This fabulous TriBeCa, New York loft was designed by Dirk Denison Architects in collaboration with Sara Story Design. The client, a bachelor with an art aficionado, has great taste, an open mind and a great sense of humor. The loft is located on the top level of a former warehouse from 1930. When the unit was purchased, it had been long occupied by a renter and was in desperate need of a transformation. To make the full extent of the 2,300 square feet visible from the entryway, the entire space was gutted. All surfaces were covered with some luster in order to capture as much sunlight as possible, since the apartment has windows only on the ends. To add importance to the smallest windows in the living area, the architects added enamel-painted panels below.

Structural columns that ran down the center of the public space were painted a high-gloss black to embrace them instead of trying to minimize them. To follow the same scheme, kitchen cabinets were also lacquered black on the lower cabinets and white on the uppers. A metallic glaze can be found on the backsplash tile, and the sparkling white stone-composite counter on the large island matches the Venetian plaster on the wall, connecting the kitchen with the dining area. There is also a master suite plus a den which can be made private for guests with the help of two perpendicular sliding doors suspended from factory-style ceiling tracks. To keep the industrial feel, one of the doors was cladded in patinated zinc.

Two Italian 1970’s lounge chairs, a 1950’s daybed, French 1940’s nesting tables, and two Paul McCobb side tables gather in the living area. Its mixed-media dip tychis by William J. O’Brien.

Group Two Design’s chandelier and a brass-fronted side board in the dining area.

The furnishings are a mid-century mix, but they had to be masculine and tailored and as contemporary as the bachelor’s taste in painting and photography. The design aesthetic also had to be flexible enough to make an easy transition to a family home somewhere down the road. A neutral palette was selected to fit that bill, with contrast and variety that makes the scheme seem colorful.

In the living area hangs a drawing by Laurent Godard.

The kitchen’s stone composite counters and custom lacquered cabinetry.

The powder room’s concrete counter and integral sink (on the left). The wallpaper-lined office nook in the den contains an art book (on the right).

In the den, a bench by Richard Woods and Sebastian Wrong sits at the edge of a rug by Inghua Ting, while a custom sofa covered in cotton velvet and wool sits beneath a painting by Trey Speegle.

A door clad in patina ted zinc slides out to partially enclose the den that features Alvar Aalto’s pendant fixtures.

A Paul Frankl dresser in the master bedroom.

Stone-composite flooring in the guest bathroom.

A vintage tank appears to support the sink in the guest bathroom.

Lamps by Tahir Mahmood and vintage lacquered tables flank the bedroom’s custom headboard, inset with Laotian silk. The photograph is by Wolfgang Tillmans.

Italian marble defines the master bathroom, which also features a photograph by Alexandre Ubeda.