It takes a lot of imagination to look at a drab, aging soap warehouse and see an ideal place to live but that's exactly what architect Andrew Franz saw for his client in an 130-year-old industrial building on Desbrosses Street. The 3,000-square-foot duplex in Tribeca, which the public got a peek inside during the inaugural Dwell on Design NY, represented a "big opportunity" to design the home the way they wanted, said Franz, with "a lot of dynamism and variety of spaces."
Those spaces include an open living/kitchen/dining room area on the first floor; a light-filled mezzanine,perched under a 150-square-foot skylight, with an inverted courtyard seating area that leads into a cozy guest room and bathroom; and, to top it off, a gorgeous roof deck with views of the Hudson River and lower Manhattan.
Despite the apartment's diversity, Franz also wanted the two-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath home to reflect unity, so there are a few instances where opposing qualities come together. First, he brought the outside in. For example, the indoor courtyard on the mezzanine has a cement and stone floor with lush greenery throughout. There's also plenty of natural light in the loft, aided by skylights that ensure the south-facing bedrooms (which face the wall of a neighboring building) also get their fair share of sunlight.
Second, old mixes with new, so while the warehouse was completely redone, there are plenty of industrial touches that remain. One of the more striking examples is an old elevator winch from the basement of the building that was going to be tossed out but has found new life as a customized coffee table. All together, the old soap warehouse provided a clean slate, if you will, for a dream home. Take a look:
Kizzy Cox
· Dwell on Design NY [official]
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