"Industrial Art Deco" Loft

This Chicago loft is located in a 100 year old book binding and publishing building, converted in 1995. The historic Grand Avenue Bridge and the Chicago River are framed in the unobstructed backyard view from the River North neighborhood, with the westerly exposure providing unmatched sunset lighting. The exterior industrial bridge, the river and natural lighting were all of consideration when creating a design concept and envisioning sight lines for furniture and lighting. The design concept was part old school Chicago...Industrial, and part French...Art Deco. The challenge was to integrate these two separate dynamics into an artsy, comfortable loft blending the roughness of industrial materials with the refinement and sleekness of period 1950's French Art Deco original pieces. 

Colors and shades highlight vibrant oranges and yellows against neutral grey walls. No existing furnishings, electronics or accessories were provided, making all design decisions organic. With that, the first and most centrally located design decision would be the living room area rug. The total square footage within the loft is just shy of 1100. The size of the rug was scaled off the fireplace width and demanded both an appealing artistic design and bold coloring, not limited to our primary color choices of orange and yellow. These colors absolutely pop during sunsets perfectly framed through the three floor to ceiling brick encased arched windows. To my relief I scored a fabulous rug from Nepal, which served as the origin to further pinpoint additional complementing pieces. A low profile sofa with sleek lines was custom made causing no distractions to our river view. The dimensions were derived in length in proportion to the rug and the fabric color was tied to its core base. A glass top narrow coffee table fits in nicely as a rectangular industrial assembly line conversion piece. Along my travels I found three French deco pieces that diagonally split the space across the main living area and rug. A yellow swivel dental table was placed to the left of the fireplace and serves as a throw back mini bar. At each end of the sofa are matching French standing street lamps that provide functional light, with very unique shaping from base to globe. The living area was finished with an updated bean bag that again is low to the ground and allows views to the river below, while a decorative orange chair adorns the opposite side of the coffee table. Orange is continued, and surrounds the kitchen island via three low swiveling orange and white bar stools. And, an orange table lamp behind the sofa in the far corner presents an area defining center of illumination.

Regarding texture flow, the previous kitchen counter tops and island were covered in a flat white quartz. To keep on budget, none of the counter tops or cabinets were replaced in either the bathroom or kitchen. I therefore worked with the dental table marble top as a foundation to select marble for the fireplace and shelving on top of partition walls. The walls were reshaped to bring a more deco influenced vibe to the space and provide natural light into the kitchen. Additionally, I opened up the visual length of the unit by cutting down the bedroom wall while maintaining a comfortable level of privacy and minimizing the distraction of having a bed visible into the entire studio loft. The Italian white leather bed frame integrates with the white marbling as well. Our fireplace mantel is a slim profiled standard contemporary design bringing focus to the volume of the marble. The balance of the accessory pieces were found at vintage shops, antique malls and Randolph Street flea market, while decorative art pieces were picked up at various Chicago summer art festivals. After meeting a local artist, Mario "Zore 64" Gonzalez, who works in an urban street style, I visited his studio and found a piece he completed on brown paper. He strictly uses refurbished materials as canvases and his design aesthetic reminded me of how older industrial manufacturing buildings fell into disrepair in Chicago. The resulting graffiti taggers used the defunct structures to bring life back to their exterior surfaces once activity inside had long stopped. I placed his two adjoining works above the sofa area on the ceiling and encased them in plexiglass. The rawness of his work plays well off the interior bones of the loft and the industrial objects, as it conveys a sense of the transformation of the building that I was designing within. A visual note besides the art pieces themselves, the reflection from the rivers constant water flow and movement, creates a ripple effect off the plexiglass covered pieces during daylight hours, bringing a sense of a comforting activity within the unit. 

Creative lighting touches add a softness to the industrial feel. 1950's period hanging glass cut pendant lights were refurbished and hang above the kitchen island and desk area and provide excellent direct light into two inner locations that necessitate functional usage. LED lighting was installed above and below the kitchen cabinets, behind the custom designed deco style bathroom mirrors and underneath the cube wall located at the end of the kitchen. Behind the sofa area are two rewired vintage movie stage lights that compliment the old school movie reels and projector used as accent objects. High quality art track lighting was installed throughout the space in order to illuminate the owners art work. Dimmers were installed for virtually all lighting switches. Additionally, a recessed TV and pair of speakers above the fireplace run off electronic components housed at the bottom of new LED shelving in the niche to the right. The bedroom area carpet was discarded and a new heated tile flooring was installed, complimenting the existing bathroom flooring. The bathroom had new fixtures and lighting installed while the wall towel racks were removed in order to clean the far wall to accommodate a newly commissioned mural. I designed a collage of Chicago's buildings set above the Grand Avenue Bridge, located outside the unit's balcony. The mural incorporates the bridge's industrial roots with a deco inspired design completed in orange and yellow. Additional industrial features include the foyer entrance housing two industrial factory loud speakers converted into lights, along with a 1930's red exit bulb light positioned directly above the entrance door. The 14 foot ceilings and space are supported by large wooden beams throughout the loft. I installed old industrial pulleys from a ceiling beam and wrapped them with leather to bring a feel of the buildings original purpose back into the space. All the lightweight original swing folding doors were replaced with custom designed hardwood hinged panel doors that were finished off with polished aluminum veneer panels. This reflective material opens the space up without a true mirroring effect, plays well off the grey tones and updates an older structure with a more contemporary look and feel. And to conclude lighting, the windows were outfitted with both a sheer blind and a blackout blind done in a coordinating dark grey.

Sheer functionality is prominent in the W/D closet area. The sizable W/D closet stores an all in one copier and mini business center, along with a wine refrigerator. New flooring and shelving were installed and all four closets were wired for California style electricity savings sensor lights. An additional component of functionality includes utilizing the walls for hanging paintings in progress. Outside, the balcony has room for a small gas grill, mid size table and two chairs. I hit the local flea markets for used industrial or period outdoor furniture and scored a comfortable glider chair and a converted usage heavy duty table. 

Due to city building code restrictions, the developers could only utilize limited inner square footage for residential use, resulting in the build out of extremely large storage units (200-400 sq ft), frequently used by artists as studios. This is indeed part of the combination usage the owner envisioned when purchasing. The former storage unit across the hall, now art studio, was designed with a wall peg board, industrial work bench and the removed track lighting from the unit was reinstalled. Regarding timeframes and budgets, the project had an 8-10 week schedule from closing to move-in, including the building board approval for the interior wall reconfiguration and extensive electrical work. A mid-level budget was targeted so price points needed to be achieved efficiently. Overall, the project came together on time in ten weeks and only 15% above budget primarily due to electrical costs and the custom made hardwood doors.