New York based architect Andrea Leung has found her perfect refuge, love from the first sight – spacious and airy loft, reminding of her grandmother’s penthouse, full of curiosities and hidden spaces in a trendy TriBeCa district in New York. “Secret spaces fascinate me. My grandmother’s penthouse pied-à-terre was full of them. Push on the correct mirror, and it opened into a hidden tatami room. Lean on the right bookcase, and a dimly lit hallway led you to her own personal oasis of calm,” -Andrea Leung says.
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Located in a historic building dating to 1864, the loft initially had an odd mezzanine, which architect removed, and placed all the private rooms, including a bedroom, dressing room, two bathrooms, kitchen, kitchen to the east wall.
Continuous wall that hides private rooms, creates some kind of illusion effect, shifting almost imperceptibly from a mirrored face across most of the surface, to a glass face in select areas.
“The wall of mirrored doors allows the main living space to transcend its physical limitations and appear to double in size, while the generous windows with their original wavy glass are also reflected, bathing the walls with soft refracted light,” she explains.
Looking at the partially reflective mirror-glass wall from the main space, it is almost impossible to distinguish reflection from reality, creating whimsical and mind-blowing moment.
“One look at the raw space, and I knew exactly the sort of refuge I wanted to create,” Leung says. “One that unfolds and reveals itself slowly, that wows you initially with its grandeur and then capitalizes on your curiosity.”
Triple-bifold doors, located on a mirror wall, opens to the main bathroom, where the centre of attention is a mono-bloc oval bath. Another mirrored set of doors opens into an impressive custom-made kitchen, where a mix of marble and patinated brass millwork play off of the loft’s new wide-plank oak floors.
Architect created multiple custom-made solutions as well as some of the furniture in the main living area – bbrass and walnut credenza and dining table in the dining room and custom brass coffee table (together with Steven Harris Architects for Barneys New York), whose irregular shapes play whimsically well with the overall concept.
Architect Andrea Leung strives to create not only simple design solutions, but also interested “in how ostensibly static configurations of materials can evoke poetic tensions that speak to our thoughts and memories, that touch upon aspects of our subconscious and prompt reactions we may not necessarily be able to fully articulate”, – states architect.
About Architect Andrea Leung: Andrea Leung attended Yale University, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, with distinction in the architecture major. She returned to Yale for her Masters in Architecture, where she co-edited Perspecta 48: Amnesia. The publication considers the uses and abuses of history and ignites a debate about the role of memory in architecture. Throughout her career, she has worked on private residences in Hong Kong, New York, and India as well as retail projects in Los Angeles, New York, and Saint Barths. She is currently a Senior Associate at Steven Harris Architects. She is a registered architect in the states of New York and California and is fluent in English and Cantonese.
Project Credits:
Architect: Andrea Leung
Location: TriBeCa, NYC
Project Scope: Residential Renovation
Size: 1600 square feet / 148 square meters
Year Completed: 2021
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