Chelsea Loft

New York, New York

Completed - September 2020

Design Team
Max Worrell, Jejon Yeung

Collaborators
Interiors: Jean Lin (Colony)
Lighting Designer: Lighting Workshop
Mechanical Engineer: Engineering Solutions
Contractor: Bednarz Construction

The organizing design strategy of this 2,200-square-foot loft renovation in Chelsea was to maintain contiguous public living zones and extend daylight as far as it can reach by minimizing partitions and concentrating private rooms on the north side of the apartment. Occupying a half floor of a classic early 20th-century loft building, historic elements of the building such as timber columns and beams, cast iron capitals, and wood timber ceiling joists were left raw and exposed, particularly in the generous living area, to maintain the spirit of the New York artists’ loft. The open public living spaces, inclusive of the kitchen, dining room, and living room, are organized by two custom dark-stained ash wood storage objects, which are treated as refined furniture pieces, while a custom hand-troweled raked plaster volume occupies the center of the apartment and contains the bathrooms and other utility spaces.

A monolithic Ceppo di Gre marble kitchen island anchors the heart of the loft, defining the space through the addition of a distinct, elemental object. The island is further articulated to invite comfortable congregation within recessed stone niches that have stone embedded into the wood floor to continue the object-ness expression. The language established by the kitchen island is also carried into the master bathroom shower, which is defined by dark marble volumes and obsidian-hued walls. ​

Inspired by bush-hammered concrete walls we worked with a local artisan to develop a softer, textured plaster surface that would create an interplay of shadow and light against the more refined, elemental pieces in the apartment.

Reclaimed antique heart pine floors were used throughout and juxtaposed with white pigmented ash wood closets and casework. Across the apartment, large sliding wall planes allow the spaces to be continuously opened to each other or closed off for greater privacy, while perimeter white walls elevate brightness throughout. As part of the sequence of spaces, a children’s bathroom is an unexpected moment of color with bright yellow tile creating a deliberate and graphic experience, while the powder room contains a smoky glass wall that reflects a custom Tinos Green marble vanity and historic wood column.

Photographs
Eric Petschek