Wyant Architecture

Philadelphia, Penn.
wyantarch.com

Location: Philadelphia, Penn. | Project Cost: $900,000
Square Footage Before: 3,500 | Square Footage After: 4,600

A former cigar factory located in the Bella Vista neighborhood of Philadelphia was converted into loft condominiums in the mid-1980’s. The clients, committed city dwellers living in one of the building’s standard issue 2-bedroom units, seized the opportunity to purchase an adjacent corner apartment to more than double their square footage, and engaged us to reimagine the combined space as a long-term family home. Project goals included updating the dated 1980’s-era interiors with a dramatic design that would highlight the building’s industrial past, while also addressing poorly performing building systems and providing much needed acoustic separation between neighboring apartments. A master plan effort led to the complete reorganization of space, with each unit gutted and rebuilt in a phased construction sequence.

The project’s ambitious program necessitated the addition of an 1100 square foot mezzanine, the largest allowable by code. Bedrooms and other support spaces were located at the building’s core, above and below the mezzanine, and were designed to take advantage of borrowed light wherever possible. The project’s greatest challenge was facilitating newbuilding systems in these reduced height stacked spaces without diminishing the quality of the architecture or the lofty nature of the public spaces. This required strategic planning, shallow 2×4 mezzanine floor framing, and careful design of plumbing and mechanical systems.

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