LOFT ATMOSPHERE

The atmosphere of loft neighborhoods contrasts sharply with that of more traditional residential areas. Instead of dry cleaners and grocery stores, one would be more likely to find corrugated box suppliers, car shops, machine repair and tool/dye shops. Streets are often lined with trucks and there is an absence of trees, parks and playgrounds.

The loft buildings themselves- Whether in London’s Docklands, near Paris’ Place de la Bastille, or in New York’s SoHo or TriBeCa- are usually large structures with awesome, rugged exteriors that do not exclude the familiarity, hominess and sense of stability of London’s net row houses, Paris’ solid bourgeois apartment buildings, or New York’s canopied apartment houses.