Salt Marsh
Honor Award // Excellence in Architectural Design, Residential
Architect // Whitten Architects
GC // Chase Construction
Structural Engineer // Albert Putnam Associates
Landscape Architect // Soren DeNiord design studio
Description
Whitten Architects designed this home in coastal Rye, New Hampshire for an active couple with a passion for contemporary New England design and indoor/outdoor living.
Meticulously crafted by the team at Chase Construction, the home incorporates site-specific, and biophilic design principles, alongside energy-efficient, air tight / vapor permeable construction.
Every habitable room within the two-structure home has been strategically oriented to connect with the natural environment. Soren DiNiord’s carefully curated landscape design deftly navigates between the cultivated courtyard landscape and the wild forests, fields, and marshland beyond.
Heidi Lachapelle's interiors feature richly textured lime-washed walls, patterned upholstery and wall coverings, alongside natural stone and wood finishes that complement crisp, delicate details throughout this home to create a uniquely contemporary coastal retreat.
Jury Comments
For the jury, this was the unanimous and singular selection for the Honors recognition. The word “beautiful” resounded from each jury member in review, but in distinctive, qualitative ways: beautiful by virtue of the project’s restraint; by virtue of the project’s precision; by virtue of the project’s composition; by virtue of the project’s responsiveness to its site. Undoubtedly, the project benefits from an advantageous site, a supportive client and a substantial budget, but the work of the architect – the comprehensive design - has respected and enhanced all of those pre-disposing conditions. The jury noted the thoughtful, spare palette of materials and the careful detailing throughout – the oak staircase in particular. The project submission was well-presented - kudos to the photographer - and the accompanying drawings were valuable; the site plan and diagrams of site response were compelling in their clarity. The landscape architecture is deserving of notice in its overall quality and its supportive framing and extension of the architecture. Lastly, the project demonstrates that the formal qualities of beauty can also include sustainable design: the passive solar emphasis, and the use of recycled materials (exterior cladding), are assimilated effortlessly into the overall comprehensive design.
Photo credit: Trent Bell