The Pelham House project was a ground up reconstruction of a two-story, single family residence in Pelham Manor, NY. Originally constructed in the 1950's, the existing building's dated facade and counter-intuitive layout was in desperate need of redesign.
Our first step was to remove the existing split-level roof which significantly limited the amount of habitable space on the second floor. By doing so, this allowed us to enlarge the guest and master suites to much more comfortable sizes. The next important step was relocating the garage which originally attached to the living room and entry area. We opted to build a new, semi-detached structure that would be accessible from the house by a covered breezeway. Finally, interior walls and partitions were removed or relocated on the ground floor to create a spacious open plan layout for the kitchen, living and dining areas. Much of this program expanded into the area previously occupied by the garage.
Having first resolved many of the issues that pertained to the building's interior layout, we were then able to express these changes in the building's exterior design. For example, the newly expanded second floor was treated at the exterior as a distinctly separate massing from the first floor. This was in part accomplished through the means of material selection; a warm cedar plank cladding was used at the first floor to contrast a cooler grayish-blue clapboard siding at the second floor. A three-foot cantilever at one end of the building also playfully draws a distinction between the first and second floors. The garage, now separated from the building's living quarters, was reincorporated into the overall massing of the house by connecting it with an awning that wraps around the facade into the covered breezeway.
Built by Builders Atelier : Photos by Sue Daley and Steve Gross
