Loft 110

Loft 110 is one of the smallest units at the "East Lake Lofts" building in Oakland California. It is owned by a young, software engineer working in San Francisco. The original layout was not considerate of the loft's small proportions and had the same size features as the larger units in the building. There was much wasted square footage that needed to turn into useful space for the loft to function efficiently.

Mahsa Vanaki Studio proposed a minimum size, custom kitchen to accommodate all the appliances including a much smaller water heater, dish washer and sink. The kitchen appliances are camouflaged inside a birch plywood envelope under the mezzanine. The cozy birch cocoon contains a considerable storage space on the opposite side of the kitchen, where the wall slightly changes angle to gain some space from the floor.

The dramatic and elegant, all black steel staircase, wraps around the birch pad to define a visually impressive transition to the bright living room.

To accommodate a built-in media center, shelves and cabinets unfold under the stairs with customized drawers for records and DVD collections.

A concealed door inside the birch-covered hallway opens into an all white bathroom.The entire wall behind the floating sink is covered with mirror and the rest with white tiles to help the small room feel bigger and brighter.