Sugar Hill House in Fire Island, New York by David Gauld Architect PLLC

Article source: David Gauld Architect PLLC

Perched on a hill at the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, this beach house’s cubic composition is shifted, resulting in spatial variety. Centrally located on the second floor, there is a cantilever that floats above the lap pool. The pool mimics the shape of the house with the cantilever echoed in the pool steps. This creates a relationship between the pool and house as solid and void. The cantilever/steps mark the central axis of the house.

Exterior view

• Architects: David Gauld Architect PLLC
• Project: Sugar Hill House
• Location: Fire Island, New York

Sugar Hill House

The façade follows this axis creating a poetic symmetry of thirteen boxes. On the right, the tenth stacked box is missing, forming a stepping of three outdoor decks, while on the left side one of the outdoor decks is screened in. Consequently, the outdoor decks on both sides imply a triangulated form to the shape of the house. In this secluded modernist retreat, the ocean can be experienced throughout many moments of the house, such as the dining room cantilever, the outdoor decks, and thehallway on the first floor. The first floor is separated into two bedrooms and two bathrooms using the grid of the façade as an organizing system. The second floor is completely open with the living room and screen porch revolving around the hearth, where the family gathers.

Terrace view

David Gauld Architect PLLC

David Gauld graduated from Harvard College and subsequently received his Master in Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He worked for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and then ran the New York office for Japanese architect Arata Isozaki where he was the project architect for the Guggenheim Museum SoHo and Bass Museum in Miami Beach. After founding his own New York office in 1997, David Gauld Architect PLLC, he designed a new synagogue on Long Island and renovated the historic Sparks House at Harvard.

Living Room

The primary focus of Gauld’s practice has been on residential and retail design. His extensively published and award-winning projects include flagship stores for new retailers in New York City, such as Lion Brand Yarn and fashion designer John Bartlett, as well as apartment renovations and new houses throughout the USA. Current projects are a new mountain-side house in Asheville, North Carolina, a brownstone renovation in Harlem, and an apartment combination in Paris.

Swimming Pool

Door

Aerial View

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Tags: Fire Island, New York

Category: House

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