Loft History

Lofts are a type of apartment or condominium. They are thought to have originated in the SOHO district of New York City during the 1940s or 1950s. Lofts began as converted space in abandoned or out-or-date factories and warehouses. These otherwise useless buildings were converted into affordable living space in an urban setting. The concept would begin to spread and eventually become popular across the United States and even into Europe and Asia.

Hard or Soft Loft

As the loft style gained popularity and the number of dilapidated or unused factories and warehouses began to dwindle, developers needed to create more loft apartments with an ever-decreasing amount of usable space. Instead they opted to create all new buildings that would attempt to adopt the loft style and essence. A distinction between the two has been made, and now, lofts created within an existing structure are called hard or true lofts. Those lofts built in newly constructed buildings are called soft or new lofts.

Loft Architecture

Lofts do not attempt to conceal the underlying elements that were a part of the original building. Instead they embrace these antiquated features and incorporate them into their new design. This tendency is credited to the postmodern movement of the late-20^th century, which is more free and open in regard to style use and less mutually exclusive than the previous modern movement.

Loft architecture embraces the character of the existing structure and seeks to utilize exposed areas and portions of that structure in its new design. Lofts emphasize openness and use wide-open floor plans. The use of walls and doors to define space is frowned upon. Areas are not physically closed off with such devices, and spatial limitation is left up to the occupant.

High ceilings are another common feature with 12 feet being considered the minimum ceiling height for lofts. Adhering to the theme of openness, large windows are almost always used to breathe additional space into the apartment. As a result of the open floor plan, the boundaries between living space and workspace become blurred and are left up to the occupants to define as they wish. Lofts usually combine some form of traditional building medium, such as brick, wood, stone, or metal, with a more modern finish, such as ceramic tile or drywall. This creates an atmosphere that is informal and relies on the decorative and practical wishes of the occupant for any real definition.