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What is a Loft Apartment?

If you’ve ever picked up a copy of Architecture AU or Home Beautiful Australia, you’ve most likely come across a loft apartment. 

In real estate terms, these apartments are typically expensive to buy or rent and feature seamless, open spaces with high ceilings and few (if any) interior walls. Their design also showcases a lot of reclaimed warehouse or factory-style structure in the building walls, fixtures, and fittings.

Loft Apartments – The Basics

These modern and trendy apartments almost always showcase a stripped-out building. While they are now found all over the world’s major cities, New York is considered the cradle city of this style. 

Suburbs like Manhattan’s Soho, Tribeca, and the Meat-packing District or Brooklyn’s Bushwick, and Williamsburg all underwent gentrification in the late 1960s and early 1970s, giving birth to this apartment-style.

Other than the bathroom, lofts have open floor plans, often with exposed pipes, ductwork, and brickwork, giving them an industrial-chic feel. Vintage wood floors complete the look, although some lofts retain the industrial concrete floors of the original commercial building. 

Loft apartments also tend to be a bit more expensive because they have spectacular locations, views, and space. In many cases, creatives like designers, architects, artists, and writers, use these living spaces as combined living and working areas or creative space, which saves them on commuting and commercial office space charges. 

Many lofts have floor-to-ceiling windows and enjoy an abundance of natural light, making them desirable, in addition to their ample square footage.

What’s Good About Loft Apartment Living? 

There are few types of housing as chic and cool as the loft apartment. These apartments have a flexible layout that’s classic and laid-back as well as sophisticated and relaxed. 

Other benefits of living in loft apartments include: 

Desirable Architectural Details

One of the most charming characteristics of a loft apartment is the inherent industrial-type details in the architecture. Features like exposed brick walls, ductwork, industrial light fittings, and wood or concrete floors are not uncommon in lofts. Besides, it can cost a pretty penny to install these yourself, so, there’s double the benefit in finding these fixtures already in place. 

These details give lofts an ultrachic, relaxed vibe that’s hard to replicate elsewhere.

Flexible Easy-to-Furnish Layout

Lofts are typically spacious and bright with few or no interior walls, and a flexible layout. This layout makes it easy to get furniture and other items and place them within the space.

Use a kitchen island to demarcate the space between your living room and kitchen, or use a movable screen to shield your sleeping area.

Also, most of these apartments have exposed beams that up the design factor of your ceiling, helping you to match your décor without a struggle.  

High Ceilings and Natural Light

Loft apartments are large and spacious, often featuring floor-to-ceiling windows that let in natural light.  These elements add uniqueness to your living space, helping you to design your space with individualised style.

Natural light creates an authentic atmosphere that inspires creativity, as well as cutting down on your utilities spend. Energy efficiency comes easy with this style of apartment.  

The Shortfalls of Loft Apartment Living

Despite the above benefits, this type of apartment does have some shortfalls. These are:

Loud Acoustics

Vaulted ceilings, typical of loft apartments, enhance soundwaves, which results in loud acoustics. 

The smallest noise from one end, the apartment can often be heard across the entire living space. However, with strategic decorating, like the use of movable screens or bookshelves, you can minimise this effect so that it doesn’t become an inconvenience.

Limited Storage Space

Built-in walls are impossible to find in loft apartments because they lack interior walls, which house storage. You must be creative in storing your possessions if you choose loft living to avoid clutter and unsightly arrangements.

Room Demarcation Challenges

If you feel awkward in open spaces, and prefer distinctive living spaces, then loft living can be a challenge. Though loft living is spacious, it can be challenging to define areas according to their use.

To truly enjoy loft living, you must be averse to clutter, or you could find it challenging to sub-divide areas effectively.      

Final Thoughts

Loft apartment offers aspirational living and can boost your creativity. They are spacious and large and put you firmly in the realm of the contemporary, modern, fuss-free life.  

However, their high demand and unique architectural design make them expensive. Therefore, it pays to do your research on the location of a loft apartment, and the perks and shortfalls of living in one, before you decide to sink your money into one. If you wish to learn more about loft apartments or are thinking of buying one in Melbourne, Buy Melbourne Apartments is your number 1 resource. Call us at 0417 331 263 or contact us online for more information.

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