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Photographer's Loft by Desai Chia provides live-work space in New York
This minimal loft apartment for a New York-based photographer has areas for meeting clients, entertaining guests and escaping city bustle.
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The Photographer's Loft occupies a 5,000-square-foot former industrial space, complete with cast-iron columns and plentiful large windows.
Desai Chia Architecture's 2014 renovation created a "serene" environment, where public and private areas are separated but an open circulation flow is retained.
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"The client asked Desai Chia to design a home that would serve as a work space and gallery for her photography while also providing spaces for entertaining with friends," said the studio, founded by Katherine Chia and Arjun Desai.
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Upon entrance, a library-cum-reception area provides a space for meeting clients and gallerists, and showing off work. Horizontal rows of wooden shelves cover one wall, storing albums and research materials, and a large desk for presenting portfolios occupies the centre of the room.
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Continuing on this axis, past frosted-glass partitions there is a long area that acts as a studio workspace. Low counters offer places to compile and frame images, while taller units to one side conceal a dressing area.
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A bedroom concealed by pocket doors completes this west-east series of spaces, tucked away to provide a zone for quiet and calm.
In the larger portion of the apartment to the south, an open-plan living and cooking area takes advantage of the many windows that wrap around the building's corner.
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A long, black steel kitchen island and a parallel dining table match the dark columns, while the remainder of the space is kept bright even at night with the help of recessed lighting coves in the ceiling.
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"The living area, kitchen, and dining area create an ensemble that is cohesive and very adaptable for a range of entertaining," said Desai Chia.
Oak flooring runs through the majority of the rooms, extending from the living area to another bedroom hidden behind a storage partition built in the same material.
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Two bathrooms can be accessed from both here and the studio/dressing area. Both are very minimal, feature custom sinks, and are illuminated from above, with the addition of a striated stone floor in the master bath.
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"The walls of the bathrooms are finished in waterproof resin, which provide a singular surface that is both luminous and very easy to maintain," said the architects, whose work ranges media offices to rural retreats.
Photography is by Paul Warchol.