A dysfunctional condo in a former industrial building has been transformed into a modern oasis, a second home for a busy international couple. The existing industrial elements have been exposed, celebrating the history of the space. What was formerly a chopped-up and segmented space has been opened to the expanse of industrial-style factory windows, bathing the space in natural light. Designated spaces are defined with furnishings, as opposed to walls. Throughout, custom furnishings and storage keeps clutter out of site. Special care was taken to ensure sprinkler heads, audio-visual and electrical wiring, and switching were invisible, creating a flawless environment.

A divider, housing both the media center and platform bed, separates the living space from the bedroom, without creating a barrier. The media center, custom designed by Studio Santalla allows for the Television to be concealed when not in use. A comfortable black leather sectional from B&B Italia sits atop a custom designed mosaic cowhide area rug. Though few, the iconic furnishings provide soft relief from the industrial space.

A custom, eat-in kitchen integrates the appliances and the cabinetry, keeping messes out of site.  The sleek workspace provides a home for a sculpture from Keith Milow. A space-defining wood and glass desk provides a workspace for two, and a pedestal for a bold sculpture from Nelson Carrilho. A massive painting from Keith Milow provides a stunning backdrop to this home office.

The large walk in closet includes a counter for folding clothes.  The custom minimal cabinetry has been designed to house off-the-shelf closet organization from the Container Store. The sleek bathroom space is bookended by a frosted glass watercloset and a dark tiled shower.

San Francisco interior designer Ken Fulk is creating buzz and delight, shock and awe, with bold, iconoclastic and witty décor. His loft in San Francisco’s gritty South of Market district offers jolts of color, playful wit and a spirited view of modern design.

It’s the scene of private client consultations—along with bacchanals, chic cocktail parties, sold-out fundraiser dinners for city museums, and scenes of generous and witty hospitality.

“Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative” states the Oscar Wilde quote adorning the front window of Ken Fulk’s South of Market design studio and loft. The quip tells everything you need to know before heading upstairs to meet the witty and design-fearless Fulk, who is currently one of the brightest sparks in San Francisco’s design arena.

“I will never be accused of being boring,” said Fulk, originally from Jefferson country in Virginia. “Design should inspire and make you smile. And it should never be a bore.”

He founded Ken Fulk Design twelve years ago, after testing the waters by designing for handpicked clients. Fulk by-passed design school and a classic apprenticeship with a design firm. He has always stayed under the radar, taking on new clients by referral only. His 20-person firm is currently working on projects from Aspen to Provincetown and from Pacific Heights, to the Dordogne in South-west France.

“My biggest complaint about most rooms I see is that they look too ‘decorator-y’, said the designer. “I tend to shy away from most things ‘designer’. I find it to be chatter that might cloud my instincts. I always want to mix things up and relish the imperfection. Even impromptu has to feel definitive. It sounds easy, but it’s not.”

Take a right turn on a deserted street in a hidden corner of SoMa, and the handsome brick building that houses Ken Fulk’s design studio and loft hovers into view. With its grand arched windows, sculpted escutcheons, and elegant demeanor, the four-story edifice is more Grand Canal than industrial warehouse. It was this Quattrocento-style fantasy that inspired Fulk to acquire the building five years ago.

“I always wanted to live above the shop, though this loft is admittedly a bit more Bruce Wayne than corner grocer,” Fulk said. The warehouse includes his loft and a roof deck on the top floor, and Fulk’s design studio on the third floor. On the first two levels he warehouses an ever-expanding inventory of furniture and accessories he uses in design projects.

The building, built in the 1920’s, has a Moorish/Venetian exterior but the interior when Fulk acquired it was pure warehouse, with brick walls and worn fir floors.

“From the moment I walked in the door, I knew I was going to buy the building,” said Fulk. “I saw the old spiral staircase and the soaring 16-foot ceilings, and there was no turning back. I left the meeting and wrote an offer. Three weeks later I owned it.”

Fulk shares the loft with his partner of 20 years, Kurt Wootton, an accomplished pianist.

When they purchased the building, the interior brick walls had been sandblasted, most interior walls removed, and the old fir floors sanded.

“Basically it was a perfect shell. It took on an almost spiritual quality. It was this purity that moved me,” said the designer. “My motto in undertaking the project was ‘don’t screw it up’. I did not want to lose the feeling and character that so moved me about the space.”

Fulk and his team added all-new systems to the entire 14,000 sq. ft of the building, new plumbing, electric, HVAC but keeping them simple and industrial in appearance and leaving most systems exposed.

“For the loft I wanted to resist the trend to condo-ize the space by cutting it up into a traditional series of rooms,” said Fulk. “ I literally banished walls and doors with few exceptions.”

Fulk, a passionate and knowledgeable collector, had only to take a trip to Paris to check in with his favorite French antiques dealer, Stephane Olivier to find an 18th century portrait of a dandy for the bathroom, a 10-foot square industrial steel table for the living room, as well as gilded chairs and a series of vitrines for the bedroom and dressing room.

I wanted the space to function as a huge grand salon with quiet moments throughout,” said Fulk “Despite my love of color I resisted the urge and kept all of the walls white.”

Furnishings provide the bling. Against a graphic backdrop of black and white (zebra prints, houndstooth and Greek key patterns) colors pop. Two super-size Edward Wormley tufted sofas were covered in sapphire blue velvet. A vintage Robsjohn-Gibbings dining table top was recreated in reverse- painted glass in vivid Hermes orange. A pair of giant wing chairs is covered in an iridescent purple fabric from Etro.

“I have always felt very self-confident about design, “ said Fulk. “I was never afraid to learn, but afraid to be taught in a conventional sense. I feared I might lose something in the translation. Like a singer afraid to take voice lessons, I was scared that an innate gift might be lost.”

So he toys with scale. His 15-foot tall draped four-posted bed towering over the dressing room and adjacent bathroom, and an Hermes-orange dining table shimmering beside the industrial marble-topped counter in the kitchen.

To avoid other walls he designed the headboard of the bed to obscure the closets hidden on the other side. The shower floats in the space and encloses the bathroom.

“I take things of great disparity—spaces, furnishings, art, accessories—and find a way for them to live in harmony or at least live together in an off-hand way,” said the designer.

With bare windows on four sides of the loft—and the gilded dome of a Ukrainian Orthodox church looming outside the living room—the loft is consistently engaging.

He experiences the full spectrum of the day, with sunrise over the city; sunset behind Twin Peaks, and all-day light playing off the spectral Federal Building just blocks away.

“With all of the skylights we are never in the dark,” said Fulk, still entranced. “The full moon traces it’s way across the room, so bright I can almost read in bed by it. Waking up just as the sun is about to rise is magical. The space is cathedral like at that moment. In the meantime, his design studio is becoming the think tank he hoped for.

“I work with incredibly talented people who challenge and support one another to do better and better work,” said Fulk.

And the loft has become the grand salon he hoped for. He and his team have countless dinners, fund-raisers, birthday parties, a masked ball or two, a dinner for Jean-Paul Gaultier, piano recitals, movie nights and even more fundraisers.

“Now I am essentially looking for any excuse to throw a party.”

FULK’S FOLLY 

“I needed some way to shut the living space off from the studio down below connected by the industrial steel spiral staircase. My first instinct was a glass-walled enclosure, a sort of poor man’s Louvre entrance. However that turned out to be a rich man’s concept. Instead I settled for a floating library. Essentially it is a sky lit conservatory at the top of the stairs. It is an ideal spot to house my growing book and sculpture collection. The steel and glass doors to the library were salvaged from the Napa State Mental Hospital.”

                 

Talk about transformation : across the freight train line in the bad part of town an old garage has a new lease on life. Abandoned and derelict it now houses a studio and living space as well as an open courtyard. This rough and ready building is now being used as a home and workspace. By Atlanta architects Brian Bell and David Yoachim of bldgs.

The greenhouse on the roof, which houses a whirlpool tub but no plants, offers bathers a panoramic view of the city.

Mr. Bruggink and his dog, Bart, on the new stairs to the third-level sleeping quarters. The brick wall is original.

The antique dining table in the kitchen was modernized by Studio Rolf.fr, using orange laminate. The appliances are from Ikea, and the cabinet doors are made out of old wood salvaged from the house.

A sink designed by Roland Manders sits under the stairs to the roof garden, at right. On the left, a bathroom and walk-in closet off the sleeping quarters.

The view from the kitchen to the living room at the back of the house. The stairs at the right lead to the sleeping quarters; the ones at the left, to Mr. Bruggink’s workshop.

The new construction separates the living area and the kitchen without creating closed rooms, which “expands a relatively narrow space,” Mr. Bruggink said.

The windows of the bedroom on the third level open onto a small balcony; the shower is hidden in a closet to the right of the bed. The bench is a modernized antique.

The focal point of the loft is a a double-height, open plan living and dining area. Floor to ceiling windows flood this room in natural light, increasing the feeling of space. White walls contrast gently with the parquet flooring and the splashes of color given by the paintings and the decorative elements. Exposed pipes give the place an industrial touch, without interfering with its overall harmonious appearance. Lighting is ensured by two intriguingly-shaped lamps, one descending from the ceiling and the other placed on the floor. The bedrooms are in perfect chromatic tune with the living room. The kitchen is also highly modern and it goes without saying-all-equipped.

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.

The loft features a great mix of modern furnishing and raw brick walls, the wood-beam ceilings has beautiful sky lights built in. This top floor apartment is connected to a rooftop, where owners cultivate their garden and love to grow vegetables.

The main challenge of the design was to create flow between the two obviously separate East and West halves of the apartment, which were a result of combining the two buildings in the past. To open up the space between, a new wide arched opening was added in the demising brick wall, seamlessly integrated by proportionally mimicking style of the existing arches. A synonymous window was installed on the east wall to create maximum light exposure in the new “great room”. Care was taken to preserve the loftâ€s history as a warehouse, and later an artistâ€s studio by keeping and accentuating its inherent openness, large steel skylights, material textures and exposed structure. To accentuate the mass and presence of the exposed brick wall, the new stair was cantilevered off of this inherently structural element. The wall was extended up to the top of the stair bulkhead, clad with re-used brick recovered after demolishing part of the wall for the new arch. New skylight above stair now brings in more light, inviting to enjoy the new outdoor roof terrace and garden. The Kitchen and family Breakfast room were positioned in the most brightly lit part of the apartment with two large existing skylights, which flood the space with natural southeast light.

It was important to separate public from private, however instead of hallways and closed doors, large sliding “partitions” allow for uninterrupted flow throughout the day, with option to screen off the childrenâ€s†play area and family bedrooms. With 3 children and 2 dogs, it was critical to plan for ample storage throughout the apartment, custom built-in benches, credenzas and bookcases work well to keep clutter hidden while seamlessly integrating with surrounding finishes. In the childrenâ€s playroom a new lofted platform with ladders, trap doors and writable walls was designed for playing and storage, while child-friendly low ceiling spaces where they can explore, read and study under an existing skylight.

All of the new materials were selected to accentuate the authentic quality of the space enhancing with warm, rich natural finishes such as oiled old-growth walnut floors and cabinets, cold rolled steel stair and doors, earth tone tiles and bamboo counters. While the finishes feel high end, all of the tactile surfaces are child and pet friendly, durable and will develop in character as they age.

JW/G Loft in the Flatiron District is a 3200 sf apartment for a young professional couple. The project was a gut renovation with the addition of an exterior terrace. The concept is based on the relationship between “public” and personal space. The loft has some very open and “extroverted” areas for entertaining and also some personal, intimate places for family life.

The space itself is wonderful; really modern and industrial with clean lines and a nice organic touch thanks to the exposed brick and ceiling beams and splendid wood floor. The color scheme is also warm and makes this grand space feel homey. The kitchen makes quite a statement and elevating it like that really puts all its awesomeness right on display. Even though, generally the space is open, the multi level floor plan gives the eye many interesting places to rest.

Photos via Bo Bedre

His studio has been published a few times, but every time I see his work, I am stopped dead in my tracks. The studio, Contemporain, consists of Lázaro and his team of eight interior, industrial, and graphic designers. Housed in a former cotton warehouse, the atelier is chock full of interesting design prototypes, custom furniture pieces, objet dâ€art, and various paintings (by his own hand). Current projects range from hotels in Costa Brava and Buenos Aires, to restaurants in Mallorca and Morocco.

Barcelona is such an insanely beautiful city, and after having been reacquainted with this designerâ€s work, I just may need to plan a trip there sometime soon! Enjoy the slideshow, and take a look at his portfolio as well.

The bronze from from 1900 was once a ceiling decoration while the chandelier was designed by Paco Rabanne.

The leather Chesterfield sofas are from Belgium and the coffee table the white leather chairs were custom dsigned by Contemporain Studio.

Stucco rosettes look like sculptures on Chinese console tables.

The leather and chrome chairs in the meeting area are from the 1960’s and sit around a prototype table from Contemporain. The upholstered “waiting canape” is from an old hotel in Marseilles.

The artwork is by Lázaro Rosa-Violán.

I don’t know many designers who would hang Chinese screens in a kitchen but they look amazing.

Lázaro Rosa-Violán has a great eye for chairs. These are Swedish office chairs from the 1960’s.

The wood paneling in the bathroom came from a textiles warehouse and headquarters. The tub is by Philippe Starck and the stool Sempre. The entire place is the epitome of chic but if worked here, I would definitely hold every meeting outdoors. Now, wasn’t that worth looking at again?!