Shamir Shah Goes West to Update a San Francisco Home

Shamir Shah Design has left its signature imprint all over the Manhattan residential map. So much so that when a sophisticated, world-traveled couple visited a lower Park Avenue loft principal Shamir Shah had created for friends, the pair was determined to bring the designer West—specifically to San Francisco, where a recently purchased Pacific Heights house was in need of a gut renovation. “All the things he did—art, furniture, textures, textiles, scale—spoke to each other,” the wife says of what initially attracted them to Shah’s distinctive style. An ensuing dinner party established that designer and clients had mutual respect and the right chemistry—prescient planning since the project took six years to complete, thanks to COVID erupting during the construction phase.

“We do interiors and architectural design,” Shah says of his practice, “mostly in New York, where we generally don’t work with an architect on smaller residential projects.” Thousands of miles away, San Francisco’s infamously labyrinthine permitting process presented another story: “We needed a local architect to shepherd the renovation through the building department, take charge of the house’s core and shell, and work in a truly collaborative spirit.” Enter Geddes Ulinskas Architects. In a flip of the usual procedure, it was the designer who brought on the architect after diligently interviewing three other prospects. “We enhanced each other’s roles,” principal Geddes Ulinskas reports, lauding the thoroughness of Shah’s drawings. “He produced a brilliant package that was a fantastic way of communicating and transmitting his passion for the project to the entire team.”

The Home Renovation Features Seismic Upgrades

The house, originally a 4,000-square-foot, three-level, wood-sided structure dating to 1947, was lackluster in design and substandard in construction. What it did have was location. At an elevation of 340 feet, the site offers panoramic views of San Francisco Bay. And in a city given to a mélange of residential styles, the property was located in a cul-de-sac of pedigree modernist houses by Gardner Dailey, Joseph Esherick, and William Wurster. In fact, the enclave is up for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

The second level is given over to private quarters: the main suite, two bedrooms, one doubling as a larger office, and a sitting room. The penthouse, which opens to a roof deck, is designated as a game room while more things recreational—a gym and a capacious wine cellar—join two additional bedrooms, a laundry, and a mudroom in the basement.

“In general, our work is quiet and serene,” Shah says of the furnishings and materials, which are frequently custom and used plentifully “for a rich, layered approach.” Pale creams and grays dominate the color palette, while bronze is the metal of choice. A characteristic vignette centers on the living room fireplace, which is surrounded by planes of travertine and flanked by a pair of oak-lined niches with custom bronze pedestals topped by Ju Ming sculptures, part of the family’s art collection.

“We wanted large walls for art,” Shah continues. Whether existing, purchased, or commissioned, the pieces were curated by the designer. An impressive Max Neumann canvas, one of the first works acquired and a Shah favorite, anchors the living room. A pair of Julian Watts stained-maple bas-reliefs adorn the adjoining wall, across from which hangs a Katherine Hogan wire sculpture, a ghostly presence reminiscent of the late San Francisco artist Ruth Asawa’s iconic pieces. Arguably closest to home is the commissioned site-specific mixed-media work spanning a media-room wall. Made of canvas, burlap, rope, and wood, it’s by Malcolm Hill, Shah’s life partner.

Inside the Curated, Art-Filled Home by Shamir Shah Design

shamir shah design: nely cuzo; cailen messersmith; olivia manzano; wendy wahlert

geddes ulinskas architects: alla agafonov; roma olišauskaitė

lutsko associates landscape architects: landscape consultant

jon brody structural engineers: structural engineer

matarozzi pelsinger builders: general contractor

todd merrill studio: custom sofas (living room)

through fair: floor lamp

through ralph pucci international: daybed

through galerie bsl: loveseat

la cividina: armchair

argosy designs: custom pedestal

Woven: custom rugs (living room, media room)

neolith: sintered stone (kitchen)

Holly Hunt: sconces (stair), chairs (dining room), armchairs (media room)

through maison gerard: sconce, shelf (entry)

Lindsey adelman studio: pendant fixture (entry), chandelier (dining room)

bddw: table (dining room)

chris french metal: custom front door (exterior)

amuneal: custom coffee table (media room)

emmemobili: table (penthouse)

dwr: chairs

garde: pendant fixture

phillip jeffries: wallcovering (bedroom)

bruno moinard éditions: armchairs (bedroom), sconces (penthouse)

B&B Italia: sectional (penthouse)

galanter & jones: seating (terrace)

erickson æsthetics: chair (office)

caste design: tables

Sacco: custom rugs

Resawn Timber Co.: accoya siding

amari: windows

benjamin moore & co.: paint

Verona Carpenter Architects Transforms a SoHo Loft into an Artful Home

Laura Mattioli, an art scholar, curator, and collector, found her SoHo loft, and the one two floors up that now houses the Center for Italian Modern Art, on a tip from a friend back in 2011. A native of Milan, Mattioli had been looking for a place in Manhattan where she could open the foundation to spread the word about the modern and contemporary art of her homeland, but she needed a large, open space on one level that she could easily move works in and out of for exhibitions. Her friend had heard about a handsome cast-iron building on Broome Street with full-floor apartments that were about to come on the market. Mattioli immediately booked a flight to New York and within days she had nabbed two of them—one for CIMA and one for herself.

“Usually lofts are long and narrow with light only on the two shorter sides,” she says. That’s because the buildings typically stand shoulder to shoulder. Her building, however, which dates to 1873, has a single-story Con Edison utility structure next door, so the apartments from the second floor up also have sunlight streaming in all along the eastern side. Then, too, the ceilings are high, and the layouts offer one vast space overlooking the street and well-proportioned rooms off a wide hallway toward the back. And, the location couldn’t be beat: SoHo, a 19th-century dry goods district, was colonized in the 1970’s by painters and sculptors who turned old industrial spaces into live-work lofts, leading to an explosion of galleries in the area. Although perhaps better known today as a shopping destination, the neighborhood is still home to many creators and arts organizations.

Finding an architect proved trickier than finding the space, however. The first two Mattioli hired were more interested in making a statement. But she wanted the architecture to take a back seat to the art—some inherited from her collecting father, some purchased herself. Then she discovered Irina Verona, co-principal of Verona Carpenter Architects, who understood Mattioli’s point of view. “We like the approach of ‘light architecture’ that respects the surroundings and what happens in it,” she says, speaking of the work she and co-principal Jennifer Carpenter have been doing together since founding their firm in 2017, after Verona had taken on Mattioli’s project.

Verona first completed the center, which opened in 2013. Then came Mattioli’s 4,500-square-foot apartment, which, because it was to be a home, would be “more personal,” the architect notes. But otherwise, the priorities remained largely the same—“quiet architecture for a lot of amazing pieces,” referring to both Mattioli’s art and furniture, much of it mid-century.

She left the two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath layout largely unchanged but switched up the primary bathroom and a walk-in closet for better flow and to create space for a new staircase to a storage and mechanical mezzanine (another new stair leads to a small sleeping area). Verona also added a terrace—a maneuver that required obtaining approval from the city’s Landmark Preservation Commission because SoHo is an official historic district in which changes are strictly controlled.

The three-dimensional, one-of-a-kind art in the public areas is even more riveting. Sculptures by New Yorker Barry X Ball—two standing 10 feet high and one of them inspired by Michelangelo’s Pietà Rondanini, also in Milan—occupy one end of the open living/dining area. On the other side of the space, furniture by Gio Ponti, Alvar Alto, and Marco Zanuso hold their own near the fireplace. In the newly enclosed kitchen, tribal masks from Mozambique and Mali stand on a counter, inches from the olive oil. High on a wall in the hallway, rough granite blocks wrapped in steel cables are hung, daringly, over an 18th-century sideboard of intricate inlaid wood from Mattioli’s childhood home. The artwork, by Giovanni Anselmo, weighs a ton, literally, and Verona was responsible for ensuring that it would stay put.

Throughout the apartment she added plywood on one or both sides of the wall studs to ensure art could be hung securely. For the wall hosting a 1-ton piece, she had the studs reinforced with metal as well as additional wood. Then, to be safe, the art was also bolted right through the wall.

verona carpenter architects: ana maria reyes; hakan westergren

jim conti lighting design: lighting consultant

northeast contracting group: terrace contractor

old structures engineering: terrace structural engineer

charles g. michel engineering: mep

think construction: general contractor

dwr: sectional (living area), chairs (dining area, kitchen), sofa (study), table (terrace)

mdf italia: table (dining area)

cassina: chair (living area)

valcucine italia: cabinets, countertops (kitchen)

wolf: cooktop

franke: sink

Add tag via side panel:

Fritz Hansen: table

porcelanosa: custom vanity (powder room)

hansgrohe: sink fittings

kravet: wallpaper (powder room, guest bedroom)

valsan: towel bar (bathroom)

flavor paper: wallpaper (bathroom, study)

through 1stdibs: bookcases, sofa (alcove)

wyeth: nesting tables (study), bench (primary bedroom)

vitsoe: shelves (study)

artemide: lamp (primary bedroom)

breakwater bay: sconces (terrace)

nuimage: awning

lualdi: doors

halo: track fixtures

element lighting: recessed fixtures

benjamin moore & co.: paint

This Industrial Loft Apartment in Vancouver is a Music Lover’s Dream

For a DJ drawn to complex, geometric patterns, the designers tasked with renovating his industrial loft in Vancouver, Canada knew they’d have to deliver the unexpected. “The client’s eclectic tastes and collections as well as his varied interest in music from acoustic to electronic were the foundation of the concept,” said Kelly Reynolds, principal of local firm Falken Reynolds. “We knew the space needed to provide both an expansive openness of a warehouse loft and a lot of visual stimulation,” adds principal Chad Falkenberg.

Set within a 1909 former supply warehouse made of sand-blasted brick and old-growth timber, the space first welcomed live-work tenants in 2004. That initial renovation, by Alda Pereira Design, provided the framework for the next. The kitchen’s steel-framed millwork, for example, is part of the 2004 design conversion and now features new shelving and tile to enhance functionality and add visual texture. Same with the open concept ensuite bath and shower, which was rebuilt and finished with tile in a bold black and white pattern.

“Hella Jongerius’ Diarama tiles from Mutina were a natural choice with the digital reference, but one that has a lot of subtle variation—there are 14 unique tiles that make up the pattern,” shares Reynolds. In the powder room, which features a deep green wallpaper from Jupiter 10, the team kept the original sink intact, designed by Marc Newson, offering a contrast to the darker walls.

Despite these modern updates, the industrial roots of the loft are apparent throughout, such as the original Douglas Fir ceiling and beams. To offset the wood tones from above, the designers selected a series of area rugs in warmer hues to create a sense of balance. Vibrant artwork and striking lighting fixtures round out the aesthetic. Not to mention a DJ station.