The Loft Critic

A floor consisting of a large unpartitioned space over a factory or warehouse or other commercial space.

Raw Loft
A loft space that is unfinished. A raw loft may not include a kitchen, toilet or sink. If the loft lacks a bathroom than communal facilities would be available. Most newly renovated "raw" lofts include their own bathroom. Raw is used to describe a loft with no or few amenities. In a raw loft everything from heating and plumbing pipes to brick walls and wiring will be exposed. However, raw lofts can still be spectacular on the inside, especially after some tender-loving care. The view, high ceilings and lighting may be enticing, and the potential can be endless.

Hard Loft
The conversion of buildings to lofts - result in what is known as the "hard loft." These are buildings with history and character. They have a harder edge of either concrete construction, or "mill" construction of exposed old brick and original wood posts, beams and floors and / or heavy timber construction. They will have the original exposed ductwork, electrical, and plumbing which are features used to complement the décor. Hard lofts are what people typically think of when they picture a loft, leave plenty of room for creativity.

New Hard Loft
With the high demand for lofts and the lack of available buildings suitable for authentic industrial style loft conversion, we now have "new hard " lofts. Loft developers say the four main features that define a loft are the high ceilings, open spaces, exposed building materials and big windows. Developers are now replicating these main features. New hard lofts will duplicate the authentic details of a hard loft with the additional improvement of being more energy efficienct.

Soft Loft Upscale
This upscale style loft will have partitioned bedrooms with walls that may reach the ceiling. Soft lofts are usually found in newly constructed loft buildings. Soft lofts will tend to look more like traditional apartments and are usually more energy efficienct than a hard loft. They have the elements of a hard loft but with softer edges. The softer edges may include carpet covering the floors and drywall encasements hiding the ductwork, electrical, and plumbing. Some may have walls that may not reach the ceiling, which are sometimes called three-quarter length.

BI-LEVEL LOFT
A Bi-level loft is a loft that has a second mezzanine level that overlooks the floor below. A loft does not necessarily have to have 2 levels.