Loft Spaces for Small Places

The sleeping loft is fitted with mahogany rails.

With a built-in sofa and sleeping loft, ATLAS can accommodate three adult travelers.

“We took away a very thick, heavy staircase that led to the loft, and designed one that had a much lighter look,” Wåhlin says. “The new one, made of steel, looks simple and indeed light—but is in fact super heavy and was a real challenge to construct.”

A small dining room occupies the space just beyond the living room. It’s furnished with vintage folding chairs designed by Danish architect Mogens Koch that are easily stored for more space.

Two bedrooms flank a petite loft space, bringing the apartment's total sleeping spaces to three.

An alcove above the kitchen discreetly houses a sleeping space for guests.

The upstairs loft is an office-cum-craft room. Evidence of the family’s DIY nature is omnipresent. Hale built a planter box and art-supply cubbies with leftover plywood. The space is equipped with plumbing hookups in case—or more likely, when—the family chooses to convert the area into a third bedroom and bathroom.

The upper level contains the master bedroom and the kids' room. "We wanted the upstairs gallery that connects the two bedrooms to be as open as possible," principal Aljosa Dekleva says. "The rope mesh works as a fence for security, but is also performs as a multifunctional transparent wall on which one can hang different objects." A desk provides an additional workspace.

A floating steel staircase ties the living area and loft together. Variegated steel tubes provide graphic punch while maintaining the apartment’s airy and open feeling.

In the tiny sleeping loft is a platform bed with two drawers beneath it. In place of wallpaper, Schönning enlarged a photograph he snapped in Rio de Janeiro. The inset spotlights and a small shelf at the end of the bed offer light and additional storage. Photo by Per Magnus Persson.

Hernandez and Surratt relax in the living room, which is enlivened by the house’s internal topography. A short flight of steps divides the interconnected areas and offers a place to sit. Above is a loft that can be converted to a bedroom.

The auxiliary cabins contain the sleeping quarters. A ladder leads to a sleeping loft underneath a gabled ceiling. The cabin’s bathroom is situated beneath the loft and features clean white fittings and tile.

The living room is tucked beneath one of the lofts, which are accessible by a steep ladder-like staircase and fronted by pegboard.

"Food generally plays a part in the exchanges," explains Benson, "so the adjacent kitchen plays its part in lending to that [collaborative] atmosphere."

Steel rods surround the staircase. A MayDay lamp by Konstanting Grcic for Flos is affixed to the rope wall.

“The kitchen didn’t really have a home,” says Colkitt. His solution was to build the sleeping loft directly above it, giving the kitchen some architectural congruity, and implement recessed lighting into the dropped ceiling, also the underside of the floor of the sleeping loft. Like the reading loft, the sleeping loft is open on both sides to bring in light and air, with a single ladder leading up to it. “The sleeping loft ‘fold’ is a complement to the reading loft ‘fold’—they balance each other out,” says Colkitt. Photo by Cheryl Ramsay

Indoor Sunbathing“In the morning, the eastern light comes into the small terrace by the kitchen,” De Smedt says. “If I have work to do at home, which I do a lot, I’ll sit at the dining table and just look out. And in the summer, I’m out on the terrace. On clear nights, I’ll head upstairs. There’s a skylight and you can see the stars. Even in the city, you totally can! The skylight really changes the condition of the interior. If you light that gap in the evening from the outside, it’s as if there is daylight.” The Inconstant Gardener“I have a lot of cacti, which is probably because I don’t have a green thumb,” admits De Smedt of his sculptural flora. Inspired perhaps by his neighbors’ greenhouse just across from his patio, the architect’s next project for the apartment involves turning the terrace into something of an oasis—as long as the plants are hardy. “I have an idea to grow some ivy.”

Spruce wood also lines the floor, walls, and ceiling in the bedrooms. The residents must climb a ladder to access the loft above.

Takuma strikes a pose from the loft lookout as seen from the second floor. The loft is used for storage as well as a place for some peace and quiet.