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.