Jazz Loft
Function: housing
Typology: reuse, monumental
Year of completion: 2018
Area:
Jazz Loft is a residential transformation of a former 19th-century industrial mill by T2.a Architects. The project reflects how time, interruption, and reinterpretation can become integral to the architectural process, allowing the building to evolve into a more refined and meaningful form.
Originally built in the 1860s, the mill was carefully restored with a focus on preserving its industrial character. The historic red brick façade was reinforced with concrete, establishing a dialogue between the original structure and a contemporary architectural language.
After the project was interrupted by the financial crisis and left unfinished for several years, its revival with a new client offered a renewed perspective. Rather than removing traces of the past, the architects embraced the existing concrete addition, allowing it to inform a more restrained and honest design approach.
The completed building combines layers of different eras: the original brick structure is complemented by a contemporary top floor defined by an asymmetrical roofline, clinker brick, and large glazed openings. The contrast reinforces the building’s industrial identity while giving it a distinctly modern expression.
While the street façades maintain a calm, robust presence, the inner façades open toward a shared garden and adopt a more playful character through brightly colored balconies. Inside, exposed brick and raw concrete define the staircases, each named after a jazz musician — a reference that gives the project its name.
Conceived as a contemporary, sustainable residential building, Jazz Loft integrates smart technologies and a renewable-energy-based heat pump system, ensuring a high level of comfort while respecting the building’s historic fabric.
