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Before: The 2,700-square-foot loft had a sizable great room with enviable features, including exposed brick walls and heavy timber structural beams.

Before: The loft is located in an industrial building that had been converted in 1996. The finishes throughout the home reflected that era.

Raj and Watts extended the fireplace column to the ceiling to highlight the room’s expansive scale, and had it coated in concrete plaster. It was important to retain the wood-burning fireplace—a rarity in the city—but “we wanted to re-clad it in a material that also spoke to the industrial past of the building,” says Raj.

Floor-to-ceiling shelves and storage bookend a cabinet that conceals the television.

Bleached walnut replaced cold concrete floors in this family-friendly renovation of a dated loft in West Chelsea’s late 19th-century Spears Building. To make the loft feel more welcoming, architects Ravi Raj and Evan Watts toned down the heavy industrial elements of the 2,700-square-foot loft with a warmer and lighter palette and added custom built-ins for a streamlined look. At the same time, the loft still preserves much of its historic appeal—from the exposed brick seen throughout the home to the oversized openings left intact.

The exposed brick was left alone to convey the building’s storied history.

The architects reused much of the existing walnut cabinetry, giving it an ebonized finish for contrast.

The stainless-steel elements, including the counter and cabinets, were also kept in place for their industrial character. The island was reworked and topped with marble.

Marble covers the backsplash, and new upper cabinets inset with fluted glass were added.

Before: By reconfiguring the kitchen layout, the architects were able to repurpose the dining room and smooth out the bedroom layout.

The home’s glass addition was conceived as a place to be both indoors and outdoors at the same time.

Just beyond the northern edge of the home is a small koi goldfish pond, extending the notion of a California oasis.

The glass addition includes a custom-designed mechanism for the hanging plants to be watered.

The home’s interior is a fusion of glass and reclaimed redwood, the latter sourced from a nearby decommissioned airplane hangar.

Homeowner and artist Elizabeth Paige Smith selected a large boulder to be made into the bathroom sink.

A fire pit between two wings of the home encourages outdoor living.