Solution: Loft Divider - Dwell Blog

Lofts are a paradox. You love the open space, but the demands of domestic life may force you to divide it up.

Here’s an example: Josh is a musician who composes music at night. Donna is a writer who often works at home. Each needed privacy and, in addition, their loft in downtown Brooklyn required some kind of screen between living area and bedroom.

4-Pli, a young Brooklyn design firm, addressed the couple’s needs by creating large scale furniture from Baltic birch plywood that provided storage and doubled as a room divider.

By using 1/8-inch-thick plywood, the designers were able to bend the wood into sculptural forms. For example, Josh’s office (above) has curved walls lined with shelves to contain his clutter. “She wanted to literally contain his mess, to give him a space where she didn’t have to see it so they didn’t have to fight about it,” said Jeffrey Taras, one of the 4-Pli designers.

A built-in ladder leads from Josh’s office to a sleeping loft for guests, that also doubles as Donna’s writing retreat.

Facing the living room is another wavy divider wall with shelves (shown at top). On the bedroom side of the divider is a smooth wall with handles angled discretely into the plywood (shown below).