Limousine Garage Loft

In 2004, BEXT purchased a former limousine garage just north of Boston at 8 Parker Street in Everett. Already zoned residential, it was an empty concrete shell with 2,251 square feet of deeded space to work with. Steel columns and beams in the original building design helped to create a wide expansive 79'x31' space with 10 foot high ceilings. The unit, situated like a walk-out basement, is comprised of the entire ground floor of a two-story brick building on a residential street. It had been created as a condominium in the 1980s when an old building - thought by some to have once been a fire station - was converted into residential units. 

The condominium project has nine units in total: four upstairs in the brick building at 6 Parker Street, and four next door in a 4-family wooden structure at 4 Parker Street, and 8 Parker, the ground floor of the brick building. As the two buildings share a basement wall and upper walkway, they are forever bound together as a property. Various owners and tenants of the condo at 8 Parker Street came and went over the years, but the space always remained fairly raw. A limousine garage once operated out of the space until they were kicked out for illegally operating a business in a residential space. 

In 2004 the seller was someone with their own sign making business. The paint fumes from his business had traveled into the upstairs apartments, upsetting the other condo owners, and the business had to move elsewhere. The seller was using the space even though there was no heating system, no ventilation, barely any plumbing, and a hodge-podge of electric wires. The seller had tried to rig up a heating system into a shared chimney, and the fumes and smoke traveled directly into the apartments at 4 Parker Street. The space needed someone with vision to transform the whole space.

Architecture

This was the first project for which BEXT created it's own full set of architectural drawings, using the rule that if the space is less than 25,000 cubic feet a professional architect doesn't need to be involved (this space was just under the mark).

Originally the drawings were for a 1 bedroom apartment, as there was only one true egress door. The building department pointed out that with the addition of a new larger water line, sprinkler system, and low voltage alarm system, the space could be redesigned to include multiple bedrooms. New drawings were created mid-construction and approved, resulting in a 4 bed / 1 bath apartment. A second full bathroom was added later on, creating a 4 bed / 2 bath loft.

Design

Although the number of windows were minimal, painting the ceiling and walls white, and installing a white concrete overlay floor brightened up the space. 

This was the first of several projects in which a sealed wooden butcher block countertop was used on top of white cabinets (also used in the Cambridge Condo, Florida Cottage, etc.)

Like the Coca-Cola loft, slate tiles and black grout were used in the bathroom. In the Coca-Cola loft bathroom, the "wow factor" was a soft two person bathtub. Here, the "wow factor" is a two-person Japanese soaking tub, with the same minimal wall-mounted spout as used previously.

The live-edge dining table and living room benches were hand-made by BEXT using wood from a mill in Central Massachusetts.

Since the bedrooms did not have any windows to the outside, BEXT created windows to the inside using a single pane of frosted glass as wide as a stud bay.

Engineering

Two inches of Corbond spray-foam insulation (light purple color in photo) was used on the perimeter walls, which is R7 per inch. 

A dehumidifier, forced air HVAC system, and integrated Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV, e.g. "fresh air" system) combine to ensure comfort year round. 

A full perimeter French Drain with two sump pumps lead to an exterior drywell in the front yard.

As a steel beam runs across the length of the shower, three layers of Rust Bullet were used to encapsulate the beam to avoid rusting.

All of the plumbing from the upstairs apartments was encapsulated in wooden soffits, the stud-cavities of which were then filled with Rockwool Safe n' Sound for absorption of water noises.