Beatty Street Loft
There’s more than meets the eye when taking in the seemingly uncomplicated, modernist and polished look of the Beatty Street Loft. Unseen is the incredibly intensive planning and coordination, and precise construction required to create the finished space.
Proving up the challenges
How hard can it be to install a light fixture? If it's a Bocci light with 12 glass balls that must be hung at specific heights from ceiling cable at the fully finished stage of the project in a loft space, which requires a 20-foot-tall scaffold overtop the kitchen island, then very hard. We had to ensure installation coordination between the designer, electrician, carpenter and spotter – all while using white gloves so no fingerprints were left on the glass balls. The island countertop wasn't any easier. We chamfered the countertop edge to appear 1/4-inch thick (even though it's actually 3/4-inch thick) and chamfered the cabinet tops in the opposite direction to exactly line up with one another. Underneath, we book-matched the wood grain on the cabinets, which are made from one solid piece of wood.
Preplanning makes perfect
We custom made the modern walnut vanity and medicine cabinets to look like furniture pieces. To achieve a clean, minimalist appearance, we hid the plumbing and electrical behind the mirrored medicine cabinets, which are partly proud and partly recessed into the wall. We used steel reinforcement for the bottom shelf to keep it long and open while maintaining strength and shape with no bowing or sagging. What's missing from this photo? The time-intensive preplanning and layout coordination required with multiple trades, taking into consideration various materials' tolerances and limited wall depth.
Hiding ducting and plumbing with millwork
We painted the backsplash wall the same colour as the custom, back-painted, herringbone pattern glass tiles to ensure any sight lines or discrepancies were eliminated. Varying upper cabinet depths and millwork provide a clean finished look while hiding the mechanical ducting and plumbing, which couldn't be rerouted in the small loft space.
Project News
- 2015.09.03 New York state of mind Read more