Loft, Renwick Street, New York, 1996Two adjacent floors of a former factory were joined by removing a quadrant of the floor area between them, creating a double-height space that links all parts of the loft. A large, new opening in the exterior wall replaced two rows of existing windows. Industrial steel sashes were used to break down the scale of the opening and to reference neighboring natural-light factories. Public areas on the lower level utilize a concrete floor—a nod to the building's past— while wide-board oak was used for the stairs and upstairs bedrooms. The building’s rough textured columns and beams became a counterpoint to the smooth surfaces of the new walls.photos by Andrew Wood and David Sundberg