Winner: Studio Bartolotta
The repurposing of former industrial buildings into residences is not a new phenomenon. But the building of a new house that assumes the profile of a former factory is a unique design solution, and that is what Studio Bartolotta achieved with this residence in the Canfield Island community. A kind of 19th-century English factory appears on the site, complete with bifurcated 50-foot chimney stacks, open steel trusses, and an interplay of seemingly independent structures that harken to different industrial uses. Inside, though, this is purely a new home that merely references the scale and vigor of an industrial building. For a couple who entertain frequently, the dining room is noted for its full-height bronze windows that are geared to open to views of Long Island Sound. A catwalk edges the living room while a sculptural winding staircase leads from the primary bedroom to a sauna/gym. Charcoal-colored brick, board-form concrete, vertical cedar siding treated in the ancient Japanese method of Shou Sugi Ban work in concert to define a home that appears to be of the past, but which is completely of the present.
Finalist: Mark P. Finlay Architects
This new barn situated just a short stroll from the main residence may, at first glance, echo traditional vernacular forms, but it is a wholly distinctive building of today, and with multiple functions. The homeowners, longtime clients of Mark Finlay Architects, initially wanted a structure that would serve as a gathering place for their children and their friends, but increasingly they wanted the barn, too, to be a true alternate living space, with a dedicated bedroom and lofted sitting area. Moreover, they saw the new barn as a place to entertain, both on a small scale and in large ways, with perhaps up to 60 people at a time.
The architects designed a place centered with a two-story-high living room off which meld the kitchen, dining and bar areas. Walls of giant windows, juxtaposed against other elevations that are solid, give the structure a unique character. The architect’s design inspiration relied on a play of positive and negative forms, solid barn volumes and glazed surfaces. The barn relates intimately to its site and the main residence just beyond.
Finalist: Doyle Coffin Architecture
At this new lakefront home, the natural beauty of the outdoors combines with the comfort and sophistication of modern design. Doyle Coffin Architecture designed this timber-frame house on the shores of a serene Connecticut lake, and from within the home, its setting is never far away. As it sprawls across its site, the house reveals its exposed timber beams, its many gables, the expert stonework, and the way its several elements appear to pivot on the land as the structure follows the shoreline. The open indoor floor plan fosters a sense of spaciousness and an immediate connection to the lake and woods.
A stone fireplace is positioned at the literal and metaphorical heart of the house. Vigorously articulated ceiling beams in the soaring spaces directly reference a timber-framed house of an earlier era, but there is nothing antiquated about this residence. A gourmet kitchen is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, a breakfast nook takes in full views of the lake, the primary suite includes a bath that replicates a full spa, and generous terraces are accessible from most of the primary rooms.
