Private New England Residence
, Rhode Island
The architect worked with this young couple to create a home that would express their passion for modern architecture and contemporary design while honoring their requests for minimal maintenance, abundant natural light and an open floor plan. The final design is a unique blend of openness and intimacy featuring durable materials such as polished concrete masonry, slate, wood, stainless steel, ceramic and glass tiles, and terrazzo blended to create a rich and minimal maintenance material palette. The primary below-grade structural system is a reinforced double wythe wall of 8” natural concrete block left exposed on the interior. The texture of the light gray block provides a rich balance for the maple and MDF millwork. The above-grade wall system is a 16” loadbearing cavity wall consisting of 8” reinforced ground-face masonry units on the interior with a 4” veneer of ground-face masonry on the exterior. Interior masonry partitions allow for increased sound control between program spaces, as well as a dramatically cantilevered light structure over the kitchen island.