Taylor Loft
Hollywood, Calif.
Cog Work Shop

Bold materials enliven a Hollywood condo

© Deborah Bird

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above. To see the people and products behind this project click on 'people & products.'

The existing Taylor loft, a three-story space with roof access featuring views from Hollywood to downtown L.A., typified 1980’s construction. Its material palette was orange-peel drywall, shag carpet, and wrought iron guardrails. Originally, the project simply entailed redesigning the kitchen. However, the client was deeply interested in the intrinsic link between cooking and entertaining, and soon increased the scope of the project to include the entire upper two floors of the loft. Rather than treating the project as a small architectural undertaking, Cog Workshop developed the program in terms of furniture, designing furniture that has an inherent function and is scaled in response to and interactive with the body. Design principal Joshua R. Coggeshall says, "Here is a different approach to the construction and finishing of furniture that informs the architecture."

The design/build team first exposed the bones of the structure through a selective subtractive process of removing finishes, fixtures, and partitions. They then reprogrammed the space by reskinning it—dividing the large double-height space using materials rather than walls.These materials, or skins, help to define each space programmatically, becoming enclosures by folding up the walls and onto ceilings where needed. A circulation skin composed of bamboo, greets a visitor at the door and wraps up to become a coat rack and end tables for the fireplace. Concrete encloses the wet spaces (the kitchen and powder room). A green cork finish for the living space wraps onto a bench, light fixture, and bar/TV cabinet, and oiled concrete board and gun blue steel-plate characterize the mezzanine work area.

Formal name of Project:
Taylor Loft

Location:
Hollywood, Calif.

Gross square footage:
800 sq. ft.

Total construction cost:
$42,000

Owner:
Charles + Tara Taylor

Architect:
Cog Work Shop
Joshua R. Coggeshall
6000 Monte Vista St.
Highland Park CA 90042
323 719 2265