When
we bought this loft five years ago, it needed a Goldilocks makeover. There
were no blinds on the 16' high wall of windows, which made the unit feel like an oven. Despite the glare in the lower level, the upper loft level was dark as a dungeon, and stuffy to boot.

The first thing we did was to add Hunter
Douglas Skyline UV reducing shades that preserved the NYC view but kept the lower level from heating up. The middle photo shows the effect of the Hunter Douglas shades on the floor,
the top part is the unfiltered rays of the morning sun, the lower
part is dappled light.

We then added LED recessed lights to the upper level, but even
with the lights on, the upper loft looked like a dark cave.

We changed the ceiling fan over the living room to a dual motor fan
that circulates the air upstairs as well.

Recently, we consulted
with a structural engineer who concluded the entire drywall closing
up the loft was non-structural. Our contractor took it down, and a
commercial glass installer replaced it with CR Laurence architectural
glass railing. We love the transformation.

The goal of the project was to improve comfort (the "Goldilocks" effect) at
the same time be environment friendly. With our daylighting focused renovation, we are able to use less A/C. Almost all lighting is now LED. We kept part of the old staircase (shown at
the bottom of the stairs) as it improved aesthetics, but not actually
function. This unit is a loft converted from an old warehouse, and a
little wabi-sabi is becoming to it.

What do you think?

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