By Helen Thompson

	Click for more images Architect: 4240 Architecture/UDG, Inc. Interior design: Morrison Seifert Murphy Builder: MA Mortenson

Denver-based developer Mark Smith’s loft is streamlined, airy, and luxurious—and has a panorama of views that include the Rockies on one side and the Denver skyline on the other. Not bad for a place that sits on a piece of property that was literally on the wrong side of the tracks and that had been derided by commercial and retail developers for years as a no-man’s land.

Mark, however, saw something else, especially after the city completed a 20-year-long project to revitalize Denver’s Central Platte Valley. The valley, just next to downtown, had long been neglected because of toxic river dumping and rail yard overuse. And across the Platte a derelict warehouse district languished—until East-West Partners (Mark and his partner Harry Frampton) purchased the 25 acres.

“It’s amazing that this land was here in the middle of a big city—and that it was undeveloped,” says Randy Johnson, at the time a principal with UDG, Inc., and now with 4240 Architecture. He was hired by Mark to design three residential buildings on the site. The mixed-use buildings would be the centerpiece of a new urban village, just a 10-minute walk to Coors Field, the Pepsi Center, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, and theaters and restaurants. Who could resist?

Apparently, not even the developer. Mark decided to purchase a penthouse in one of his buildings, the Riverfront Lofts. The C-shaped, seven-floor, 70-unit masonry, steel, and glass building is the closest to the still-operative railroad tracks where cargo trains rumble to and fro a mere 25 feet away. “We went to great lengths,” says Johnson, “to make being close to the tracks a plus.”

One of the pluses to living here is that lofts on the railroad side have arguably the best views. “Mark’s loft is at one end of the ‘C,’” explains Johnson. “It’s almost like he’s living in a huge, pop-art bay window, so the views are panoramic.”

Once the building was designed, East-West Partners turned to Dallas architecture and interior design firm Morrison Seifert Murphy (MSM) to complete the interior spaces. For his personal residence, Mark asked project architect Bruce McClure to help transform the 4,500 square feet of raw concrete and glass into something “unique”: “Mark wanted more refinement than the typical loft,” says McClure.

Mark’s unit—two stories, windows on two sides—is defined by a skylight. “It’s the axis of the entire space,” explains McClure, “and it establishes the line of sight.” That line extends straight from the front door, through the gallery, into the two-story-high living room, and out into the wild blue yonder. On one side of the gallery is the kitchen and dining area. The zipper glass staircase is on the other; tucked behind it is Mark’s library. Terraces extend off the library and the kitchen. Upstairs are a master suite and terrace and two children’s bedrooms.

Mark was already an experienced loft-dweller. “He liked the openness,” says McClure. But this was to be a family home: “Privacy was one of our biggest concerns,” he says. “The important issue was how to define spaces without using walls.”

Instead of walls, the architect used volume—such as the free-standing limestone fireplace between library and living room—to separate one room from another. Some walls were necessary, in the bedrooms, for instance. But the architect kept “wallness” a blurry concept, using frosted glass for walls and doors and a glass bridge in the bedroom wing.

The most spectacular use of glass, though, is the staircase—with glass risers and no visible means of support, it is a gravity-defying feat of engineering that packs the visual wallop of a monumental piece of sculpture. “Mark was definitely interested in pushing the envelope,” says McClure. “But, he didn’t want to live in a stark box either.”

The solution? Make every surface sensual, which is what McClure and MSM interior designer Jennifer Haroldson set out to do. Walls are polished plaster, a luxurious and luminescent finish. Creamy white terrazzo floors are subtly and erratically patterned. There’s also lots of warm wood, in the kitchen cabinetry and elsewhere: “We used it for the front door,” says McClure. “From there it wraps around the stair and merges into the library, where it’s also on the ceiling.”

Haroldson chose furniture for shape and feel—curvaceous chairs and organic side tables carved out of hunks of wood. “There is a wonderful mix of textures and softness,” she says. “Mark Smith has a very warm personality,” she says, “and he wanted to be comfortable. He also loves the latest things.” That made for an interesting result. “Mark didn’t accept the standard definition of a loft,” says Haroldson, “and his new residence has ended up being a great expression of what a loft could be.”