TriBeCa Loft

This 8,000 square foot home is located in the American Thread Building — the first building in TriBeCa to be converted to artists lofts. The building was designed by William B. Tubby in the Renaissance Revival style and built in 1895. Originally the building was home to the Wool Exchange. Upon completion the New York Tribune said “The building is a triumph of architectural art”. The building’s storied history includes its use as The Wool Club into the 40’s and the fabled Paradise Club after that. In 2004 it was entered in to the National Register of Historic Places.

The client’s brief for this project was to create a seven bedroom home, home office, amenity spaces, and great room for entertaining large gatherings. The commission includes the design of a custom thirty person dining table, monumental kitchen, bar, sculptural spiral stair, and the interiors throughout as well as interior architecture, historic window replacements, and extensive mechanical, electrical, plumbing, sprinkler, structural work. The focal space of the project is the 40’ by 40’ great room with 27’ ceilings and Renaissance Revival detailing. A portion of this space is an office loft that overlooks the great room towards West Broadway.

Only in New York... At one point in history the large main trading floor of the Wool Exchange was used as a gallery for the School of Visual Arts. At that time, in the early 80’s, Keith Haring was a student. For an assignment, instead of bringing his work in, he drew a mural directly on the wall. This original mural has been authenticated by the Haring Foundation. What is remarkable about this piece is it reveals a moment in Haring’s process where he was still looking for his visual language. The scale of the patterning and nature of his line work is matured, but in this mural all the figures are abstract. This is from a moment right before Haring discovered the visual characters of his iconic language.

The spirit of NY Loft living is life in an open creative space that can at once be a private respite from the city or a generous venue for fabled parties and gatherings iconic to New York City. Lofts are a place for making art and for the art of living. With this in mind the architectural and interior design concept was determined. A twofold approach was taken. All period and authentic elements of the building’s shell were faithfully preserved. All the new elements were imagined as contemporary sculptural objects for living. They are all designed in the spirit and scale of the kind of minimal art famously made in these lofts.