I-Beam Design’s Pixelated Chelsea Renovation is Made From 20,000 LEGO Bricks
We all love and played with LEGO when we were kids, and this New York loft apartment is just another great example of how versatile the colorful Danish bricks are. The story begins when the son of Melissa Marks and Vicente Caride got too old not to have a door on his bedroom, so his parents decided to renovate their Chelsea loft in an innovative and playful way. I-Beam Design was called to do the job, and together with LEGO artist Sean Kenney they created an amazing pixelated new stair railing and wall using 20,000 LEGO bricks.
The beautifully renovated space was made using mostly primary colors set into stark white. And while the kid’s room looks minimal and playful, the blocks staircase is an explosion of colors arranged in an apparently random order, featuring rectangular holes where the little ones can peep through into the lower floor.
LEGO Artist Sean Kenney worked together with the family to create a pleasant flow of colors that is not too subtle and not too flashy. The rest of the apartment offers a soft and more mature palette with touches of bold color hinting at the LEGO addition.
Full of iconic furniture — like the Barcelona Chair — the space is both modern and cheerful. The minimal palette of walnut, carrera marble and white paint serves as a backdrop for Melissa’s drawings, some of which are artfully placed directly on the walls. A solid walnut line runs throughout the loft, transforming into shelving, stairs, door jambs, window sills, desks and countertops, thereby unifying the space while differentiating the various functions.
The classy kitchen uses another Nordic favorite, IKEA cabinets, and features splashes of colors with small ceramic objects and the Blu Dot red chairs. A playful, colorful, sleek and very unique dwelling to live in, this wonderful New York apartment shows that LEGOs aren’t just for kids.
See more amazing work by I-Beam Design here.
Photos courtesy of Travis Dubreui and Thomas Loof of New York Magazine Art Department
