MCM NYDowntown Loft

Set within a turn-of-the-century manufacturing building in the East Village, this duplex loft came to us with thirteen windows, a solarium, and a client whose love of art, design and the downtown scene would shape every decision. Working alongside designers Ellie Cullman and Ali Little of Cullman & Kravis and architect Andrew Oyen, we reconceived the space to bring grace and polish to it while honoring its industrial bones. We halved the mezzanine to let light from the solarium flood the rooms below, built a floating steel and oak staircase in its place, rebuilt the bathrooms from the studs, reappointed the elevator vestibule as a gracious entry, and replaced the enclosed kitchen with an open service core that conceals a powder room, walk-in laundry and pantry behind glossy panels. The materials stayed refined yet ordinary, birch plywood, painted brick and poured concrete, in service of a single idea: a true downtown loft for someone with a bit of savoir faire.