17th St Loft Fireplace and Coffee Tables

We designed and built the furniture and fireplace of this Art Museum loft space.

We designed and built the custom zebrawood coffee tables you see in the living room.

The fireplace is a modern stainless firebox withe a rustic stone wall surround. We set the stone veneer.  The flames of the firebox come out of glass chunks creating a very striking effect.

(Fireplace Mid-Progress)

North 13th St Loft-Before and Afters

In this loft project we wanted to warm up the loft space, increase storage, double the size of the kitchen and create a more functional, zoned living space.

This was a three phase project.  The client wanted to budget it over a one year period of time.  The design was conceived and in the first phase we stripped the beams and exposed the brick walls.  

(BEFORE)

(AFTER)

We renovated the kitchen.  The new space includes custom cabinetry and concrete countertops.

(BEFORE)

(AFTER)

We added the finishing touches to steel wall by designing a back-lit frosted glass wall.  This was a dark corner of the long narrow back so we wanted to create a feel of light on the other side of the wall.  Now it serves as a storage space and feels like a wall of windows. 

Custom Loft Closet/Wardrobe

Ok, I know I shouldn't show the unfinished version, but I'm really only waiting on the 6" casters for these Room Divider/Waredrobe/Mobile Dressing room/Ambient Light Furniture...designed speecifically...for lofts:)

Stay tuned for the final pics, and shots with real live people to help with scale (yes a pair of shoes probably doesn't do the job;)

These are modular and can be connected sideways, in a straight line, in clusters and are also strong enough to support a platform on top...oops almost gave away next designs;)

Panels are made of extruded, UV blocking, super lightweight, translucent, polycarbonate and to help with moving and custom user configuration, the panels are held on with magnetic strips.

Height without casters is 68" but with casters will be 76". They can be made taller, but there's a method to my madness...stay tuned!

Custom-Multi Purpose Banquette

New projects on the table this month... It's a banquette, it's a stereo system, it's an expandable to queen size guest bed, it's storage and it's custom designed and built for a trinity (notorious Philadelphia style home with tiny floor plates, but 3 stories tall).

These drawers pull out and it turns into a bed.

Not picture- the whole unit lights up!

LOFT404 (the beginning)

Loft404 was a concept to design and build a live-in showroom at the lowest cost possible, utilizing recycled materials, new material uses, efficient space planning and even a fully functioning workshop! 

It grew and changed into something even more, an experiment in soft marketing and a young professional group emerged from some sociological tinkering. I later began entertaining a growing group of up and comers, friends, associates, competitors and eventually clients after seeing my work. I was and still am so proud of this accomplishment. Soon, there will be another space, with a different address, but it will still have that vivacious, thriving soul and positive, growing energy of LOFT404...

I searched around the city for a space close to downtown, yet big, cheap and raw. After months of looking, I found a building and eager owners who loved the idea of a raw space converted at no cost to them.

When I found loft404, it was 5 small office spaces utilized for a photography studio and business. The windows were blocked off, walls painted dark gray and ceiling painted black. There was only one powder room and we saw it was going to take lots of work, creativity...and love:)

After haggling lease details and options with some tricky landlords, I began the plan and design of the space. While working on this, I began setting crews onto nighttime demolition (as to not disturb nearby businesses). These are images of the space at demolition phase. The next post will show under construction pictures and descriptions.

5H, a "Mini" loft upgrade..

The pictures below are of a space I upgraded for a client in the loft district. The space was basically a huge cube with curvy sloping floors but so much potential. Client purchased space as investment hoping to eventually move to Philadelphia from New York in a few years, but have it rented out until then... Issues: Kitchen was totally non functional after being installed by a shotty carpenter, lighting, wall color and vast space had no sense of zones or gravity...well, other than the sloping floors:) Bathroom was sparse and rough as well as no storage could be found anywhere.

Biggest question potential renters asked, "where's the bedroom?" We in the Loft world often smile and say "wherever you like", but often to someone who truly doesn't know or have that gift of spacial vision, it's a turn off and the space went vacant for over a year, even at a very low price.

I wish I had the photos of the space before the work was done other than these camera phone picks, but please try to use some patient imagination:)

I planned to give a privacy wall for the sleeping area, but wanted to keep the feel of open loft space by keeping the wall low, in this case I used the standard 8ft height.

I like the sliding/rolling doors because they take up no floorspace when they open and close, making hallways and entry areas have less of a flow obstruction when using them. In keeping with the "factory" feel, I proposed to make the bedroom door a rolling old timber style door. I couldn't find anything from my sources for this type of hardware and doors other than 1 ton steel 6ft wide doors...so I made one from scratch and even made the track and wheels..everything. The wood was salvaged from another old factory building that was being demolished and the steel is all raw, hot rolled new stock steel. Wheels were cut from a shopping cart:)

Kitchen was then removed, walls reinforced and re-installed. Lighting was changed to dimming track lights and some walls were painted different soft earth tones to help designate zones of use.

3 days after completing this project the place rented, it was the first person to see the place after renovation, the leasing agents said it was immediate:)

The client is still happy to this day and is planning to move next year to her "new" loft. We have plans for higher end improvements, upgrades and possibly a lounge area above the kitchen/bath:)

Loft Design

Starting from the top and working the way down are images from a loft upgrade I performed for a client in the Loft District area of Philadelphia...just above Chinatown. This was a 3 phase project, here are some early images of the loft (top) followed by finished images (bottom)...enjoy. Oh, and have your people call my people:)