![Bed-Stuy Loft by New Affiliates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2017/09/bed-stuy-loft-new-affiliates_dezeen_2364_hero-852x479.jpg)
New Affiliates renovates Bed-Stuy Loft with plywood mezzanine and rough materials
New York design studio New Affiliates has placed a plywood sleeping platform between chunky columns at an apartment in Brooklyn, making the most of the building's high ceilings.
![Bed-Stuy Loft by New Affiliates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2017/09/bed-stuy-loft-new-affiliates_dezeen_2364_col_3-852x1277.jpg)
The overhauled home takes up 750 square feet (70 square metres) of a former industrial space in the increasingly trendy neighbourhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, often shortened to Bed-Stuy.
![Bed-Stuy Loft by New Affiliates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2017/09/bed-stuy-loft-new-affiliates_dezeen_2364_col_9-852x1277.jpg)
New Affiliates renovated the Bed-Stuy Loft using unfinished materials to retain the original atmosphere, with exposed steel, raw plywood and metal-mesh panels used to partition areas for different activities.
![Bed-Stuy Loft by New Affiliates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2017/09/bed-stuy-loft-new-affiliates_dezeen_2364_col_10-852x1277.jpg)
The most prominent intervention is a mezzanine level, providing a sleeping area on top and a workspace underneath. This structure is clad in plywood with a distinct gradient, which also runs across the doors of cupboards in the adjacent kitchen.
![Bed-Stuy Loft by New Affiliates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2017/09/bed-stuy-loft-new-affiliates_dezeen_2364_col_2-852x568.jpg)
The bedroom is accessed via a open-tread staircase tucked at the back of the box-like volume, facing the compact bathroom. White mesh wraps around the upper level to form a barrier for safety and privacy, for both the bed and a slightly raised dressing area.
![Bed-Stuy Loft by New Affiliates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2017/09/bed-stuy-loft-new-affiliates_dezeen_2364_col_0-852x782.jpg)
Two thick cylindrical columns that splay outwards at their tops sit along a central axis. A corner of the mezzanine is cut out to avoid one, while the other is incorporated into the kitchen island.
![Bed-Stuy Loft by New Affiliates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2017/09/bed-stuy-loft-new-affiliates_dezeen_2364_col_6-852x568.jpg)
"The added elements playfully interact with two large existing columns positioned near the edge of the space, which serve as a terminating boundary for the design," said New Affiliates, which is led by Ivi Diamantopoulou and Jaffer Kolb.
![Bed-Stuy Loft by New Affiliates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2017/09/bed-stuy-loft-new-affiliates_dezeen_2364_col_8-852x1277.jpg)
"Their architectural intervention either keeps an intimate gap that mimics the outline of the column, or hugs it."
![Bed-Stuy Loft by New Affiliates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2017/09/bed-stuy-loft-new-affiliates_dezeen_2364_col_11-852x1265.jpg)
Cupboards in the island are fronted with green lacquer, and copper pipes extend down from the ceiling to the sink cut into the horizontal surface.
![Bed-Stuy Loft by New Affiliates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2017/09/bed-stuy-loft-new-affiliates_dezeen_2364_col_7-852x568.jpg)
All of these elements are squeezed into one half of the apartment, leaving a tall space near the windows for a spacious living area.
![Bed-Stuy Loft by New Affiliates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2017/09/bed-stuy-loft-new-affiliates_dezeen_2364_col_12-852x569.jpg)
Many Brooklyn residents are opting to upgrade their homes rather than move, with recently completed projects including an interior overhauled to include hiding places for cats, and a row house extended with a rooftop bedroom suite.
Photography is by Michael Vahrenwald.