An artist and her engineer husband had recently purchased a loft in Providence, Rhode Island’s jewelry district. 3six0 Architecture was asked to convert the loft into a live/work area for the two individuals, maintaining distinct spaces to be uniquely designed for each client. The “double loft” owners challenged 3six0 to acknowledge their long and committed relation, while celebrating their uniqueness and personal penchants. Programmatically, most spaces remain separate and duplicate; a sun room, entry, and utility room are the only spaces planned with equal access.

She likes illuminated, airy, and serene spaces; he likes raw materials, grilling steaks and working on cars. From those clues, 3six0 developed two architectural characters, “cloud” and “stack”. “Cloud” floats, grows down from the ceiling, has soft rounded corners and appears seamless, immaterial, white, or translucent. “Stack” is very constructed; you can see the parts, the angular adjustments and the material, usually wood or mdf with steel details. The two loft spaces were organized by mingling cloud and stack into walls and storage spaces. Each character is positioned accordingly, stack on his side and cloud on hers, however, one is never in isolation from the other.

Photos: John Horner Photography