LOFT UPON CORK in Virginia by Reader & Swartz Architects

Article source: Reader & Swartz Architects

This project is the comprehensive renovation of, and small addition to, a vernacular Victorian house. The house was built in the late 1800’s, and is located in a downtown historic district. The house was originally four apartments, and is now converted into two. The first floor apartment is designed to be a caretaker’s residence.

Image Courtesy © Nathan Webb, AIA – Reader & Swartz Architects, P.C.; Ron Blunt Photography, Hedgesville

• Architects: Reader & Swartz Architects
• Project: LOFT UPON CORK
• Location: Virginia, US
• Photography:Nathan Webb, AIA – Reader & Swartz Architects, P.C.; Ron Blunt Photography, Hedgesville, West Virginia
• Structural Engineer: Allen Associates, P.C., Winchester, Virginia
• Mechanical Engineer: FHC Engineering, P.C., Winchester, Virginia

Image Courtesy © Nathan Webb, AIA – Reader & Swartz Architects, P.C.; Ron Blunt Photography, Hedgesville

The second floor is for our client, who collects art, scientific oddities, and rare books. He wanted his new loft apartment to function as a salon and private museum. This building, along with an adjacent house also owned by the client, encloses an intensively landscaped, formal garden.

Image Courtesy © Nathan Webb, AIA – Reader & Swartz Architects, P.C.; Ron Blunt Photography, Hedgesville

Because the building sits within a historic district, the street front façade was left unchanged. The only change along the alley façade was the insertion of a second floor, windowless library, clad in a pop art, Sol LeWitt-inspired, lap siding composition. More artistic license was taken with the courtyard facades, facing a private garden. The courtyard elevations are a juxtaposition of existing pieces, sympathetic renovations, and contrasting modern insertions. The courtyard porches were redesigned and rebuilt, and a new structure was built over an old, existing cistern. In addition to a kitchen, bath, and bedroom, the project houses a garden library which overlooks a Karesansui rock garden, a 13’ x 13’ x 13’ windowless secret library, and a barrel vaulted main salon. A Wundercamera in the main salon is a changeable wooden apparatus that holds the client’s collection of art objects, skeletal remains, antique scientific equipment, and antique botanical and entomological specimens.

Image Courtesy © Nathan Webb, AIA – Reader & Swartz Architects, P.C.; Ron Blunt Photography, Hedgesville

Image Courtesy © Nathan Webb, AIA – Reader & Swartz Architects, P.C.; Ron Blunt Photography, Hedgesville

Image Courtesy © Nathan Webb, AIA – Reader & Swartz Architects, P.C.; Ron Blunt Photography, Hedgesville

Image Courtesy © Nathan Webb, AIA – Reader & Swartz Architects, P.C.; Ron Blunt Photography, Hedgesville

Image Courtesy © Nathan Webb, AIA – Reader & Swartz Architects, P.C.; Ron Blunt Photography, Hedgesville

Image Courtesy © Nathan Webb, AIA – Reader & Swartz Architects, P.C.; Ron Blunt Photography, Hedgesville

Image Courtesy © Nathan Webb, AIA – Reader & Swartz Architects, P.C.; Ron Blunt Photography, Hedgesville

Image Courtesy © Nathan Webb, AIA – Reader & Swartz Architects, P.C.; Ron Blunt Photography, Hedgesville

Image Courtesy © Nathan Webb, AIA – Reader & Swartz Architects, P.C.; Ron Blunt Photography, Hedgesville

Image Courtesy © Nathan Webb, AIA – Reader & Swartz Architects, P.C.; Ron Blunt Photography, Hedgesville

Image Courtesy © Nathan Webb, AIA – Reader & Swartz Architects, P.C.; Ron Blunt Photography, Hedgesville

Image Courtesy © Nathan Webb, AIA – Reader & Swartz Architects, P.C.; Ron Blunt Photography, Hedgesville

Image Courtesy © Nathan Webb, AIA – Reader & Swartz Architects, P.C.; Ron Blunt Photography, Hedgesville

Image Courtesy © Nathan Webb, AIA – Reader & Swartz Architects, P.C.; Ron Blunt Photography, Hedgesville

Image Courtesy © Nathan Webb, AIA – Reader & Swartz Architects, P.C.; Ron Blunt Photography, Hedgesville

Tags: US, Virginia

Categories: House, Renovation, Residential

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