By Carolyn Weber Fabulous loft spaces are not easy to come by in the nation’s capital. With no history of industry, the city lacks warehouse spaces to remodel or copy. There are some exceptions, however. For $100 per square foot, local architect Norman Smith has converted the third floor of a three-story 1920s automobile showroom in the Adam’s Morgan neighborhood into slick, $1.3 million loft units.
A trendy restaurant occupies the lower level, and Smith created five raw space residences above. The original building had a concrete frame, but no interior columns, so to support the additional point loads of new floors, Smith added a system of new full-span, transverse steel beams.
The 2,316-square-foot loft model unit has large, undifferentiated spaces and contemporary interiors with exposed ceilings, hardwood floors, and sleek appliances and fixtures.
Category: Lofts; Entrant/Architect/Interior Designer: Norman Smith Architecture, Washington; Builder/Developer: Taurus Renovation and Construction, Washington
| Photo: Timothy Bell Photography |