

A good sign of a true loft: a place with history; this factor is almost impossible to recreate. Almost … But the experience of the architect Leo Lugovskoy shows that if you get creative and seriously, even in the new building, you can create a space full of compelling legends about a wonderful past. Thus the Midlife Crisis Loft, in the heart of Moscow, Russia was born.
Looking at this huge, honest-looking industrial loft with the old walls of rough brick, cracked wood beams, rusty mechanisms and flaky creaking doors, instantly forgetting that it is located on the top floor of a modern business center, and more recently was a new, blank and impersonal space.
The idea of converting an empty floor of an apartment buildingto a loft was brought by a customer, and Leo Lugovskoy was happy to help, skillfully transforming a bare concrete space into a lively industrial interior. Good thing, he had plenty of space to work with: the area of the space is 130 sq meters and the ceiling height is 4.2 meters.
The master room all was imagined as a bachelor pad, along with a host experiencing a midlife crisis!
says the architect. Such description says that the customer is okay with humor and irony. In addition, he is an intellectual, lover of music and reading; so the main areas of the loft became a music library and a living room.
A special pride of the architect is the texture of the walls, beams, decking. The effect of the old shabby, “seasoned” surfaces appeared thanks to the artists studio Gregory Protasov.
The effect they have created is so natural
says Lev Lugovskoy
that people, once here, always asked me the same question: Why did you not paint the wall? Did you need to leave the wall to rust and with old paint ?
And that is the main evidence that the decorative component turned out to be very natural.
Equally convincing is the window, with a typical industrial look, old handles and a beautiful arched masonry of old bricks. Many of the objects and ideas in our interior were produced a long time ago – says the architect. We were hunting for them in stores, waiting for weeks of inspiration and joining solutions, dug antique shops in search of the object corresponding to the time and place.
Central to the room is the grand, wooden coffee table, perched atop a vintage Persian-style rug and surrounded by worn, leather seating. It’s the perfect arrangement to relax and recline with a good book or host close friends for coffee, laughter and conversation!
Offsetting vintage pieces throughout the loft are shining pieces of extraordinary value and sophistication. Best of all, those adding the greatest degree of character are also functional, like this vintage candelabra and baby-grand piano!
The warm glow of the candelabra would provide subtle allure in the heart of a freezing Russian winter and the baby-grand allows for endless entertainment and creative exploration.
Exposed industrial finishes contrast with more modern, functional flourishes in this eclectic loft. Indeed the space doesn’t just house a baby-grand, but an organ as well! It’s easy to imagine putting these beautifully maintained instruments to good use as musical reverberations filter down the spiral stairs and throughout the building below.
Moving into the kitchen, the space magically transforms once again, with modern plastics and industrial steel replacing the leather furnishing and fine fabrics of the living area.
The plastic dining chairs add a stylish, modern element to the vintage table and a found-object chandelier constructed of aluminium paint tubes provides for intriguing ambience and continues the theme of artistic creativity.
For all his scrapes and authenticity of an old-fashioned loft, it is packed with modern technology: lighting equipment for organ concerts, high-tech sound system for high-quality audio playback and video projection installation to accompany private concerts.