Loft
The term loft mainly refers to two different types of rooms:
- An upper room or story in a building, directly under the roof, used either for storage (as in most private houses) or for a specific purpose, eg. an "organ loft" in a church. In this sense it is roughly synonymous with attic.
- A large open space in a factory, warehouse or other commercial space, or a type of residence that results from the conversion of such a room. Such spaces generally contain very high ceilings, large windows, and concrete floors and ceilings. Originally popular with artists, they are now highly sought-after by well-off bourgeois bohemians, and the gentrification of the former manufacturing sectors of large cities is now a familiar pattern. One such sector is Manhattan's Meatpacking District. Such is the demand for these spaces among the well-off that real estate developers have taken to creating ready-made "lofts" in urban areas that are gentrifying or that seem primed to do so. While some of these units are created by developers during the extensive and costly renovation of old buildings, a number of them are included in the floor plans of brand new developments. Both types of pre-fab loft offer wealthy buyers or renters the proximity to urban amenities afforded by traditional lofts, but without the safety risks attached to the practice of colonizing economically depressed industrial areas. Detractors point out that these ready-made units are neither produced nor consumed in the spirit of traditional loft living.