In the Loop
Adrian Jones lived in his top-floor loft in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood for nine years before renovating. For a bachelor set designer, the 2,500-square-foot space was perfect: plenty of room for his studio and collections of books and art, big windows affording city views, and exposed brick tagged with graffiti.
It was great for parties, but it lacked creature comforts, a fact made evident when his wife, writer and television producer Allison Silverman, moved in. The couple craved a comfy spot to curl up and watch TV. “Lofts tend to feel cold and lack a sense of intimacy, especially in winter,” Adrian explains. “But we wanted to maintain its openness.” Before his home became their home, Adrian called on Garrick Jones (no relation), founder of the Brooklyn-based firm Ten to One, and his associate Cathy Braasch, now of Braasch Architecture, to warm up the space. In response, the designer inserted a “loop” of reclaimed oak and sustainably harvested butternut wood into the center of the loft. Resembling an oversize piece of cabinetry, the loop organizes the central space into smaller living areas, including a cozy TV and guest room.
Eco-mindedness is a matter-of-fact part of everyday life for the couple and the designer. “Sustainability comes from flexibility and planning for the long term,” Garrick says. “This is not a glammed-up loft.”
Climate Control
When the door to the deck is open, air flows unhindered from the kitchen to the living room. Garrick expanded the radiant heating and added a high-efficiency Fujitsu Halcyon ductless forced-air system for cooling.
Reclaimed Materials
“It was a natural choice,” says Adrian of using reclaimed and rescued wood. “I didn’t want to chop down a whole lot of trees.” The walls and ceiling are lined with planks of butternut harvested from diseased trees in Vermont.
Creative Reuse
Inspired by a photograph he spotted on how-to website Instructables and an idea from Adrian, Contractor Halit Dervishaj upcycled the scrap lumber into a large dining-room table, laminating together butternut, oak, and Plyboo for the tabletop and adding a simple metal base with legs that Adrian ordered online.
Smart Lighting
Adrian wanted to bring a theatrical glow to the loft without using recessed lights or cluttering up the space with lamps. He consulted lighting designer and friend Paul Whitaker and found that linear LED covelights could provide low-wattage illumination with little maintenance.
Your Turn
The resawn oak flooring comes from structural beams salvaged from a barn in Ohio’s Allegheny Mountains that dated back to the 1800s. The doors were salvaged from a mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut.
New LED fixtures can match incandescent color temperatures so you don’t have to sacrifice a warm glow for energy savings. Correlated color temperature is measured in Kelvin (K). Look for LEDs ranging 2,700K to 3,200K.
Lumens per watt (lm/W) is the amount of light emitted with each watt of electricity consumed. At upward of 150 lm/W, LED performance beats that of incandescent (10–18 lm/W), halogen (15–20 lm/W), and compact fluorescent (35–60 lm/w) bulbs so over time they are a better bang for the buck.
LEDs are almost completely recyclable, unlike fluorescent sources that still contain mercury. Check with individual manufacturers to find out if they have a recycling program and how to participate.
To see more photos of the project, view the slideshow.
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That table is ridiculous! I love it!
Thank you Dwell! - Garrick
Where did you find the reading lamp? I'm looking for something like it but most of what I'm finding is too antique-y. I really like the simple lines of this lamp. Thanks.
Love the entire space. Salvage like this is my drug of choice.
Totally digging the table. Not so much on the chairs.
Amazing and unique table. Love the way the red/white fabric pops against the painted white chairs too. Very cool space indeedy!
Been looking for a chair exactly like the black leather chair displayed, who made this and where did you find it? Thank you!
This is amazing space with design in the forefront. The wood is a great when living in the city surrounded by bricks and asphalt. Details, details, details making this indeed a home-sweet-home.
Nice space.
Wonderful spaces, comfortable and intimate yet open and functional. I also love the absence of frivolous excess. A fantastic place to live I'm sure!
CY--the black leather chair with molded wood backing looks like an Eames lounge chair or possibly a replica. Based on the photo, I'm guessing this one is a replica because it's more upright than the original design. I have one and its lovely. But not inexpensive. When I got mine, few dealers carried more than the standard design like you see here of black leather paired with walnut or cherry wood. Now, they're available in a wide variety of leather/fabric colors along with more wood options, including the much sought after rosewood, which was once discontinued because it was endangered.
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