Adrian and Allison’s Loop Loft

Liz Vidyarthi

updated Dec 19, 2019

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Name: Adrian Jones and Allison Silverman
Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Size: 2,200 sq. feet
Years lived in: 10 years total, 1 year since renovation

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After gut renovating the top floor of a dilapidated Brooklyn warehouse, theater set designer Adrian Jones had a great raw space: brick walls, loads of light, and views of the city. But the openness left the loft feeling cold, especially in winter. So he installed a striking loop of reclaimed butternut, creating a warm wooden heart at the center of the apartment.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

He had been living in the loft six years when, inspired by a friend’s railroad apartment, Adrian began brainstorming with designer Garrick Jones and architect Cathy Braasch about how to create a similarly segmented feel, with one room leading to the next. Their vision: a wooden loop that arcs through the apartment and creates a string of interconnected but unique living spaces, each one with its own character.

Adrian had recently married writer Allison Silverman, and the loop appealed to the couple for both its beauty and function, giving the industrial loft a solid, natural feel and incorporating floor-to-ceiling shelves for their plentiful books. At the center, once the darkest place in the loft, a skylight opened up reading light and, at night, views of the moon.

For the wood, Allison and Adrian chose a wormy butternut with a lacy texture, milled from diseased trees in Vermont. LED lighting rims the top of the loop, and radiant heating warms the floors. And in the kitchen, inspired by a post on Instructables, Adrian and contractor Halit Dervishaj used the leftover scraps of butternut, bamboo and oak to build a dining room table, sandwiching the strips together in a beautiful patchwork pattern.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Re-Nest Survey:

Our style: Evolving.

Inspiration: A friend’s Williamsburg railroad apartment: 3 spaces in 1!

Favorite Element: Doors salvaged from shutters on a mansion in Greenwich, CT.

Biggest Challenge: Finding the wormy butternut.

What Friends Say: “I didn’t know you played piano.”

Proudest DIY: Dining table, built from scrap wood salvaged from the apartment’s renovation (with help from HD Carpentry).

Biggest Indulgence: ABC Carpet “Color Reform” rug.

Best Advice: “Don’t buy a light switch so complicated you have to explain it to a guest.” Adrian’s sister, Caroline

Green Elements/Initiatives:

Walls made of planks of worm-infested butternut, a sustainably harvested lumber milled from disease killed butternut trees in Vermont
The floor of the Loop is made of reclaimed barnboard oak also from Vermont
Formaldehyde free MDF cabinetry
High-efficiency Fujitsu Halcyon ductless mini-split AC units forced air system
Radiant floor heat
The cabinets within the depth of the Loop are made of FSC certified, formaldehyde-free bamboo plywood
Dual flush toilets
Lumber scraps produced by the job were used to build a custom dining room table.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Resources: Garrick Jones, Ten to One Design Build; Cathy Braasch, Braasch Architecture; Halit Dervishaj, HD Carpentry Corp

Appliances: Re-used the ones we had.

Furniture: Hand me down bits and pieces, largely from Adrian’s parents. Chair upholstery from Carnegie Fabrics. Scrap wood dining room table inspired by a post on Instructables.

Lighting: Home Depot, IKEA, Artemide, Tokistar & iLight

Rugs and Carpets: ABC Carpet

Surfaces: Vermont Wild Woods for the wormy butternut, StoneSource, Get Real Surfaces

Window Treatments: The Shade Store

Artwork: Jen Garrido, Jacques Flechemuller, Alyson Shotz, George Dawnay

Paint: Benjamin Moore Natura

Closets: Easyclosets.com

Heating and Cooling: A Real Good Plumber Inc.