Architecture and urban design firm Peter Rose + Partners has designed East House. Nestled into the native shrubs on the Martha’s Vineyard coastline, in Chilmark, Massachusetts, USA, the house encompasses 4,000ft² (372m²).
During design, a commissioned study revealed a rate of coastal bluff erosion that made both client and architect extremely uncomfortable about the siting of the residence. The solution was to cast the floors, formerly wood framed, in concrete, making each box a three- or four-sided structural unit that could be individually lifted and moved to a location far from the bluff should erosion occur. The 4,000 square foot house is thus divided into concrete boxes, individually liftable with all interior finishes in place, and interstitial corridors, light wood framed zones that are easily removed and rebuilt in the event the building is moved.
Each box has a rugged concrete exterior, and is finished on the interior with stone floors, and Douglas Fir and Alaskan Cedar planked walls, which are soft to touch but extremely durable in the rough coastal weather. Circulation travels along the interior figure of the boxes, through interstitial spaces both rough framed and finished in wood, and is choreographed to an ever more revealing experience of the site. Strategic through-views to surrounding greenery direct visitors from the entrance to a library and living area.
— Peter Rose + Partners
Drawings:
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Photographs by Chuck Choi , Matthew Snyder
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