Adrien Beard sits in the living room of his DTLA loft.
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This 700-square-foot DTLA loft is a stunning example of ‘Neo Afro Eclecticism”

South Park’s Adrien Beard wants to create a space for Black creatives. First stop: His DTLA loft.

Adrien Beard sits in the living room of his DTLA loft.

Emmy-winning art director and producer Adrien Beard inside his recently renovated loft in DTLA. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

The hallway of the loft with the bedroom in the background.

Drapes can be used to enclose the studio’s bedroom.  (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

The kitchen of the loft features a custom butcher block counter that can collapse, or extend to a larger table, for dining.

The kitchen features a custom butcher block counter that can collapse or extend to a larger table for dining. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

A black sink and a mirror on a wall that is kitty corner to wooden shelving on another wall

The bathroom features a sleek black sink by Scarabeo from Nameeks, murals by Sachiko Bradley and a custom cabinet for towels and laundry.
 (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

A living room with three lounge chairs and a couch all situated around a coffee table

Beard wanted the studio to be “pretty, loungy and malleable, so we can turn it into what we want it to be. I want people to feel like they can slide into the space and talk.”  (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

Three people sit on stools in a kitchen, smiling

Designers Faith Blakeney, left, and Sachiko Bradley, right, along with owner Adrien Beard, center, in the kitchen of his loft. (Mariah Tauger/Los Angeles Times)

Two lounge chairs in the foreground, with a bed in the background

When Beard wants more division, drapes can be drawn to enclose the bedroom.  (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

Two lounge chairs in front of drapes

The drapes that separate the bedroom and living area can be drawn for privacy.  (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

A column with wood paneling has hooks holding a hat and shirt. To its right is a cabinet with books and a plant on top of it

Designers Faith Blakeney and Sachiko Bradley added wood paneling to the loft’s concrete column, left, for a more masculine feel.  (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

The kitchen of the loft has a microwave, oven and refrigerator and a wooden countertop

The kitchen features off-black thin brick Cle tiles and a custom butcher block drop leaf countertop that can be folded to save space or extended for dining. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

The kitchen features black cabinets, bkack tile and a black sink.

The designers painted the kitchen’s existing upper oak cabinets black and the lower cabinets yellow.  (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

The living room of Adrien Beard's DTLA loft has three lounge chairs and a couch situated around a coffee table.

“I didn’t want to make it the Black Panther headquarters,” says Beard who plans to work in the loft. “But I definitely wanted it to feel like if I got hit by a car tomorrow, people would know an African American lived in this space.”

 (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

A chair and 1970's vintage lamp in the living room next to a cactus plant

Because of the pandemic, the designers sourced many vintage furnishings from Facebook Marketplace, Etsy and the Hangar in Santa Monica.  (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

A painting is hung above a desk built into the wall. A chair faces the desk, and two living room chairs are seen at right

A tall desk, at left, is incorporated into the loft’s column, which the designers covered in wood paneling.  (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

A custom desk, with black and white artwork hanging above. A laptop, an open notebook and a small sculpture are on the desk.

Artwork by Sachiko Bradley hangs above a custom wood desk.  (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

A turntable rests on a table in the living room, next to a plant and chair

A turntable is both functional and stylish.  (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

African-inspired wood accessories rest on top of black kitchen cabinets.

In the kitchen, the designers added new lighting and African-inspired accessories.  (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

Interior designers Faith Blakeney, left and Sachiko Bradley stand in front of Bradley's hand-painted mural

Interior designers Faith Blakeney, left, and Sachiko Bradley gave the loft a welcoming African aesthetic.
 (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

Adrien Beard with designers Sachiko Bradley, left, and Faith Blakeney in the living room of his loft

“They did a magnificent job of creating a unique space,” Beard says of the designers. “They found so many gems and worked so hard to make it special. “ (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

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