Dasgupta Saucier Residence by The Raleigh Architecture Co.

The Raleigh Architecture Co. have recently completed the Dasgupta Saucier Residence in

North Carolina.

Project description

The Dasgupta-Saucier residence is situated on a narrow downtown infill lot in a Raleigh, NC. Facing a busy thoroughfare, the house uses natural topography and carefully placed openings to alleviate sound and establish privacy. The residence pays homage to its southern roots by creating deep recessed front and rear porches with a cantilevered upper story. An open central volume provides abundant natural daylight to the lower story while a steel staircase twists upwards, unifying all of the spaces of the house together. Warm cypress siding roots the residence into the landscape and weathered steel panels protect the private upper story.

A second floor level of private bedrooms is stacked on an open lower level of living areas. The second floor “bar” is split, pushing the children’s bedrooms north and a master suite south. This simple shift creates a covered front and rear porch while simultaneously providing a double height kitchen space in the center for a new family passionate about the culture of cooking. A wrapping steel staircase leads upwards to a working office for each of the clients, while a private terrace on the third floor links the house to its landscape and provides views to downtown. The residence and a neighboring home share a landscaped courtyard that is shielded from the busy street, providing a space for both families to gather.

Roof: Standing seam galvanized metal & TPO roofing. Siding: Cor-ten steel panels w/ 100% recycled content, clear finish cypress (locally sourced). Systems: Geothermal & mini-split HVAC system, instant hot water heater w/ recirculation loop. Windows: Aluminum clad wood windows.

Architect: The Raleigh Architecture Co.

General Contractor: The Raleigh Construction Co.

River Road House by Hughes Umbanhowar Architects

Hughes Umbanhowar Architects have designed the River Road house in Sewall’s Point, Florida.

Project description

When morning breaks in the small residential community of Sewall’s Point, the house is cloaked in light that is reflected and refracted from the faceted Mahogany framed windows of this regal residence. Home for a young family, the structure is reverent in its embrace of the outdoors, both the two-acre waterfront lot it occupies and the landscape beyond. Ensconced in the hillside which overlooks the water, the structure is a series of expansive and intimate courtyards and cantilevered decks, which architectonically echo the diaphanous volumes of the interior, spaces which seem to defy gravity, even while embracing the solidity of Italian limestone and stucco facades. Views to the southwest encompass the dynamic activity of the marina in an inland waterway and track the movements of sun, wind and water.

The 12,300-square foot house, is a complex composition, reminiscent of the canvases of Georges Braque, in which geometric forms appear and disappear in a constant dance of illusion and materiality. The house comprises a series of distinct, yet interlocking rectilinear volumes conjoined by a transparent longitudinal axis. Positive volumes are balanced atop negative creating a heightened tension and intrigue. A glass-skinned throughway connects and distinguishes the two dominant volumes, or towers, capturing light and adding to the sense of interior capaciousness. Exterior glass, limestone, stucco and mahogany outline, augment and anchor what otherwise might be a cacophony of disparate forms.

Whether allegro, andante or largo, the varied rhythms of the internal structure are adroitly composed. Denizens move with leisure or efficiency, depending on need and mood. Interior spaces are carefully orchestrated to conceal and reveal dramatic views to the water. Surprise and delight are amplified by skillful interior and exterior framing. In the same way, the arrangement of program and use moves inhabitants through a logical gradient from public to private space, from activity to slumber, from conviviality to introspection. At either end of the longitudinal axis that connects the two domestic partitions, separate stairways enhance circulation and provide discrete access to the three-storied parapets.

The gracious interior is highlighted by the use of Mahogany, Minnesota Limestone, and plaster finishes. Afternoon sun is mitigated by aluminum louvers and astute structural arrangement. The bulthaup kitchen is enhanced by a sliding window wall which opens to an exterior courtyard, further collapsing the distinction between exterior and interior space, and thereby underscoring the sense of spontaneous yet calculated arrangement.

Architect: Hughes Umbanhowar Architects

Photography by Steven Brookes