RESIDENTIAL
Vaccaro Loft
SoHo, New York
2004
The Vaccaro family of four approached Leeser Architecture with the request to re-imagine their living space as a series of compact and rigorously engineered open zones within a typical New York industrial loft building. One apartment wall is thickened to contain the bathrooms. Within the resulting volume, a sleeping loft, kitchen, and storage areas are integrated into one piece of domestic furniture by taut, lacquered surfaces which stretch over them. One surface forms the cabinet faces, kitchen backsplash, and the loft underside, while the other forms its topside, featuring a long, low walkway, which allows for unobstructed headroom to access the sleeping areas of the platform. The walkway creates a unique sectional interlock as it drops below the line of the platform underside to accommodate a standing occupant above. Tapering and meeting at a single long edge facing the dining and entry zones, the surfaces announce their thinness and de-emphasize the depth of the platform internal structure. This domestic fixture defines the zones of the daily domestic ritual, while the remaining volume of the apartment is devoted to living, dining, and play space, and is open to full height ceilings.