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A loft is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof (American usage), or just an attic: a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (primarily British usage). A loft apartment refers to large adaptable open space, often converted for residential use (a converted loft) from some other use, often light industrial. Adding to the confusion, some converted lofts themselves include upper open loft areas.
In US usage, a loft is an upper room or storey in a building, mainly in a barn, directly under the roof, used for storage (as in most private houses). In this sense it is roughly synonymous with attic, the major difference being that an attic typically constitutes an entire floor of the building, while a loft covers only a few rooms, leaving one or more sides open to the lower floor.
In British usage, lofts are usually just a roof space accessed via a hatch and loft ladder, while attics tend to be rooms immediately under the roof accessed via a staircase. Lofts may have a specific purpose, e.g. an organ loft in a church, or to sleep in (sleeping loft). In barns a hayloft is often larger than the ground floor, since it would store a year's worth of hay.
An attic or loft can often be converted to form a functional living accommodation (see Loft conversions in the United Kingdom).
In modern Norwegian and in English, "loft" is used for the upper room or the space just under the roof in larger buildings. The word originates from Old Norse lopt, loft which also could mean air or being elevated (as in the related word løfte, English "to lift"). [1] [2] In older Scandinavian usage, loft referred to a two-storey unheated building used for storage and bedroom, in contrast to dwelling buildings that were one-storey with a fireplace. [3] [4] [5]
Loft apartments are apartments that are generally built from former industrial buildings. When industrial developments are developed into condominiums instead of apartments, they may be called loft condominiums. The general term warehouse-to-loft conversions may sometimes be used for development of industrial buildings into apartments and condominiums. "Loft-style" may also refer simply to developments where a street-level business occupies the first floor while apartment "lofts" are placed above the first floor.[ citation needed ]
Sometimes, loft apartments are one component of municipal urban renewal initiatives that also include renovation of industrial buildings into art galleries and studio space as well as promotion of a new part of the city as an "arts district".
Originally popular with artists, they are now highly sought-after by other bohemians and hipsters, and the gentrification of the former manufacturing sectors of medium to large cities is now a familiar pattern. [6] One such sector is Manhattan's Meatpacking District. The adoption of the Adaptive Reuse Ordinance (2001) in the City of Los Angeles (primarily the Arts District) is another example of such legislation to encourage the conversion of no longer economically viable industrial and commercial buildings to residential loft communities.
Such is the demand for these spaces that real estate developers have taken to creating ready-made "lofts" in urban areas that are gentrifying or that seem primed to do so. While some of these units are created by developers during the renovation of old buildings, a number of them are included in the floor plans of brand new developments. Both types of pre-fab loft offer buyers or renters proximity to urban amenities afforded by traditional lofts, but without perceived safety risks of living in economically depressed formerly industrial areas.
Real estate industry distinguishes between two kinds of lofts. "Hard lofts" are former industrial buildings converted to residential or live/work use. Many of these conversions retain open ceilings with exposed beams, electrical wiring, and HVAC ducts, instead of covering them with modern suspended ceilings or sheetrock ceilings.
"Soft lofts" are loft-style residential buildings built entirely anew. They are open-concept spaces with high ceilings, large windows, brickwork, and cement ceilings. Soft lofts can look more residential and have modern finishes, but lack the character and history of hard lofts. [7]
A commercial loft refers to upper storey space, usually in a commercial or industrial building with higher ceilings; a second storey area for storage or offices above may be added within the original space used by a previous business occupant, effectively becoming a mezzanine area within the commercial loft space. Such adaptation of loft space, can result in better operating efficiencies for ongoing light industrial, commercial and work/live use.
A Live/work loft is a residential unit located in a commercially zoned building that has either been issued a certificate of residential occupancy or meets specific criteria making it eligible for the protection of loft laws, which vary state by state.
For example, in New York State a live/work loft must meet the following criteria:[ citation needed ]
Loft Law was designed to protect artists and other entrepreneurs that are remote workers. To qualify for the Loft Law protection, the unit must be primarily residential with the commercial purpose being clearly incidental to the residential use; utilising no more than 49% of the total space; with no more than 3 employees; and be carried on by the actual occupant of the unit.[ citation needed ]
Historically, loft residents consisted of artists and other artisans taking advantage of cheap rents, large spaces and load-bearing floors. Loft residences were illegal and loft dwellers resided under commercial leases, forgoing basic residential rights such as domestic hot water and sanitation. To relieve their uncertain status, many state legislatures enacted loft laws.
A long building at a shipyard with a considerable floor area on which the lines produced by a naval architect can be laid off in their full dimensions. After that the full-size drawings can be copied with the aid of wooden moulds to which, in turn, the steel frames or, in the case of wooden vessels, the hull moulds, are fashioned (see lofting).
An elevated area or gallery in a shipyard where workers stand while fitting rigging.
A large, open, high ceilinged space where parachute riggers re-pack parachutes into parachute containers.
A large open space used by sailmakers to make sails. The floor has to be big enough to lay out the sail as the canvas is marked and cut ready for sewing.
Some churches have a choir loft, where the singers stand or sit during services. Sometimes the church organ is located in an organ loft, which may or may not have space for musicians apart from the organist. Churches may also contain triforiums with projecting watching-lofts.
It is fairly common to convert all or part of a home into a loft to create an extra room in order to prevent needing to move to a new house. The most common additions are an extra bedroom or study. The attic area of a building tends to be unused, but when converted can add a large amount of floor space. [8]
Housing for domestic pigeons is often called a pigeon loft. [9] Pigeon lofts consist of a large cage or aviary and sometimes a nest box. They were a traditional amenity, now usually abandoned or repurposed in the palaces of nobility and commercial buildings that predate telegraphy.
An apartment, flat, or unit is a self-contained housing unit that occupies part of a building, generally on a single storey. There are many names for these overall buildings. The housing tenure of apartments also varies considerably, from large-scale public housing, to owner occupancy within what is legally a condominium, to tenants renting from a private landlord.
A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is single-storey, sometimes with a smaller upper storey set in the roof and windows that come out from the roof, and may be surrounded by wide verandas.
A basement or cellar is one or more floors of a building that are completely or partly below the ground floor. Especially in residential buildings, it often is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system are located; so also are amenities such as the electrical system and cable television distribution point. In cities with high property prices, such as London, basements are often fitted out to a high standard and used as living space.
A penthouse is an apartment or unit traditionally on the highest floor of an apartment building, condominium, hotel, or tower. Penthouses are typically differentiated from other apartments by luxury features. The term 'penthouse' originally referred, and sometimes still does refer, to a separate smaller 'house' that was constructed on the roof of an apartment building. Architecturally it refers specifically to a structure on the roof of a building that is set back from its outer walls. These structures do not have to occupy the entire roof deck. Recently, luxury high rise apartment buildings have begun to designate multiple units on the entire top residential floor or multiple higher residential floors including the top floor as penthouse apartments, and outfit them to include ultra-luxury fixtures, finishes, and designs which are different from all other residential floors of the building. These penthouse apartments are not typically set back from the building's outer walls, but are instead flush with the rest of the building and simply differ in size, luxury, and consequently price. High-rise buildings can also have structures known as mechanical penthouses that enclose machinery or equipment such as the drum mechanisms for an elevator.
An attic is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building. It is also known as a sky parlor or a garret. Because they fill the space between the ceiling of a building's top floor and its slanted roof, attics are known for being awkwardly-shaped spaces with difficult-to-reach corners and often exposed rafters.
Multifamily residential, also known as multidwelling unit (MDU)) is a classification of housing where multiple separate housing units for residential inhabitants are contained within one building or several buildings within one complex. Units can be next to each other (side-by-side units), or stacked on top of each other (top and bottom units). Common forms include apartment building and condominium, where typically the units are owned individually rather than leased from a single building owner. Many intentional communities incorporate multifamily residences, such as in cohousing projects.
The Vinton Building is a residential high-rise located at 600 Woodward Avenue in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. It stands next to the First National Building, across Woodward Avenue from Chase Tower and the Guardian Building, and across Congress Street from One Detroit Center. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1982 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Mill Conversion or mill rehab is a form of adaptive reuse in which a historic mill or industrial factory building is restored or rehabilitated into another use, such as residential housing, retail shops, office, or a mix of these non-industrial elements (mixed-use).
Silo Point, formerly known as the Baltimore and Ohio Locust Point Grain Terminal Elevator, is a residential complex converted from a high-rise grain elevator on the edge of the Locust Point neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland. When the original grain elevator was opened in September 1924, it was the largest and fastest in the world. The condominium now rises to 300 feet. The original 206 foot tall grain elevator was built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1923–1924, with a capacity of 3.8 million bushels. Between 2004 and 2009 the structure was converted from a grain elevator to a condominium tower containing 24 floors and 228 condominiums by Turner Development Group and architect Parameter, Inc.
A loft conversion or an attic conversion is the process of transforming an empty attic space or loft into a functional room, typically used as a bedroom, office space, a gym, or storage space. Loft conversions are one of the most popular forms of home improvement in the United Kingdom as a result of their numerous perceived benefits.
49 Chambers, formerly known as the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank Building and 51 Chambers Street, is a residential building at 49–51 Chambers Street in the Civic Center neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was built between 1909 and 1912 and was designed by Raymond F. Almirall in the Beaux-Arts style. The building occupies a slightly irregular lot bounded by Chambers Street to the south, Elk Street to the east, and Reade Street to the north.
Louis Myerberg Dubin is a fourth-generation real estate developer who develops upscale condominiums, typically in large east-coast United States cities. He is a founding partner of Redbrick LMD, an opportunistic real estate investment and developments company headquartered in Washington, D.C. His former New York based firm Athena often sold condominiums to middle and upper-middle class buyers. His firm converted landmark buildings into luxury condominiums, one of which was bought by Charles Bronfman. He designed buildings to feature art by artist-sculptors such as Jonathan Cramer. He was described by New York Magazine as being one of the "new generation of uptown A-listers".
1049 Fifth Avenue is a 23-floor luxury condominium apartment building located in the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Built in 1928 as the Adams Hotel, the building underwent extensive renovation in its conversion to residential condominiums during the years 1990–1993. When the apartments were first offered for sale in 1991, they were the highest-priced residential apartments ever listed in New York City. Their sale prices set city records in 1993 and 1994.
75 Holland Road in Hove, part of the English coastal city of Brighton and Hove, is now in residential use as loft-style apartments called Palmeira Yard, but was originally a repository belonging to the Brighton & Hove Co-operative Supply Association, the main cooperative business organisation in the area. Elaborately designed in 1893 in the French Second Empire style by local architect Thomas Lainson of the firm Lainson & Sons, the storage building had built-in stables and was lavishly decorated with terracotta. After a period of ownership by haulage and removals company Pickfords, who used the building for furniture storage, a local architecture firm carried out the conversion into mixed-use live-work units between 2004 and 2006. English Heritage has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
The Broadway Hollywood Building is a building in Los Angeles' Hollywood district. The building is situated in the Hollywood Walk of Fame monument area on the southwest corner of the intersection referred to as Hollywood and Vine, marking the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street. It was originally built as the B. H. Dyas Building in 1927. The Broadway Hollywood Building is referred to by both its main address of 6300 Hollywood Boulevard and its side address of 1645 Vine Street.
Eagley Mills is a complex of former cotton mills in Eagley, Bolton, England. The complex is adjacent to a model village originally built for the millworkers. The surviving mill buildings have since been converted to residential use.
Toxteth is a heritage-listed residence located at 94 Kent Street, in the inner city Sydney suburb of Millers Point, New South Wales, Australia. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
107–109 Bathurst Street, Sydney is a heritage-listed former bank building and now KFC fast food restaurant located at 107–109 Bathurst Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The property is privately owned. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
889 Broadway, also known as the Gorham Manufacturing Company Building, is a Queen Anne style building located at Broadway and East 19th Street in the Flatiron District of Manhattan in New York City, within the Ladies' Mile Historic District. Built in 1883–1884, it was designed by Edward Hale Kendall.
The Sofia is a condominium building at the corner of Columbus Avenue and 61st Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was constructed from 1929 to 1930 and was designed by the firm of Jardine, Hill & Murdock in the Art Deco style for Kent Automatic Garages. The Sofia is 27 stories tall; the first nine stories above the ground level are used as offices, while the top 17 stories contain residential condominiums. The building is a New York City designated landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places.