Coastal Residence
Southern Coastal Connecticut
Kaehler/Moore Architects

Hovering above a coastal flood plane, this house welcomes views of the sea

Courtesy Kaehler/Moore Architects

For more images click on 'photos & drawings' above.

This single-family residence will be sited amid suburban, salt-box style houses in an ecologically sensitive part of Long Island Sound. By expressing the paradoxes inherent in the site, Kaehler/Moore Architects attempt to invent an alternative domestic environment for the coastal landscape.

Stringent zoning regulations, necessitated by the fact that the house lies within a flood plane, led the architects to produce a compact geometric object built to its setbacks in all three dimensions and raised on stilt-like supports above the flood ground. They explored new qualitative relationships between the site and the house’s interior spaces. Sometimes the house appears to be a simple box, other times a coiling series of sheared volumes.

The house’s U-shaped plan forms a courtyard within its center, which the architects liken to a discrete and introverted backyard. Cloaked entirely in a board-and-batten wood lattice, the house’s perimeter opens allowing views to the waterfront while providing privacy from adjacent properties. A traditional form of cladding, it reads like a minimalist abstraction.

Unlike the introverted character of the rest of the house, its first floor living area is a glass box cantilevered above the landscape. Daily activities overlap within this single space, defined by a floor-to-ceiling, frameless curtainwall system. Its panoramic views are punctured only by a fireplace suspended from the ceiling. Other rooms have localized, episodic relationships with the views, creating a dynamic and symbiotic relationship with the coastal landscape.

The project is awaiting construction.

Formal name of building:
Coastal Residence

Location:
Southern Coastal Connecticut

Gross square footage:
4,500 sq. ft.

Architect:
Kaehler/Moore Architects
80 Greenwich Ave.
Greenwich, CT 06830
203-629-2212 tel.
203-629-0717 fax
www.kaehler-moore.com

Design partner: Joeb Moore, AIA
Project architect: Matt Burgermaster
Project team: Clement Valla, Demetrios Comodromos, Juliana von Zumbusch (intern)

Engineer
Coastal: John Roberge
Roberge Associates Costal Engineers
Foot of Broad Street, Suite 105
Stratford, CT 06615
203-377-0663 tel.
203-375-6561 fax
www.racellc.com

Geotechnical: Greg Pillori
Pillori Associates, PA
71 Route 35
Laurence Harbor, NJ 08879
732-335-0059 tel.
732-335-8515 fax

Structural: Nat Oppenheimer, Nava Abir
Robert Silman Associates, P.C.
88 University Place
New York, NY 10003
212-620-7970 tel.
212-620-8157 fax
www.rsapc.com

MEP: Glenn Tucker, Caesar Rocha
Tucker Associates Consulting Engineers
52B Ferderal Road, Unit 2A
Danbury, CT 06810
203-748-6224 tel.
203-743-0784 fax

Curtainwall: Michael Ra
Front, Inc.
185 Varick Street, Suite 300
New York, NY 10014
212-242-2220 tel.
212-242-2253 fax

General contractor
Frank Talcott, Inc.
203-938-9940 tel.

Photographer/renderer
KMA staff

Software
Archicad 9.0 www.graphisoft.com, Rhino 3.0 www.rhino3d.com, 3Dmax www.3dmax.com, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop www.adobe.com

Structural system
Pile-supported concrete foundations, concrete slab, steel frame; TJI, LVL, and LSL engineered lumber

Exterior cladding
Cedar board siding and lattice; cement board by Eco-cem www.coveringsetc.com

Roofing
EPDM (Dura-last); stainless steel trim duro-last.com

Glazing
Curtainwall: Frameless glass with stainless steel sliders, custom built by UAD Group)

Windows
Cedar custom built by Dynamic Windows www.dynamicwindows.com
Shades: Lutron www.lutron.com

Hardware
Rixsson, Frank Allart

Interior finishes
Flooring: First floor - architectural grade concrete, custom built by Azzarone Construction; second floor - quarter-sawn oak, limestone (in bathrooms);
Millwork: Ebonized mahogany, custom made by Craz Woodworking crazwoodworking.com;
Walls/ceilings: Gypsum board with skim-coat finish and Z-bead reveals;
Wall paneling: Laminated glass and cement board;
Countertops: Architectural-grade concrete, stainless steel

Lighting
Fixtures: Bega www.bega-us.com

Plumbing
Fixtures: Duravit www.duravit.com, WET