Boxcar Loft

Our client envisioned a residence that maintained the scale and spirit of the original open Greenwich Village loft space with as few walls as possible, but also provides a variety of programmatic uses. Our solution was to compact the most specific functions – office, library, kitchen, powder room, storage, and mechanical equipment – into a ‘box’ situated away from the perimeter walls and windows allowing the surrounding open area to be as expansive and filled with light as possible. The free-floating box supports and activates the living and gallery spaces which are loosely arranged between the box and the surrounding outer enclosure.

As a counterpoint to the light washed, white painted brick exterior walls, the box is clad in solid walnut planks which are delicately grooved and jointed in a graduated gridded pattern that regulates every door, cabinet, and recess contained within. Digital milling was used to craft unique door pulls and cabinetry throughout the apartment. The anchor of the main room is the kitchen with an island made from the largest piece of statuary marble we could find accompanied by a gravity-defying custom-made light fixture.