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Mercer Street Loft — diffuse light and transcendent materials

New York, NY
3,600 square feet
Type: Apartments

Although this residence is on the 6th floor of an historic SoHo loft building, we designed it intentionally to bear no trace of its former industrial life. We planned this apartment around a large open room, concealing the columns in new volumes of wood or plaster. Unlike many lofts this apartment is unexpectedly suffuse with light and air. We enhanced this unusual character by placing a large translucent glass wall to separate a bedroom from the main living space. As a result, the apartment is filled with diffuse south light.

All materials––the smooth plaster walls, ebonized oak floors, polished schist blocks, oiled walnut slabs, brushed stainless steel splashes, lighting, white glass, and white window scrims––are detailed in the most reductive manner possible.

The three bedrooms contain custom built beds and closets behind walls of walnut doors. The floors are a rich brown-black oak. In the baths, the tub and massive sinks are custom fabricated from solid blocks of black schist.

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The typical New York City loft is a dark and undifferentiated place. In this space, we used glass walls and Robert Irwin-like scrims to conduct light deep into the interior, radically transforming it into a luminous array of textures and details.

Maitland Jones, Senior Principal

Key People

Deborah Berke

Maitland Jones
Project Lead

Marc Leff
Project Designer

Recognition

Design Award, Interior Architecture
AIANY 2001

Vanity Fair
May 2001

Drawings

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Related Work

Franklin Street Loft
West 12th Street Duplex
Liberty Street Loft