SoHo Loft

SoHo, New York, 2012

The SoHo Loft project brief had challenging conditions. The client was a family of four who purchased the apartment in very bad condition. The previous owner had used the space as an office, special event venue, and ultimately a decaying warehouse. Thus, there had been no improvements made for decades. The apartment came with an existing space and a tenant in the center of the floor plate that needed to be maintained. Both together made for a difficult logistic condition requiring a creative solution. This resulted in creating a U-shaped layout for the new apartment. The design proposal utilized the U-shape to explore a circulation spine that connected to all rooms and worked as a gallery space. The first leg was used as a long entranceway with a strong focus at the end for a special religious and sculptural piece. This is the first encounter with the apartment and most important. The second circulation leg became a painting gallery with large wall surfaces for big-scale paintings, and finally, the third leg of the U-shape turned into a sculpture zone that culminates in the kitchen and living spaces of the apartment. The kitchen is separated from the dining and living rooms by large sliding doors with decorative glass which makes the volume disappear when there’s active cooking. Alternatively, it can be opened to the living spaces for visual communication. The bedrooms and bathrooms all connect to the main circulation and are treated with a contemporary aesthetic of natural materials and carefully considered lighting.