Winkelman Architecture

Site Conditions

An informal, year-round island cottage with a southerly exposure to the rear and secondary water views to the southwest in a neighborhood setting. Its layout, like so many cottages, was introverted and very partitioned and its condition was in need of updating.

Client Program

Our client was a single man relocating to the island from boston. His program was for a simple open living /dining / kitchen and half bath down with two bedrooms and a bath up, his palette evocative of urban lofts.

Design Response

A large portion of the second floor was removed and a south-facing gable above glazed to bring daylight into the heart of the house while giving an expansive feel to this otherwise modest structure. Circulation was the crux of the solution and the stair expresses this in its splayed posture and floated detailing. The stair becomes a sculpture that is the background to the space, opening and reorienting the public spaces toward the southerly daylight and water view. Our materials seek to weave together an urban loft palate with a summer beach feeling, using sandblasted glass, plain ground steel and blonde woods.