Artist's Apartment
An artist's retreat in the middle of a city.
Designed as an urban retreat for a passionate artist and animator, this apartment features all the comforts a homeowner could want. Modeled after Pearl Loft in Seattle, WA, this two story apartment includes an open plan living and dining area, a spacious master suite, a guest nook, a movie room, and, of course, an art studio.
By carefully combining the old brick and worn beams, with the bright furniture and plants, the space achieves a very rooted, but airy feel while providing the convenience of home.
The goal of the project was to design a three bedroom home, with plenty of entertaining space in only 2500 square feet. That was the first challenge. The second challenge was to arrange the rooms in such a way that would channel light into the very center of the apartment. With only twelve windows to work with, none of which could be moved, finding the right layout was a very careful and deliperate process. That is the main challenge often associated with apartment building and renovation. In order to maintain the facade of the building the windows cannot be moved or changed. Meaning, the rooms inside must be configured around them.
This apartment packs more than a few surprises. For example, the master bedroom is hidden behind a concealed door. There's a floor to ceiling mirror in the guest nook, and a built in, 9 foot tall snake cage in the master suite.
Aproximately, 130 hours were devoted to this design, including everything from the floor plan to the books on the shelves. Every detail carefully coordinated to create the perfect atmosphere.
The two main upstairs rooms (the movie room and the art studio), are subdivided by a wooden screen to maintain light flow from the three windows across the two rooms. A regular wall would make both rooms to dark and cramped so the obvious solution was to have a "semi-wall" running the perimeter of the room.
The art room, being the most important room in the house, was carefully constructed with the client in mind. Canvas' can be set up against the far wall for painting. A portable "art cart" that holds any and all paint supplies can be set up beside whichever canvas you are using. A desk space sits on the righthand side to provide a spot for computer work and sketching. Additionally, a magnetic wall with movable shapes is included as a special bonus for creative expression. Finally, a large work table for larger scale projects is set beneath a transforming Ikea pendant (special request from the client).
