apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Very cool.

The look is very cool. The only problem is I could not sleep in a bedroom suspended over my baby's crib... even if I knew it was perfectly safe. I would spend too much time worrying and no time sleeping.

yeah, sleeping suspended over the crib would freak me out, but besides that, i'm jealous.

Engineering is awesome. I wouldn't worry about it at all. It's a small problem I note that sleeping in a "loft" often entails "sleeping with the mattress on the floor". Strange that it's supposed to look cool in a loft, but pathetic in a regular apartment.

OMG - what if that came crashing down? I know what people say about what-ifs, but that is one that really needs to be thought about - that comes down and that baby is dead. KTG - everything has the possibility to fail -- would you want to worry this might fail over one of your children?

The sleeping area looks like it was large enough to fit a crib in. I would have rather put the crib where the desk is leading to the kitchen than do this set up - it's insane. Even without the risk of the whole set up falling, think about the times you have to get up every night to check on the baby - you so see one parent falling and breaking a few things from trying to do those stairs half asleep.

Yes, everything can fail - including the roof over your baby, or the second floor over you baby, or the crib under your baby... Frankly, this looks much sturdier than typical residential construction. Plus, you wouldn't need a baby monitor!

My only problem would be with getting out of the bed - when the floor is the same level as the top of the mattress, there is no help from gravity to pull you out.

Looks like a great home!

But how do you hang the mobile over the crib?

I personally believe the engineering is probably incredibly sound. I was not saying my fear is ration, but it is still a fear. Probably similar to someone afraid of spiders... they may truly believe they are not dangerous but they still can't hold one.

And again... very cool looking

rational, not ration

Lemonadefish - Don't treat me like an idiot since I mentioned people wouldn't agree with me. I keep looking at that picture and the entire loft is just attached to the ceiling - no wall support at all. I just don't think a lot of mothers would feel all that comfortable with something like that over their child.

Me in their shoes - I've give up the living space on the other side of the kitchen and make it either the nursery or parents' bedroom. This just seems insane - and I'm sure they will hear it from family members. If I lived closer, I'd be tempted to call child protective services.

Your floors are held up by beams, just like in the loft.

Yes floors are held up by beams - but from the looks of the picture there are only one or two there. There are probably a dozen or more within walls to hold up floors. The combined weight of two adults would probably be around 300 lbs...just wouldn't trust it on two beams since you have to count the weight of the floor and the weight of the bed.

Whether or not the bed is secure, it's an emotional (albeit irrational) response there that is unsettling. The architects didn't give this very real human response much consideration. It'll be difficult to tell most people "oh it's safe, just get over it."

Personally, I think I'd get sick of going up and down all those stairs when the baby wakes up a few times in the middle of the night. There's potential for accident, here. Not from the bed, but from the parent in a sleep deprived, half dazed state, slipping down the stairs.

http://www.ateliersmc.ca/pdf/formes_lignaeriennes.pdf

I can't translate the French or find a site that can convert it for a translation site, but I think it's structurally sound. That is an article about this design-built project that's more in depth than the slide show at Les Ateliers L. McComber:

http://www.ateliersmc.ca/projets/D2-E.html

I can't put my finger on why I must think that they know what they're doing when they make these structures but I think it's physics.

"I can't put my finger on why I must think that they know what they're doing when they make these structures but I think it's physics."

Exactly - It's sad how so much creativity is panned here because it's "Dangerous", "Weird" or not readily available from your local big-box/catalog retailer...

...but photos of places cluttered with IKEA, kitties and anything planted in a teacup are lauded.

Like I said before, I am looking at the set up and thinking if I did more than try to lightly crawl on it, I would figure it would go down.

Yes, someone professional did it - but you know what, you also hear of contractors getting fired when something falls like that. They will do what you ask if you are paying them and say whatever you wish.