High Loft is a family apartment showcasing a study in the play of urban light and views, designed by Bade Stageberg Cox, located in New York City, New York. The design integrates open and screened views of the city as the living ‘décor’ of the apartment interior.

Description from the architects: Our clients were interested in a space they could re-shape to meet the needs of their family of four. Several aspects of the building were appealing to them – the building’s history, its distinctive cast iron structure, and the volume of space afforded by the apartment’s 13-foot high ceilings. The design prioritizes views of the city, light and connectedness between spaces over private, compartmentalized rooms.

The living room occupies an apse at the corner of the building (highlighted on the building’s exterior with a golden dome) offering oblique views of the city. The living room furnishings reinforce the geometry of the space through a curved-back sofa, a spiraling pendant light fixture, and an octagonal carpet.

Custom metal shelves and perforated screens frame space and filter light, articulating discrete program areas while allowing the spaces to feel spacious and connected. The screens’ vertical elements are powder-coated steel to appear thin and weightless. The horizontal shelves are walnut to relate to the palette of flooring and custom cabinetry, and the perforated screens are a custom pattern that echo decorative motifs on the cast iron columns.

Faceted translucent glass screens operate in a similar way at the children’s bedrooms, allowing changing natural light into the bedroom hallway and producing a sense of a secondary exposure in the bedrooms while preserving their acoustic privacy.

A custom walnut table with a removable leaf takes an organic shape suggestive of the island of Manhattan, serving as a counterpoint to the Cartesian geometry of the building.

Photos: Andy Ryan