![Crosstown Loft / Campos Leckie Studio - Windows, Chair, Beam, Handrail](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5012/f670/28ba/0d06/5800/08a4/newsletter/stringio.jpg?1414579898)
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Architects: Campos Leckie Studio
- Area: 2000 ft²
- Year: 2009
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Photographs:John Sinal
Text description provided by the architects. A hip young couple living in Vancouver’s Yaletown entertainment district gets married and decides to start a family. Requiring more space than they can afford in Yaletown, but deliberately wanting to avoid the typical retreat to the suburbs, the couple purchases a run-down loft space a few blocks away in Crosstown - i.e. on the edge of Vancouver's 'undesirable' Lower East Side neighborhood. With modest means and a tight timeline (baby on the way) a former after-hours party venue was converted into a home for a growing family.
![Crosstown Loft / Campos Leckie Studio - Shelving](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5012/f699/28ba/0d06/5800/08ab/newsletter/stringio.jpg?1414579904)
The existing building at 550 Beatty St was Vancouver’s first ‘New York style open plan loft’ - a 1907 warehouse that was originally retrofitted into residential open-plan lofts in 1981. In this new third iteration of the life of the building, the two-floor dwelling is programmed with 1000sf of living and entertaining 'public' space upstairs and 1000sf of convertible sleeping and play 'private' space downstairs.
![Crosstown Loft / Campos Leckie Studio - Beam, Windows](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5012/f68e/28ba/0d06/5800/08a9/newsletter/stringio.jpg?1414579932)
The lower floor plan employs a series of sliding partitions that convert the layout from a single open plan space during the day, into a two bedroom plus nursery layout at night.
![Crosstown Loft / Campos Leckie Studio - Table, Chair, Shelving](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5012/f675/28ba/0d06/5800/08a5/medium_jpg/stringio.jpg?1414579911)
Points of Interest
This project presents an alternative to suburban living for young families. The decisions of individual families to collectively reclaim neglected parts of the urban fabric presents a compelling model for urban revitalization and adaptive re-use. The design demonstrates a creative architectural response to the challenges of creating 'rooms' in generic loft spaces - which typically only have access to light and air at one end of an extremely deep floor plan.