This project had an improbable beginning…

The family started off with a different architect and a different design for the modern style beach home they wanted.  They had struggled to gain the necessary local approvals and were horrified by initial construction cost estimates that were well over their  budget. Discouraged, they contacted me. They came to Swallowtail wanting to know if I could rethink the design to satisfy the strict local building codes, reduce construction costs while keeping their core design requirements.  They wanted a new, contemporary home that would showcase their art collection, and provide seamless access to outdoor living areas.  They had planned for a reverse floor plan that maximized the views.  Shortly after that initial meeting, the family called to say they had decided to abandon the project.

“Wait,” I said. “I have some ideas.  Let me send you my sketches.”

My design strategies included:

• Locating the living room, dining room, kitchen and club room on the upper floor with a wide back porch running across the full width of the rear of the home, providing all of the principal rooms with excellent views;
• Being conscious that many reverse floor plans give scant attention to the first floor, I used a grand stair to connect the principal rooms on the upper floor to the entrance. The stair is easily seen from a number of vantage points, letting visitors know how to navigate the reverse floor plan. The stair is also seen from the exterior through large windows and is detailed with side walls in glass, making it visible on all floors.
• Reducing the heated square footage and area under roof to meet the budget. This meant stripping the project to its core elements and then building up the design so that the spaces flowed well and had multiple functions. This had the added benefit of creating spaces that were interconnected and allowed us to frame their art collection from many vantage points. For example:
  • A wine room became a wine wall, but with a highly visible display—its glass doors opposite the stair and echoing the large window there;
  • The art display plan was changed so that pieces are located in all rooms and circulation spaces, making them visible from a variety of vantage points and a part of the homeowners experience throughout the house on a daily basis inside and outside.
• I conceived the home as a series of boxes of varying sizes, with cutouts for the porches. I also used large windows to create a rhythm with the porches of solids and contrasting voids. This created a contemporary home that had small-scale massing with a richness in the shapes that complimented the scale, massing, and porches of other Sullivan’s Island homes. The front of the house also is a contemporary riff on the traditional Charleston single house, with the two “halves” of the front façade suggesting two single houses side-by side.
• I reduced the width of the front of the home to allow views from the principal rooms which also helped me meet the town’s zoning requirements to break up the mass of the building and created a sculptural, well-proportioned front elevation.
• I created rooms and spaces with layers of transparency between each other and the exterior, so all rooms allow views of both the art work and the exterior views. This treatment also allows intriguing partial views of rooms, creating a deeper, richer and more satisfying experience. For example:
  • The club room and dining room enjoy the magnificent view of the Intracoastal Waterway, seen through the living room and backporch
  • The foyer has a clear view of the Intracoastal Waterway through glass panels into the family room and then through the back porch.
• Rather than treating the stairs as a necessary evil, I made them a key design element visible from many points in and outside the house. Both interior and exterior stairs form strong diagonal elements framed by the extra large windows and enhanced by magnificent lighting fixtures. Diagonal views between the floor levels, and views of and from the stair enhance both the interior and exterior design. The exterior stair up to the roof terrace was situated as a complementary diagonal to the interior stair.
• To give effect to the families vision for the display of their artwork, all exterior and interior finishes were white and off-white. While we ‘painted’ with light and texture that changed with the time of day, we wanted a clean and quiet backdrop to the magnificent display.

After seeing the sketches, they called me back, delighted: “You got everything we wanted and made it even better!”

After the couple moved in and put their art on display, they told me.

“Every time I pass through the hallway,” she said, “I stop and look at the art. And when I turn toward the door at the end of the hallway, its window perfectly frames the bridge. I can’t believe I am lucky enough to get to live in this house”