The center of attention in the loft space is the open kitchen, exposed to full view from an adjacent dining room and entertaining area. The cast-in-place concrete island and countertops are pigmented a titanium white that perfectly suits the clients' pristine, minimalist color palette.
Close-up view of the kitchen countertops. The concrete backsplash was also cast on site in a mold to ensure an exact color match with the island and counters.
In the entertaining area, behind sliding walnut pocket doors, is a wet bar with a white concrete counter that matches those in the kitchen.
The walls in the master bath feature a trowel-applied cementitious finish that matches a white double-wide sink.
The fireplace surround also has a trowel-applied finish, custom colored to match a Benjamin Moore paint swatch. The subtle texture and color of the finish doesn't distract from the built-in LCD TV screen or flickering flames.
Armed with an ambitious wish list of design needs, the owners of this 4,000-square-foot loft-style apartment in New York City challenged Gerrard + Tan Architects to find a material that would suit their lifestyle and aesthetic tastes. It's no surprise that concrete, with its versatility and adaptability, turned out to be the ideal solution.
"The intention of the design was to provide as much function as possible for a growing and active family, while resulting in an environment that would be both highly versatile as well as calm and serene," says Judith Gerrard of Gerrard + Tan. "Concrete appealed to the owners because it could be used to create both horizontal and vertical finishes that are refined, monolithic and minimalist. In addition, the concrete could be completely customized in color and texture to support the colors and material palette of the job."
Concrete was used extensively throughout the space, including cast-in-place countertops and kitchen island and trowel-applied finishes for the bathroom walls and fireplace surround. All the work was done by Get Real Surfaces of New York.
"We worked closely with the architect to develop a series of custom colors for all of the concrete finishes in the space," says Yvonne Laube of Get Real Surfaces. "To achieve the whiteness of the cast-in-place kitchen counters and island, a titanium pigment was added and then the counters were sealed with a no-VOC, food-safe sealer."
The finish applied to the bathroom walls and fireplace surround consists of a pigmented cementitious base with added acrylic polymers. "This allows us to use the material on a number of surfaces including wet locations, such as showers, and on curved surfaces with no cracking," says Laube. In vertical applications, the finish is applied with a steel trowel at a thickness of 1/8 inch, similar to a Venetian plaster application. A subtle texture gives the trowel-applied finish the look of concrete without the weight. The finish can also be pigmented to suit any color palette.
"We pride ourselves on being able to custom-color match our finishes from one product to another to create a suite," says Laube.
Get Real Surfaces
New York, NY 10001
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