This custom-designed loft project began when homeowners Nancy Moses and Myron Bloom wanted to move a wall in their Philadelphia condominium to widen the hallway. Their apartment is located in the Lippincott, a former printing house in Philadelphia's Society Hill neighborhood, near historic Independence Hall. The couple's apartment is one of 27 units in the building, which was renovated by architect Cecil Baker of Cecil Baker & Associates, Philadelphia.
Before purchasing the condominium, Moses and Bloom lived in a large house nearby and were looking to downsize. They both fell in love with the iron columns, exposed beams, and oversized windows in the Lippincott raw unit they looked at. However, they wanted a more open floor plan than those Baker had designed for the apartments in the building.
Moses says that as early buyers, they had their choice of any unit in the building. They chose the corner unit on the fourth floor because it had windows on two sides. They also wanted to be above the roofline of neighboring buildings to allow them an unobstructed view of the sunrise and to maximize morning light. After looking at a similar unit on the fifth floor, they decided against it because the wood beams were being removed to add two additional floors.
Following their initial consultation about the hallway, the couple decided to hire Baker to custom design their 1,800-square-foot unit.
The architect says that after years of working around his love of modern design, he now only works with clients whose aesthetic matches his own. He found kindred spirits in Moses and Bloom. “They wanted a contemporary language within that rustic framework,” Baker says. Though some owners in the building chose to cover the original steel and wood in their condominiums, he and Moses and Bloom were determined to highlight them. The result: a seamless design tailored to fit the homeowners' lifestyle.
Credit: Barry Halkin
Moses and Bloom had seen Baker's work in the homes of friends and colleagues, but during their design research, they returned for a closer look. “He has a way of taking old houses and moving them gently into the 21st century,” Moses says. An architect friend recommended that Moses write a narrative of what she and Bloom wanted from their new space. Another friend offered Moses 20 years worth of decorating magazines from which she could tear out pictures of rooms, details, and styles she liked. This process helped the couple define their aesthetic.
As a result, Moses and Bloom came to the table with a clear idea of what they wanted. This helped the architectural team home in on a solution. “The narrative cut to the meat of what they wanted — there were very few plan revisions once we decided on key items,” project architect Chris Blakelock says.
“The clearer you are at the beginning of the process, the less it will cost you in the long term,” Moses agrees.
Light IdeasMoses wanted the natural light from the two walls of windows to fill the entire loft. She and Bloom also wanted an open floor plan — a design choice that would allow light to completely penetrate the space. In addition, Baker designed a long glass transom that runs from the outside wall around the office alcove to the guest area to admit even more light, and chose a lacquer finish for the exposed beams to reflect light.
For times when the natural light was not enough, Moses recommended a lighting designer to designate the optimum locations for fixtures. One of the designer's best ideas was to recess cables studded with small halogen fixtures between the exposed wood beams, which adds light without interrupting the simple lines of the space.
The architect's primary challenge was to create an open plan while maximizing storage space. As he had done with the transom, Baker decided to make use of the space's 11-foot ceiling heights to provide a solution. He began by creating intersecting lines of storage, starting with a central shelving unit that divides the living room from the office and provides storage on both sides; the long line of tall kitchen cabinets that extends on one plane to the dining room and on an intersecting plane as counter-height compartments separates the kitchen from the guest area. At the center of these intersecting dividers is the kitchen.
Credit: Barry Halkin
Baker is meticulous about the details of his designs. “With traditional architecture, if there is a joint or gap, you cover it with trim. If there is still a problem, you use more trim,” Baker says. However, contemporary architecture requires more attention to detail because its visible, clean lines make it less forgiving.
Before finalizing the open shelving in the living room, Blakelock carefully measured the owner's books and art and craft collection and evaluated her office equipment for the desk alcove. By building a correctly sized desk and tucking it into an alcove in the library, Baker allowed the room to remain free for multiple uses.
The open plan worked well for another of the homeowners' requests — universal design. Features that the couple wished to have in the design included wider doorways and passageways, doors that fold out of the way, no-threshold showers, and built-in cabinetry to keep the space free of furniture and clutter.
Moses and Bloom hired an interior designer to help them choose products and materials that would complement Baker's clean-lined, crisp design. The designer urged them not to stray from their neutral color palette, noting that their art and craft collections and their furniture would serve to add color to the space. He also helped them decide on the finish for the other significant intersecting plane: the large expanse of floor. They chose to use reclaimed yellow heart pine that matches the rustic beams and columns.
Nina Patel is a senior editor for REMODELING.
Project: A custom-designed contemporary loft in a historic building in Philadelphia.
Designer: Cecil Baker, Cecil Baker & Associates, Philadelphia. www.cbaarch.com.
Building Developer: MCW Enterprises, Delran, N.J.
Duration: Two years.
Cost: $400,000 (above the price of the condominium unit).