Project Description
2016 Residential Architect Design Awards
Custom House More Than 3,000 Square Feet: Citation
On a 5.6-acre wooded Upstate New York site that slopes towards a small pond, Gluck+ has divided all the programmatic requirements of a 6,080-square-foot Artist Retreat and studio into a dynamic compound of eight cubic volumes. The architects intended the simple forms to reference the organization of farms in the region. The façades are clad in weathered horizontal slats of hemlock, whose cool gray contrasts with the warm greenery of the surrounding landscape.
Each volume holds a single room, and they are clustered according to use: living, working, and sleeping. Three pairs of volumes are connected via glazed hallways and arranged around a courtyard; a final pair sits separate and houses a studio and darkroom. The entrance side of the complex is predominantly opaque, with a glimpse of the courtyard framed by a glazed entry corridor, but the bold pops of color evident through picture windows in each volume suggest a liveliness and creativity behind the quiet exterior.