On August 8, HC&G held its third annual Innovation in Design Awards ceremony at Guild Hall in East Hampton. The awards honor the best design projects in the Hamptons, focusing on architecture, interior design, kitchen and bath design, garden design, and, for the first time this year, product design. Winners were selected by a panel of six distinguished judges—interior designers Milly de Cabrol, Jamie Drake, Tom Scheerer, and Robert Stilin, home accessories designer and last year’s IDA Innovator honoree, Stephanie Odegard, and architecture and interiors photographer Tim Street-Porter. As the projects show, the East End is fertile ground for some of the best ideas and most original trends in the world of stylish living.
Architecture: Stelle Lomont Rouhani Architects
Architectural surprises are often found behind the dunes in Amagansett, and this project is a great example. Even though the 3,000-square-foot residence is decidedly rectilinear, comprising two offset, stacked boxes linked by a concealed exterior staircase, the house blends seamlessly with its organic surroundings, making it “feel like a beach house should,” says judge Robert Stilin. In its ability to capture vistas from its rooms, incorporate outdoor seating areas within the envelope of the structure, and be energy efficient, the project offers, as judge Tim Street-Porter says, “a rich variety of living and sleeping spaces that have an attractive relationship with the site, the views, and the exterior.”
click here to view the runner-up and finalists in architecture
Interior Design: Erica Millar Design
When Erica Millar’s client looked out the windows of his East Hampton residence, he kept seeing the colors he wanted for his interiors. He was taken with the neutral tones found on the plumage of local birds and the jewel-like hues of indigenous flowers and plants. Millar responded by using a broad palette of contrasting textures—“rough-hewn and polished, rustic and refined, casual but elegant,” she says. Judge Robert Stilin is enamored of the open-air dining area, which he finds “perfect for cozy, candlelit summer dinners,” and judge Milly de Cabrol admires “the barn-style architecture outside and the contemporary feeling inside.”
click here to view the runner-up and finalists in interior design
Kitchen Design: Bates Masi + Architects
The judges all wanted to be cooks in this kitchen. The tastiest ingredients in this open-plan room in Southampton are the industrial materials, in keeping with the 1970s post-and-beam house, and the warmth of the wood on the ceiling and underfoot—a dynamic that judge Jamie Drake describes as “fascinating and surprising.” Judge Robert Stilin admires the mix of wood, steel, and lacquered surfaces, too, declaring the aesthetic “organic modern,” while judge Milly de Cabrol lauds the overall “perfect California feeling” of the space.
click here to view the runner-up and finalists in kitchen design
Bath Design: Stelle Lomont Rouhani Architects
Not all rooms in a Hamptons house have to have views. This master bath in Water Mill was deliberately situated in a private area “in order to promote a feeling of serenity and calmness,” say the architects. To further foster that privacy, the designers erected a novel enclosure of cedar slats that screen the indoor and outdoor showering areas while allowing ocean breezes to pass through. Atlantic bluestone, Danby marble, and a floor-to-ceiling glass door, combined with matte-lacquer cabinets and unpainted plaster walls, are materials that do an excellent job of “keeping the space from looking too sterile, like so many other baths,” says judge Tom Scheerer.
click here to view the runner-up and finalists in bath design
Garden Design: Edmund D. Hollander Landscape Architect Design
In order to create a garden entrance worthy of this classic shingle-style house, dubbed Zen Cottage, Edmund D. Hollander turned the residence into a kind of island, accessible via stone slabs spanning a tranquil ornamental pond. This path of slabs leads in the other direction across a gravel court that judge Jamie Drake describes as “stunningly chic.” While surveying the site, Hollander discovered an allée of mature cherry trees that ran along a disused side roadway, which he promptly reinstituted as the property’s stunning main entrance.
click here to view the runner-up and finalists in garden design
Product Design: Custom Cool Rugs
