While the Brooklyn, New York, neighborhood of Williamsburg is now the picture of urban cool, walking toward Marta and Julian Lwin’s loft offers a glimpse of the area’s seedier, not-so-distant past. The sidewalks outside this converted doll factory—a no-name, under-the-radar address in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood—are as solitary and dark as the interior stairwells are grimy. Behind closed doors throughout the three-story building, however, young artists, musicians, and designers are abuzz with activity.

Lwin, a full-time lighting and furniture designer working under the professional banner Lwindesign, combines his studio, showroom, and home in one 2,000-square-foot, two-floor space. The multitasking inner sanctum virtually vibrates with his energetic product designs, awash in a spectrum of brilliant colors. The atelier encapsulates the seductive, secluded dynamism of this enclave of creative neighbors, and signals the strides already made by the 38-year-old British designer since he launched his burgeoning Stateside career seven years ago.