Best of est | Loft-style Apartments

Defined by high ceilings, exposed elements, and raw materials, loft-style apartments embrace their heritage bones—often restored from former factories or warehouses. In this round-up, we step inside five spaces that honour their industrial past through a contemporary lens.

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Warsaw Loft by Romanowska Studio

Warsaw, Poland

In Warsaw’s Wola district, designer Magdalena Romanowska has crafted a light-filled loft that reflects the creative lifestyle of its owners who work in the fashion industry. Set within a two-level apartment with nearly six-metre ceilings, the space is an interplay of refined materiality, proportion, and light.

Warm teak wood panelling wraps the ceiling, while integrated lighting allows for subtle shifts in atmosphere. A custom terrazzo staircase, inspired by Warsaw’s architectural dialogue, adds rhythm and a sense of levitation, with openwork steps that allow daylight to filter through. The palette is pared-back yet rich in texture, with microcement floors, brushed steel kitchen countertops, a floating teak island, raw steel balustrades and a leather-wrapped handrail.

Balancing industrial elements with soft, curated details, the loft offers a serene, expressive environment—one that mirrors the owners’ creative work and lives.

Warsaw Loft by Romanowska Studio | Photography by ONI Studio

Designer Tommaso Spinzi’s Milanese Apartment | Photography by Antonio Mocchetti

Designer Tommaso Spinzi’s Milanese Apartment

Milan, Italy

Designer Tommaso Spinzi’s Milan loft blurs the boundaries between home, studio and gallery. Set within a raw, industrial building, Spinzi lifted cues from 70s and 80s Italian design—layered with mid-century Italian furniture and limited-edition pieces from his studio, Spinzi.

“I’m fascinated by brutalism and industrial spaces,” Spinzi says. “When I had the opportunity to take ownership of this space, I decided to preserve most of its character and make only simple adjustments to the structure, leaving it a bit unrefined,” he adds. Materiality is integral to the space, with Spinzi choosing to leave the raw walls painted without plastering. Microcement floors complement the addition of metal and stainless steel, which is “an important signature of Spinzi.”

“This is the modern concept of living, where work, passions, and lifestyle come together,” Spinzi explains. “We are working on similar projects for our clients, and that’s why I always suggest this modern concept to them as a direction, so they can build something that lasts for a long time.”

Designer Tommaso Spinzi’s Milanese Apartment | Photography by Antonio Mocchetti

Colin King’s Tribeca Loft

New York City, North America

Colin King’s Tribeca loft is situated in one of Manhattan’s oldest neighbourhoods. Housed in a former pre-war factory, the live-work space embodies an industrial charm with its open layout and industrial bones. “I’ve always been really attracted to loft-style apartments—how ‘old New York’ they are—of which Tribeca had many,” King says.

When King first saw the Tribeca loft, the space was far from inviting, featuring dark, over-varnished floors and “drab” curtains weighing down the windows. By focusing on its potential rather than its current state, King was able to take the leap and reimagine the space.

The result is calm, textured and thoughtfully layered. “A lot of people, when they first visit the apartment, say how calm and serene they feel,” he says. “In the crazy city that we live in, that’s pretty rare.” For King, that sense of warmth and quiet is not just a design approach, but a reflection of himself. “While living here, I’ve found a sense of openness; everything isn’t stacked up like you’ll find in other parts of the city,” he adds.

Colin King’s Tribeca loft | Photography by Rich Stapleton

Strandgade 104 by David Thulstrup

Copenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen-based architect David Thulstrup took his ‘conservation, transformation and elevation’ approach to a warehouse on Copenhagen’s Christianshavn canal, making way for three single-floor apartments and one two-level penthouse.

The warehouse is located in what was formerly a hub for ships from Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. Used for housing and drying skins, when this ceased 100 years ago, the heritage-listed building stood empty for years. The building’s conversion into four one-bedroom apartments, including a penthouse with a second attic level, came with a strict approval process and meticulous conservation standards.

Thulstrup says they’ve created a new narrative, expressed through the beauty and character of materials referencing the building’s industrial heritage. “I wanted to reveal the beauty of it all, using a small palette of original materials out of respect for the building, such as rendered walls, simple pine planks and Finnish stone, but putting them into another more relevant context,” the architect says. “I am making a contemporary statement within a transformation; I don’t want to mimic the past; I want to put the future into the past.”

Strandgade 104 by David Thulstrup | Photography by Irina Boersma

Architect Felix De Montesquiou’s Paris Home

Paris, France

Architect Felix Montesquiou’s Paris loft, located in a former sewing-machine factory, defies the expectations of a typical heritage apartment. “I was excited about the volume when I first came into the flat. It’s rare in Paris to find a flat in an industrial building that isn’t on the ground floor, and this one had a fantastic luminosity,” Montesquiou says.

To preserve the loft’s openness, Felix reconfigured the space by seamlessly integrating the technical elements—like storage, bathrooms, and the kitchen—behind minimal oak joinery. “I wanted a kitchen that wouldn’t visually invade the living space,” he says. This clean, rational approach extends throughout, with custom details like patinated steel beams and a consistent rhythm in proportions, from cabinetry to mezzanine structures.

For Felix, the home is as much about simplicity as functionality. “I like spaces to be simple and clean,” he says. The result is a serene, light-filled loft that balances industrial character with thoughtful restraint.