windows were replaced with new custom wood windows that matched the originals in profile, but instead used insulated low-E glass.

With the kitchen at the south end, planters receive direct sunlight that is unobstructed by any upper cabinets or shelving. The old single-pane windows were replaced with new custom wood windows that matched the originals in profile, but instead used insulated low-E glass.

Read another article:Revamped Small Barcelona Apartment Combines Multiple Styles and Finishes

Photo by Michael Moran

See the full story on Dwell.com: A Hidden Mezzanine Keeps This Narrow SoHo Loft Looking Crisp
Related stories:

  • Before & After: A Muddled Eichler Gets a Dashing Update
  • A Divine Intervention Is Staged For This 16th-Century Spanish Church
  • An Asymmetric Laneway House Reunites a Mother and Daughter in Vancouver

Similar Posts

  • The Palisades Residence

    An entrepreneur and family with a passion for healthy living requested a large home on their dramatically sloping 2-acre site. They specifically wanted an informal layout that could be woven into the topography of the property. Wanting to enjoy as much of the site as possible, the client requested the inclusion of steps and landscape pathways to allow for access to more distant parts of the steep site. Situated on a promontory jutting into the canyon below, the hillside retreat boasts multiple vistas of the surrounding canyon and the Pacific Ocean beyond. Since covenants, conditions, and restrictions associated with the property allowed for only a single story above street level, many of the home’s rooms are located on a lower level which daylights onto the downslope side of the house. This modest massing arrangement allows for neighboring properties to see over the roof of the home. In three distinct locations, landscaped topography “fingers” heighten one’s awareness of the natural hillside. Bridges span over these fingers, enhancing and extending the natural graded areas deep into the heart of the home. The design solution offers new perspectives for experiencing the owner’s prized views while providing a glimpse of the topography as it stood before the house was set upon it. Meticulous craftsmanship and authentic building materials are recurring themes best exemplified by the widespread use of board-formed concrete walls, white oak shiplap wall cladding, and painted galvanized steel doors and windows. A datum of wall elevations was carefully laid out to align the joints of the seemingly random board-formed concrete with the adjacent wood boards that come in 3″, 4″, 5″, and 6″ widths. Floors, ceilings, steps, lighting, speakers, keypad controls, and outlets were all carefully placed so that no element ever interrupts a joint in the boards.