Built in 1925 to house the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, this fantastic red-brick building is currently home to Cucina Toscana, an Italian restaurant on the main floor and two living spaces above. It’s a prime spot, to put it lightly: the lucky owners are hovering above Pioneer Park on the corner of 300 south and 300 West. These two homes encompass the perfect way to live downtown without sacrificing outdoor space.

The designers started stripping away much of what the last tenant had installed in order to reveal all the raw and simple beauty of the space’s original form. From there, they started carefully adding layers back on that worked harmoniously with the industrial vibe. The magic lays in the richness, created with specific materials. Aged, natural, cherry-finished cabinets in the kitchen, dark colors, black painted metalwork: it’s all delightfully juxtaposed by bright white walls and massive windows that allow for copious amounts of natural light throughout the space.

A smart move in retaining this building’s old charm was by keeping the brickwork exposed. The brick walls offer a new look while preserving the history and the original character of the edifice.

The master bath is a dish of gothic industrial: a metal/chain chandelier over a custom, matte-black-enameled tub that’s perched opposite the ebony-stained cabinets. The walls are lined with 48” wood tile planks, which add a lot of texture and a touch more drama. The designers managed to add an organic element to an otherwise very hard and raw space with the grass-cloth wallpaper, and to accentuate the high ceilings, we hung 72” pendants from the ceiling over each nightstand. But the highlight is that double-sided fireplace (so you can take your romance in the bedroom and the living room).

This a phenomenal space. It’s a converted commercial space with 18 foot ceilings with an industrial feel at roomy 2550 square feet. It’s a very open floor plan with two bathrooms. It’s furnished with vintage furniture and art.

The kitchen is commercial grade with a six burner Imperial Stove and Viking Hood. I have everything you might need to cook up a storm. There is a barbecue and Traeger pellet stove if you want to cook outdoors.

One bedroom is upstairs with a king bed. The bathroom upstairs has a large steam shower that sits at least two if you want to get cozy. The bedroom downstairs has a queen bed. The bathroom downstairs has a massive concrete tub and shower that fits a small village.

The team at Sadie Snelson Architects envisioned an open-plan living room to accentuate the full potential of the warehouse’s space. Dividing walls were removed and parts of the floor were taken away to create double-height areas that maximise light. A new mezzanine floor was added with a steel balustrade and folded steel staircase.

Materials used throughout the property are intended to complement its industrial nature. Walls are left unpainted to expose the plaster finish, and structural I-beams are left exposed. The architects designed the concrete kitchen that the client cast himself. 

Architect:  Sadie Architects
Photos:  Rory Gardiner

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.

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.

OK, in hindsight there should have been wheels on the ladder.

Steel is the kitchen’s main ingredient, cladding the nearly floor-to-ceiling cabinets, the massive island and even portions of the redwood structural posts. Its rawness fits well with the former early-1900s lithograph-warehouse setting and lends an edge that seems to permeate the entire project.

The original kitchen sat tucked underneath the loft seen on the left here; it was a dark and uneventful space. Bayon and the homeowner brought everything over to the double-height, brick-walled former living room, where large windows bring in lots of natural light. (The living room is now where the kitchen used to be.)

They wanted to get everything on the one wall, so the two brick columns basically were all they had to work with. Tall appliances, like the refrigerator, wine fridge and double stackedovens, took up most of the available space, so the upper cabinet “bridge” storage was left for the pantry and extra dishware. Given the height of the loft, though, the tall cabinets helped cut down visually on the void.

Though the homeowner isn’t an avid cook, he still wanted a working kitchen. In some places it’s just that style trumps function. There are kitchen standards of how far things should be apart, such as the sink in relation to the cooktop, Bayon says.

We broke a lot of rules and tried to find the balance of looking like an art installation but making a functional kitchen.

The homeowner didn’t want solid metal cabinets that would create a clanging racket every time he dropped a piece of silverware into a drawer or shut a cabinet. So Bayon’s firm designed and built wood cabinets, then had another company, Berlin, fabricate steel panels to cover everything.

All the steel still created heavy cabinets, and while earthquakes were an immediate concern, the team didn’t have confidence in the support that the old brick walls offered either. They brought in a structural engineer and decided to use vertical metal bars that connect the cabinets to the ceiling for additional support.

The island houses the sink,dishwasher and a pullout for garbage. There’s also a bank of drawers on one side and an open cubby on another for often-used dishware.
The homeowner had planned to keep the previous small-plank oak floors, but because the crew had to rip everything up to run plumbing to the island anyway, he decided to switch to concrete.

The island is 42 inches deep and acts as the main cutting and prep space. It’s topped with marble that has a warm wood tone.
Shades on magnetic rods can snap into place to conceal the lowest pane of window glass so people on the street can’t look in. Mechanical roller shades up top can close everything off to cut back on glare or create more privacy for the sleeping loft.

Bayon painted the window mullions dark to help focus eyes toward the views.

Pendants: Restoration Hardware; countertop: Fox Marble Silver Brown Wave; faucet: KWC Systema; sink: Julien Summum in Black Granite.

Sgura, who has shot advertising campaigns for Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana, bought the loft just over a decade ago after visiting a friend’s architecture studio in east Milan. The gritty street was lined with old industrial buildings that were being converted to television and photography studios, design showrooms, and residential lofts.

Sgura soon learned about a nearby loft for sale and made the move. The location near one of Milan’s three airports, Linate, was certainly convenient for this photographer on the go. “It’s outside the city, quiet and calm,” he says, “but it’s also very central. I can get to the Duomo in just 15 minutes.”

The stainless steel kitchen is by Antonio Citterio for Arclinea, the photograph is by Armin Linke, and the ceramics were purchased in southern Italy.

The dining table and bench are by Piet Hein Eek, and the chairs are by Mies van der Rohe; the light fixtures are by Piero Lissoni for Boffi, and the photographs leaning against the mirrored wall are by Bruce LaBruce, far left, and Steven Klein, right.

The upstairs living area holds a collection of luggage, including pieces by Bottega Veneta, Hermès, and Prada; the vintage table is Scandinavian, the chair is by Ico Parisi, the photograph is by Bruce Weber, and the floor is teak.

A wall in the master bedroom, paneled in palisander wood, is lined with photographs by David LaChapelle, Irving Penn, Steven Klein, and Melvin Sokolsky; the fur-covered chair is a limited-edition piece by Cappellini, and the chandeliers are of Murano glass.

The terrace’s benches and arbor were designed by Ilias Lefas, the plastic chair is by Gae Aulenti, and the ottomans are by IKEA.

The owner said

 I love modern design mixed with vintage inspirations. My goal was to create a space that would inspire creativity, reflect my lifestyle and showcase my work. As a jewelry designer, I’m constantly inspired by color, texture and the ability to transform metals. Transforming this loft space into a modern jewel box was like creating a new piece of jewelry.

When you start with a cold, concrete rectangle filled with odd spaces, you need to add elements of color and texture to soften and warm the space.  No interior construction was necessary. The simple fix: Incorporating texture through fabrics, paint and great light fixtures.

We began with an obvious fix: Paint the walls my favorite blue. The use of tone-on-tone color defined by various textures and finishes was key to transforming the space. It was important to create clearly defined areas for workspace and  showroom.  We incorporated a fabric curtain to act as a divider and to soften the room. We used vintage lamps and furniture that I already owned and great vintage lighting from Orange, one of my favorite stores in Los Angeles.  More vintage touches and colorful artwork added to the transformation.

The upstairs conference room before the makeover, and  …

… the upstairs area after. This is where my team and I brainstorm and look over designs for the coming seasons.

The kitchen before the redecoration, and ...

... after. The concrete floors now have a dark, glossy finish with a marbleized look.

The office.

The entrance area before the makeover, and ...

… the view from the entry after. To separate the front parlor and showroom from my design studio and workshop, we used that simple trick of hanging beautiful metallic blue drapes and some vintage tables to create the illusion of two rooms. Wall shelves also help maximize the floor space.

We mixed textures and added vibrant color with touches of vintage chic.

The goal: A modern, inviting design studio and showroom for private customers and stylists to visit — and an inspirational space in which I love creating and working every day.

This industrial loft has a very open and authentic feel, enhanced by the original character of the whitewashed brick walls, cement columns & tall beamed ceilings. There are walls of Western and Eastern facing oversized tilt-and-turn windows front and back.

The middle of the loft was designed with a mobile partition system which enable the space to be left wide open or temporarily compartmentalized into an art studio, media room, dining room, home gym and storage space. There is a large utility closet, washer-dryer, alarm system and Central AC.

This home is currently offered at $3,15 million. Buy it now!