Featured Project
Read / Weyandt Lift
Having just purchased a loft in a converted cotton mill, Matt Weyandt and Elaine Read called me with an idea to add a bedroom to their new place. They had acquired the only unit in the entire building that included a former freight elevator shaft -- a 10' x 12' brick walled space with a 24'- high ceiling -- and felt there was a possibility of utilizing the verticality of that space for the new bedroom. There was a very tight and difficult budget, but the clients -- warm, receptive, and creative -- and the project seemed to be everything a design-builder could want.
The first challenge, after agreeing that a spiral staircase was not a desirable option, was to squeeze a staircase into a space that clearly was not designed to accommodate one. This was not entirely difficult, except that Matt is of considerable height. This required that any second level we would build be at a height of at least seven feet. Again, not difficult; but as the height of a second level increases, the pitch of the stairs increases, creating a ladder-like situation -- another undesirable option. Further, I was disappointed by the prospect of losing the visual impact of the vertical space by placing a floor at height low enough to minimize that vertical pitch.
The solution was to have two staircases with a landing at the midpoint. However, it was agreed that a support column for a landing would reduce the usable space of an already small footprint on the main level. The solution would be to suspend between two walls a platform upon which the upper staircase could rest. A support column would no longer be needed, and the second-level-bedroom would then be pushed higher within the shaft, allowing the visual impact of the vertical space to remain.
Realizing that a new space would be created on the suspended platform behind the staircase, usability, utility, and easy accessibility of that space became my next challenge. The solution: the upper staircase would also serve as a door, and bookcase would serve as a railing. Not wanting to encroach upon the 30'-wide platform, I attached the bookcase "parasitically". What is typically in homes a storage space or closet had now become a reading room and a new quiet space for Elaine.
The bedroom, now suspended 14' from the main level, became another fantastic opportunity to have one element serve as two. Again dealing with a fairly small footprint -- some of which had been gobbled up already by an opening for the staircase -- I integrated the headboard and the handrail. With that we could maximize floor space and keep the staircase at a comfortable (and code-compliant) width.
I think the rest is pretty self-explanatory, and this is already plenty lengthy.
All said and done, it was perhaps the most difficult project I have done. But the clients remained warm and receptive, and the end result is a three-level office/library/bedroom, a significant increase in utilitarian square footage, and several unique solutions to a rather unique spacial challenge.
Thanks for your interest.
(the materials: walnut, structural lumber, steel, and aluminum)
