A Rising Star Designer Turns a Brooklyn Loft Into the Domestic Laboratory of Her Dreams

Sofía Beas channels Guadalajara, Luis Barragán and more Mexican hallmarks in the converted industrial spaceDesigner sofía Beas with her husband, Mario Navarro, at their loft in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; the cocktail table was custom made, the vintage sofa is by Gianfranco Frattini, and the abstract artwork (above the 1960s Danish piano) is by Jose Dávila.Styled By: Studio Stories. ART: Jose DavilaSofía Beas would have you believe it was by luck that she found her Brooklyn apartment, a light-filled loft in Williamsburg. The Mexican interior designer has lived in the area since Girls was on HBO, watching as the neighborhood’s aughts grit gave way to luxury commercial appeal—the cost of living rising right along with it. So when she came across this listing on StreetEasy one Saturday morning in 2020, not long before lockdown, she didn’t quite believe it. “I remember the moment we came in and saw the windows,” she says. “It felt so out of our league.”Beas is quietly proving herself to be in a league of her own. A native of Guadalajara, she grew up in a house designed by Andrés Casillas de Alba, a protégé of Luis Barragán. “That house had so much influence on how I perceive space and color,” says Beas, whose father owned a construction company and whose brother is now an architect. Her own career path wasn’t always so obvious. Beas studied graphic design before drifting into set and production design at the encouragement of friends. When the spatial element of those projects rang truest to her interests, she moved to New York City in 2014, enrolling at Pratt Institute to pursue a master’s degree in interior design. Roles working for AvroKO, Anna Karlin, and the AD100 designer Giancarlo Valle followed before she launched her own eponymous practice in 2024.In the TV area, chair by ash and rug by Beni ART: Mario NavarroThe guest room’s wall curtains match the headboard and bedding. Reform cabinetry and Giancarlo Valle stools in the kitchen But about that stroke of luck…. Renovating during the strange, suspended months of the early pandemic proved to be a boon. Beas found a contractor willing to let her procure all the building materials herself, an arrangement that kept costs in check while giving her control over every finish. Her husband, Mario Navarro, the director of operations for Kurimanzutto gallery, supported on-site.At the time the couple moved in, there was only a kitchenette, the single bathroom barely more than a stall. The first order of business was to develop a floor plan that allowed for both sociable living and comfortable remote work. Private quarters, including two bedrooms and an added bath, are tucked along the new entrance hallway that opens onto the open-plan living/dining/working space.The couple’s Minjae Kim headboard integrates Umberto Bellardi Ricci sconces; rug by Nordic knots. ART: Gabriel Sierra / Kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New York.A custom table anchors the dining area; art by (from left) Teresa Serrano, Ana Segovia, and Marcel Dzama. ART: Teresa Serrano / Barbara Davis Gallery. Ana Segovia. © Marcel Dzama / David Zwirner.A bathroom’s pink Clé tile nods to Luis Barragán. Another view of the TV area The lone window at the back dictated the location of the cozy primary bedroom, hotel-suite-precise with a custom Minjae Kim headboard that depicts the couple and their late rescue dog, Lucha, with integrated Umberto Bellardi Ricci lights. Clad in pink tiles, the second bathroom is an homage to the kitchen at Barragán’s Casa Pedregal. Initially skeptical of the tub, her contractors took pride in the end result. “It’s sometimes very hard to get people on board, but it’s very satisfying to exercise that muscle,” says Beas.In the living area, vintage sofas by Afra and Tobia Scarpa (left) and Gianfranco Frattini face off across the bespoke cocktail table. In the dining area, vintage chairs surround the custom metal-top table; ceiling light by Ingo Maurer. Bust sculpture by Marcel Dzama Waterworks fixtures accent a bath’s custom vanity. Furniture design had become part of Beas’s role under Valle, and much of the work in her apartment is custom. The dining area features a table in a silvered bronze finish, fabricated by local studio En.Zo Metalworks. Built-in shelving spans the dedicated TV area. Beas and her team currently work from an opposite corner at a long wood table. Occasionally, she will move all the furniture to the side and don a virtual-reality headset to test the scale of her latest projects. “I like to think of my work holistically,” says Beas. “You weave the client’s story into your experience as you create.”If it was luck that brought this loft into her life, then Beas surely made it herself. And it is her natural curiosity and ambition that have made it not only a home but also the perfect vantage point for what comes next.This story appears in the October issue. Never miss a story when you subscribe to AD.Not a subscriber? 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