This 2200 square foot SoHo apartment is a home for a prominent Indian business person who spends part of the year in New York City. The gut renovation of a loft with windows on only one exposure presented unique challenges specific to the space and to the art collector client. We needed to create a more fluid space, bring daylight into specific areas and to maximize wall space for large paintings and photographs.

The entry is clad in a reclaimed Brazillian barn wood that continues throughout the residence, creating warm tones that counter balance the coolness of the steel and glass that are found throughout. Two large sliding walls, clad in blackened steel panels, move along the main hallway into the living room, creating a second strata to exhibit art. The master bedroom is open or closed to the living area, depending on the position of the sliding steel walls, which create a space that is extensively modular. When the walls are open, the client has an elevated vantage of the entire living area. When the walls are closed completely, the master bedroom becomes totally concealed, like a secret hideout. A third blackened steel wall swings open to grant access to a freight elevator and closes to conceal it. Translucent glass doors and panels bring natural light into the office, guess bedroom, master bath and guest bath. A free-standing concrete block becomes the core of the apartment, containing the guest bathroom and a kitchen open to the dining and living spaces. Each room has at least two points of entry, creating spaces that are easily moved through.