warehouse loft – Loftenberg

Modern Loft from a Brussels Warehouse

admin — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 20:20:53 +0000

A former warehouse was transformed into this modern loft in Brussels, Belgium by SHSH architects. The goal was to create an experience of colors and textures – on a limited budget. The concept revolved around the loft as ‘the ocean’ and constructed elements (kitchen, bedrooms, bathroom) as ‘the islands’.

The space of the loft reminds you of an ocean. The functions are, when necessary, enclosed in volumes floating on it. With no corridors and a minimum of partitions, there is only a vast space where three island-like volumes are planned: the bedrooms, the kitchen and the sanitary facilities.

These three functional islands have all different textures and colors. The volumes are placed against the walls leaving a large open space next to the existing South-East face windows.

“Inspiration came from random but meaningful sources; an automated conveyor in steel – a pine structure – the color of Shin’s sweater.”

On the bedrooms volume, walls are finished with wooden materials, with bookshelves and closets on the sides. The children’s bedrooms are closed tightly for optimal acoustic requirements. The adult’s bedroom is closed by steel-framed sliding doors in order to take natural light from the workspace.

In the second volume, the walls of the kitchen and laundry room are in Matsuba-iro, a dull green color like the leaves of a pine tree. In the kitchen, the central island is situated at the edge of the raised floor, allowing the family to use it as a bar from the dining room. The kitchen has been designed as an open element without doors or walls, showing the utensils arranged on sliding trays. All hardware has been carefully chosen to provide an industrial appearance, fine and simple.

Finally, the sanitary block includes a separated toilet, a technical room and a bathroom, all in Benihi-iro, a red scarlet tone. In an industrial building with no sound insulation, a rubber floor material of 16 mm was chosen to prevent the spread of noise between floors. The floors are raised only where necessary for sanitary and electrical installations.

The Clapton Warehouse

admin — Sat, 23 Jan 2016 16:04:39 +0000

Let’s explore the rehabilitation of an old warehouse by the architects of the agency Sadie Snelson. In this loft, the concrete walls and ceilings are coated with pink tones that bring warmth to this industrial setting. A bold choice that works perfectly. Prior to the conversion, the Clapton Warehouse in East London was a dysfunctional space that was divided into several rooms each with minimal sunlight.

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

Remade in England – Queen Elizabeth Street Loft

admin — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 10:25:35 +0000

Remade in England

Two decades ago, Queen Elizabeth Street Loft was down and out, a warehouse all but withered. But the owners had other ideas. From the dizzying brick walls to every nut-brown timber beam, this marvellous apartment is not as good as new, but better. Paired sofas and a professional pool table impress beneath the sitting room’s pitched ceiling, while a steel-clad kitchen and a coolly upcycled coffee table are honed and hewed.

Whether you skip to the mezzanine master bedroom, or scan the skies from the loungey balcony, here you can be sure yours is a story that ends happily.

Design for life

The owners are no strangers to restoring old buildings – they do it for a living. For all Queen Elizabeth Street Loft’s dereliction, they fell in love with its structure, and the rest is history.

Stroll across the tan wooden floor for a look at the woven lampshades and off-centre artwork, or spend untold hours in the charming twin armchairs. Stout timber beams span the ceiling, but there’s no lumber to be found in the coal-hued kitchen, with its blowtorch detailing and sleek worktops.

Linger at the pool table, or discover the melange of wood and brick that is the master bedroom. But before you slip deep into the modern four-poster, make time for a nightcap on the scenic balcony.

If you want, you can rent this loft too.

Stunning Shoreditch Loft

admin — Fri, 25 Dec 2015 15:48:51 +0000

This is arguably one of the most stunning of Shoreditch lofts. A penthouse spanning 2153 sq ft, this loft is set on the entire top floor of a former warehouse on Shoreditch High Street with direct lift access into the apartment.

The loft has retained many of its original features with high ceilings, pitched roof and huge windows and 2 sleeping decks. Ideal for the creative types looking for a live/work base in the heart of Shoreditch.

Originally designed by Juan Carlos Quintana, a London-based fashion designer who combines Latin American flare with haut couture. He learned his trade from two Spanish masters who had formerly worked for the house of Balenciaga in Spain. When he launched his fashion label Quintana in London he needed a place to work and live. He found the solution in an unlikely place – a former canning factory in Shoreditch, on the southbank of the Thames River.

Before moving into his super-sized loft he had lived in a modest one-room apartment or bedsit in Chelsy. The difference could hardly be any greater – before, a small, cramped space, now a huge, two-storey loft in an erstwhile canning factory in London’s East End. Juan Carlos and Chris, a screenwriter friend, initially had to overcome a few difficulties in adapting. “We felt as if we were sleeping in a park or football field, ” says Chris, who felt lost in the vastness of the neo-Gothic building.

Shoreditch Loft

Juan Carlos, who comes from Guatemala, arrived in London in 2002, working first as a freelance fashion designer for Matthew Williamson, Jenny Packham and Michiko Koshino. As he had already had more than ten years of experience as a fashion designer in South and Latin America he finally plucked up the courage to head for Europe and set up his own label Quintana, which proved very successful when he held his first show in Paris in 2008.

Creativity at work generally translates in a kind of genius on every level of life. Clever ideas come quickly to Juan Carlos and his friend in their private sphere as well. For instance the problem of feeling lost in their loft was solved simply by setting up a protective tent in which the fashion designer and the screenwriter slept for their first year in the loft. It also had the advantage of lessening the pressure they felt to turn the former factory into a home from one day to the next. They took their time converting the industrial space and it paid off.

You can even rent it here: rent this loft

The building in Shoreditch where the loft is located

Original interior – 1

Original interior – 2