This 2,000 square foot addition to an existing 3-bedroom house in Water Mill, New York transforms a standard 30′ X 30′ developer house into a horizontal composition that anchors it to its two-acre wooded site. The image of the house was upgraded and new program elements were added, including a screened-in porch, two-car garage, entry porch, and exterior terraces. By raising the existing offset gable roof and recomposing the facades, MWA created a double-height living volume that connects the structure with the landscape and allows greater amounts of daylight to penetrate deep into the space. The newly relocated kitchen opens onto the double-height living/dining space that opens to the exterior by full-height, wall-to-wall sliding glass doors. A series of terraces step down from the living room level to the pool integrating the house with the landscape. The clear cedar cladding on the ground floor links the lower level of the main house with the new mahogany screened-in porch and garage addition that extends horizontally from the house. The bedrooms are enclosed in a black-stained second-story volume above.

Located on Manhasset Bay in Long Island, this house is designed to maximize the views to the west across the water, especially the sunsets, which are cherished by the owner. After a fire destroyed the existing home, Michielli + Wyetzner Architects redesigned this house on the North Shore with an income-producing tenant apartment on the ground floor and an owner’s two story residence above. A wall of hurricane-resistant glass encloses the double-height living room and adjacent dining and kitchen area.  An open, sculptural fireplace is a focal point of the interior.

Above is a master bedroom suite with the master bath overlooking the two-story volume and sharing the vista across the water. An automatic overhead glass door protects an enclosed porch from the elements in inclement weather. Located off the master bedroom, this indoor/ outdoor space provides a refuge with tremendous vistas year round.

The design of this 2,000 square foot loft in Greenwich Village for a couple in media and advertising business required a flexible condition that could accommodate the owners’ four teenage children when home from college and also retain the couple’s privacy. Located in a former industrial textile loft from the 19th Century, a series of moveable glass panels provides privacy for the master bedroom from the sitting/media room while allowing natural light to enter deep into the space. When not required, the panels slide away to create an expanded master suite. A sleeping loft was inserted above the closets and master bathroom to act as the visiting children’s dormitory. The black kitchen surround was inserted into the existing brick and tin-ceilinged envelope creating a focus for the public living area.

This 8,000 square foot vacation home for a retired business executive and his artist wife realizes their wish for a warm, comfortable, and modern environment, where children and grandchildren could visit, while still ensuring the couple’s privacy. Located on the east end of Long Island, the house sits on a 3.5-acre site on the banks of a wetland creek, which flows out to the ocean nearby.

The home’s two rectangular volumes form an outdoor landscaped court with a swimming pool as the focus.  The main wing includes the couple’s sleeping quarters on the upper level with the living, dining, and kitchen and screened porch on the ground level. The smaller volume contains guest bedrooms and a with a small living and kitchen facilities.

A two-story glazed entrance separates the two wings, providing privacy for both the owners and their guests.  The narrow, linear plan maximizes the amount of natural light and ventilation entering each room, all of which have two exposures. The projecting second floor balconies and the louvered wood sunshades control the amount of direct southern sun entering the house.  A post and beam structural system made of Brazilian hardwood, Demarrera Greenheart, maximizes the clear spans and allows interior walls to be used solely for partitioning space. The exposed framing and infill panels modulate and order the interiors. Demarrera Greenheart was also used as the exterior cladding because of its natural beauty and its ability to weather well in the harsh salt air environment.

Awards and Publications:
2001       New American Houses 2, Edizione L’ Archivolto
2001      The Perfect Room, Rockport Publishers

This design for a 2,000 square foot, two to three bedroom house is one in a series of collaborations between practicing architects and artists and a German modular building manufacturer. With the goal of creating zero-energy buildings, the project uses modular stud-wall panel construction and exterior zinc cladding to create homes for couples or small families. The cube volume is vertically divided with two enclosed floors and an open roof terrace. Entry stairs lead to the second floor, which contains the living, dining and kitchen spaces. The abstract quality of the Platonic solid is enhanced by the simple void of the double-volume living area that cuts through the cube. Immediately above is a roof garden accessed by a glass-enclosed circular stair that connects all levels of the house. Study and bedrooms are on the first floor.  The strength of the scheme is based on the geometry of the pure exterior form and the proportion of the primary interior space. The compact modular design will be energy efficient, cost effective and efficiently flat-packed for delivery.