Livin’ la vida loft: a New York pad makes a comeback
A trendy, haphazard loft in New York’s NoHo has been converted into a modern family home for four by Lang Architecture. Keen to preserve the authentic nature of the former printing workshop, the architects retained an open plan principle within the design and stripped back distractions to reach the original structure.
Like its owners, Lafayette Loft was ready to welcome in a new phase of its life. The client Anna Beeber, principal designer at Champalimaud, and her partner had lived there for a number of years, yet wanted to renovate to accommodate their growing family.
Open space and natural light were non-negotiable for Beeber so a new plan was devised by the architects, who knocked down all the existing internal walls to roll out a new plan incorporating the additional bedrooms and bathrooms around a central and open core for living. The kitchen and living room form the heart of the family home, yet can also be divided with a sliding steel and glass pocket door.
The glass allows light to continuously flood through the loft in the daytime, even if the space is divided. Beeber was also keen to maintain some of the historic character and raw spirit of the place, which Lang Architecture smoothed and refined to reflect Lafayette Loft’s new, sophisticated identity.
The steel and cast iron beams and columns were exposed and repainted, graduating from structural necessities into design features, while new finishes and surfaces were applied to the masonry vaults and factory strip maple flooring creating clean lines across the space.
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Lang Architecture website
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Harriet Thorpe is a writer, journalist and editor covering architecture, design and culture, with particular interest in sustainability, 20th-century architecture and community. After studying History of Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Journalism at City University in London, she developed her interest in architecture working at Wallpaper* magazine and today contributes to Wallpaper*, The World of Interiors and Icon magazine, amongst other titles. She is author of The Sustainable City (2022, Hoxton Mini Press), a book about sustainable architecture in London, and the Modern Cambridge Map (2023, Blue Crow Media), a map of 20th-century architecture in Cambridge, the city where she grew up.
-
Remembering Christopher Charles Benninger (1942-2024)
Architect Christopher Charles Benninger has died in Pune, India, at the age of 82; we honour and reflect on his passing
By Aastha D Published
-
Chanel shows its sporting colours with a bold high jewellery collection
Chanel's high jewellery collection is inspired by its founder’s athletic aesthetic
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Sarah Solis’ first furniture collection is an homage to art deco
‘Is it weird to call furniture sexy?’ Los Angeles-based designer Sarah Solis discusses her debut furniture line and new brand and store, Galerie Solis
By Dan Howarth Published
-
Paul Rudolph at The Met: ‘from Christmas lights to megastructures’
‘Materialized Space: The Architecture of Paul Rudolph’ opens at the Met in New York, exploring the modernist master's work through a feast of an exhibition
By Stephanie Murg Published
-
Jewel Box is a Californian project of small scale and big impact
Jewel Box by Red Dot Studio is the reimagining of a Californian 20th-century gem through a creative addition
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Germane Barnes exhibition explores notions of classical architecture and identity
Germane Barnes exhibition 'Columnar Disorder' opens at the Art Institute of Chicago
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Omaha’s Joslyn Art Museum's newest addition effortlessly complements the institution’s existing complex
The third addition to Joslyn Art Museum is designed by Snøhetta, which opted for voluminous common spaces and illuminating atriums
By Anthony Paletta Published
-
Morning Dove in Twentynine Palms combines earth construction and otherworldly desert views
Morning Dove by Homestead Modern in Twentynine Palms offers a striking landscape and rammed-earth construction for idyllic desert escapes
By Carole Dixon Published
-
Larry Booth's 'House of Light' showcases an impeccable slice of postmodernist heritage
A 1980s Larry Booth-designed Chicago townhouse on a narrow plot is a striking example of his author's work, set alongside the city’s postmodernist archive
By Edwin Heathcote Published
-
In a hidden Beverly Hills garden courtyard, fashion, art and architecture meet
Johnston Marklee transforms a Beverly Hills storefront into a shared space for the Michael Werner art gallery and fashion institution Mameg, connected through a leafy courtyard
By Carole Dixon Published
-
Transamerica Pyramid: a San Francisco icon, remastered
The Transamerica Pyramid, a landmark in the San Francisco cityscape, has been redesigned to 21st-century standards by Foster + Partners
By Ellie Stathaki Published