Chinatown Loft by Buro Koray Duman Architects Mixes Tenement Details with Bright, Modern Geometry

If you take a look at the exterior of this Chinatown tenement building located across the street from Sarah Roosevelt Park, you might imagine that the apartments inside are typical cramped railroad-style units with the token exposed brick wall as a selling point. But this unit, renovated by Buro Koray Duman Architects, looks like it could be in a swanky Miami hotel or sunny LA condo.

When Turkish-born architect Koray Duman bought the residence in 2011, the 750-square-foot corner apartment was a dark, three-bedroom renovation from the 1980s. He and his firm transformed it into a bright, open one-bedroom loft with bold, sculptural architecture and décor.

The focal point of the entire home is the sculptural, wave-like chartreuse wall that divides the interior space, running the entire length of the space. It begins in the bedroom where it houses a closet and bathroom, runs through the living room where it contains a powder room and desk nook, and ends in the kitchen, concealing the pantry and a washer/dryer. Not only does the wall make Duman feel happy, but it contrasts beautifully with the whitewashed brick and white oak floors.

Duman told the Post that he “struggled to find the right furniture and wanted just one piece to be comfortable and different.” His other design firm, Sayigh+Duman, works on all of Design Within Reach‘s showrooms, so, no stranger to seating design, he collaborated with his friend Carol Egan of Carol Egan Interiors to create two custom, L-shaped sofas with digitally-milled plywood egg-crate bases that can be pushed together to make a daybed.

Though the kitchen is clearly modern and minimal, with modular white cabinets and a stainless-steel sink and counter, Duman did preserve traces of the vintage wallpaper in this area.

The bed doesn’t sit in a typical bed frame, but rather on a stacked pile of heavy gray wool felt. The wall-mounted nightstand also comes courtesy of Carol Egan and was made using the same digital technology as the sofa.

If you haven’t already figured it out, no detail is ignored in this home; even the bathrooms are works of art. The powder room tile is bas-relief honey comb and the master bath is an all-plate-glass enclosure.

See more inspiring work from Buro Koray Duman Architects here.

Photos via Buro Koray Duman Architects