B
ack in the 1950s when 14th Street was known as “Auto
Row,” venerable prewar buildings housed groundfloor car dealerships with warehouses above them.
The area has experienced a welcome renaissance since
then: Buildings remain intact on the outside, while
trendy retail shops and galleries at ground level are paired with
condo conversions above.
This is the scenario that Ernesto Santalla encountered when he
was hired to renovate a newly purchased fourth-floor, one-bedroom condo. “It was a standard, builder-grade loft space,” Santalla
recalls. “The clients wanted to make it special. We explored its full
potential and decided to reconnect it with its warehouse origins.”
Santalla and his team gutted the space and started over. They
exposed the ceilings, redirecting the mechanical systems wherever
possible to convey a sense of openness. “We accepted the drains
and ducts and opted to wrap them and be done,” he says. “The goal
was to make it look like we’d done nothing.”
In its current iteration, the apartment is basically one large
room, encompassing living, home office and kitchen areas. Floorto-ceiling industrial-style windows flank one long wall, offering expansive views of the urban skyline and admitting generous natural
light. The clients—a childless couple—didn’t want a lot of private
space, so Santalla removed the wall that had separated the bedroom and replaced it with a floating partition that doesn’t reach
the ceiling. He also replaced a wall that had separated the front en-
RENOVATION ARCHITECTURE & INTERIOR DESIGN: ERNESTO SANTALLA, AIA,
LEED AP, Studio Santalla, Washington, DC. CONTRACTOR: Madden Corporation,
Rockville, Maryland.
In the kitchen (top), a fanciful, figurative metal sculpture by Yubi
Kirindongo (opposite) shares space with a resin wall sculpture
by Keith Milow that was custom-made for the space. Beyond the
floating wall in the living area (above), the master bedroom beckons.
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