Charles Rose Architects

Jun 2010

Commissioned by: Violinist Joshua Bell Scope: 4,000 square feet; two floors and roof; formal entry and living space on top floor; bedrooms, office and media room below; planted roof terrace with spa, fireplace, pergola, outdoor shower and dining area. It was a straightforward request, and unlike any we’d heard: Look to a 300-year-old Gibson Stradivarius as a touchstone for a contemporary penthouse design. That was the starting point of our collaboration with Joshua Bell, who wanted to turn two floors and a roof of an old manufacturing plant into his New York home and salon in the Flatiron District. Bell was interested in replicating the richness and warmth of the violin’s woods, plus its graceful details—the shape of the f-holes, for example, and curves of the waist. Also important to him was creating a salon space for the performances he likes to host for friends on occasion and putting fireplaces on all three floors. We organized the spaces on the upper floor around a dramatic oxidized steel-and-glass stair situated along the east wall and leading to a rooftop atrium. Light pours through the atrium into the centrally located living room, which is defined by a change in the floor level and further separated from the adjacent dining and kitchen area by a limestone hearth. Two steps up, on the northern end, is the study, which Bell can convert to performance space; a proscenium curtain is there for dramatic effect. Bell’s ideas dictated the choice of reclaimed bubinga wood for the wide plank floors and the reclaimed wenge, a dark wood, used for millwork and the dining room table we designed. Subtle details draw from Bell’s Stradivarius, too: The stair handrail, also wenge, has a subtle curve that echoes the waist; stainless steel grilles are an abstracted f-hole shape. Running the length of the west wall is a line of wenge wood that starts as a banquette in the dining room, continues as a window seat; and ultimately joins the fireplace in the study; Bell told Architectural Digest it reminds him of a fingerboard of a violin. Materials: Bubinga; wenge; glass; alabaster; limestone; blackened steel; glass planks; stainless steel; granite; limestone pavers; cedar; copper; leather. Completed: 2010 Collaborators: General Contractor: Riverside Builders Landscape Architect: VertNY, Inc. Mechanical Engineer: D’Antonio Consulting Engineers P.C. Lighting Consultant: PHT Lighting Design Inc. Code Consultant: J. Callahan Consulting Inc. - See more at: http://www.charlesrosearchitects.com/projects/joshua-bell-penthouse/#sthash.wx3VXVO4.dpuf

New York, NY

Jun 2010

Commissioned by: Private couple with children Scope: Indoor and outdoor sitting and dining areas; kitchenette; outdoor shower; bath/changing area; 1,500 SF deck with in-ground hot tub; fire pit with built-in seating. A contemporary Polynesian hut: that was the idea our clients brought us when they asked Charles Rose Architects to do a second project on their expansive property on the Charles River, southwest of Boston. All agreed that the new pool house should be wood construction—in part, to create a similar look and feel to the first project we designed there, a “play barn” with two large rooms, separated by an outdoor space that frames views of an adjacent pond. Our clients had won approval from a local conservation commission for a rectangular structure. We started by carving out a corner, creating a spacious covered outdoor sitting area. The heavy timber frame supports a modified gabled roof; the peak is pulled off-center so that the pool house subtly connects with the geometry of the play barn. Red cedar was used throughout, creating rich, warm hues from exposed beams, custom doors and millwork. Materials: Douglas fir heavy timber frame; western red cedar; mahogany windows; ipe; stone; bamboo. Completed: 2010 See more at: http://www.charlesrosearchitects.com/projects/pool-house/#sthash.AN10Brs6.dpuf

Westwood, MA

Jun 2004

Commissioned by: Newly married couple with children Scope: Major addition, renovation. Contemporary two-story bar joined to existing three-story Colonial; on 1st floor new kitchen, dining and living space; master bedroom and individual offices for couple on 2nd; renovation of spaces adjoining addition to match open, contemporary feel. Charles Rose Architects rarely work on renovations. In this case, the original house was a Colonial box with vinyl siding; it was poorly sited, and a garage cut it off from a spacious yard. Yet it had charm: cozy rooms, a downstairs bedroom suite, and ample usable space. The project called for, in essence, adding a house to the existing house, and the complexity and challenge proved too hard to resist. Our design created a slot for the addition by demolishing the garage and using surplus driveway space. This move anchored the new house in the landscape while ensuring that it wouldn't eat up valuable green space, despite its large scale. The most challenging aspect was one of fit: by style and scale. Stylistically, we were marrying a modern glass and copper house to a Colonial. Moreover, integration was daunting: the high-ceilings and open volumes of the planned addition did not align with the Colonial's tighter and more compressed spaces. To confront the central challenge of stitching together old and new, we used strategies that both hid and heightened transitions. Outside, we put a new wrapper on the Colonial: a cedar box. We kept practically everything as it was: window frames became sculptural indentations; old panes were replaced with single sheets of glass. Inside, we put a three-story atrium, topped by six large skylights; where old and new meet. We made this the formal entryway: The front door leads visitors into a small vestibule that opens into the atrium. A steel-and-glass stair climbs from the stone atrium floor to upper level of the addition. A second sculptural stair, a steel-and-glass bridge, crosses the atrium and links the second floors in the addition and the Colonial, heightening the contrast. A curtain wall of glass runs the length of the kitchen and living spaces, bringing the outdoors inside. The plan is open; the ground-floor stair, granite dining room server and bluestone fireplace are designed to delineate room areas. Materials: Bright copper; cedar; painted steel; mahogany and Alaskan yellow cedar windows; flagstone; beech; bamboo; rosewood; patinated stainless steel. Completed: 2004

Belmont, MA

Jun 2004

Commissioned by: Couple with three grown children and extensive art collection Scope: Stand-alone office tower; guest house with painting studio; bunk room set off from main house; wine cellar; open floor plan with large walls to display art. Orleans House occupies one of the easternmost points in the U.S., a place exposed to salt water, light, sky, marsh, bay, barrier beach, and open ocean. Tides, wind, and waves are forever remaking the landscape; here is a world in motion. We let these elements guide us as we began designing. Built on a bluff overlooking the Atlantic, Orleans House is a set of active forms that express free movement. The house follows a ridgeline, which begins at the bunkhouse and steps up toward the water and formal entryway. There, it reaches a commanding point on the bluff, turns a corner and opens dramatically to the water. On one side is the master bedroom; on the other is a sequence of public spaces—living, dining, and kitchen—that are book-ended by an office tower. A terrace and spa separate it from the main house. Structurally, the house is a hybrid, with load-bearing walls and clerestory windows landside, and stainless-steel columns opposite, which allow the use of expansive glass windows seaside. The public spaces capture light, sky and water views, but sunlight is modulated by clerestory windows and fixed louvers. The effect in daytime is one of highly ambient light. A notable feature is the sculptural main stair that starts as glass (bringing light to the lower level), becomes folded wood and ends as open wood risers. While an anomaly among the weather-beaten shingled Cape houses, Orleans House is so tightly integrated with the landscape that it’s tough to spot from Pleasant Bay. Materials: Board-formed concrete; granite; copper; mahogany windows; cedar; fir; acoustical plaster; jatoba; pre-cast concrete; glass planks; patinated stainless steel. Completed: 2004 Collaborators: General Contractor: Homes By Sisson Inc. Landscape Architect: Stephen Stimson Associates Civil Engineer: Coastal Engineering Company, Inc. Structural Engineer: RSE Associates, Inc. Metalwork: Cape Cod Fabrications, Inc. Lighting Consultant: Reflex Lighting Group, Inc. - See more at: http://www.charlesrosearchitects.com/projects/orleans-house/#sthash.fWJ7Ky5k.dpuf

Orleans, MA

Jun 2004

Commissioned by: Couple in Cambridge, Ma., who wanted year-round ocean house. Scope: One story landside, three stories waterside; open interior plan. Only a short slope and a rocky shore separate JIB House from the Atlantic Ocean. Such a spectacular perch—and lack of serious height restrictions—should have made our job of creating an airy interior with sweeping views a straightforward one. Not so. Our clients were determined that their new contemporary house not obstruct their neighbors’ views. Our solution was to survey neighbors, map their views and generate graphically a three-dimensional building envelope, which allowed us to determine the maximum height and mass of the house. While a concession to the neighborhood, it did not force us to compromise on our clients’ wishes for high ceilings, expansive views and open spaces. Here, we’re aided by the sloping angle of the site, which allowed us to stretch the height waterside to three stories without exceeding the building envelope. Seen from the surrounding landscape, JIB House is a hybrid: Landside, the house is low and an understated presence among its more traditional neighbors; it buffers wind and salt spray, creating an intimate south-facing courtyard through which visitors approach. Opposite, the house opens dramatically as the slope drops and the roof rises like a sail; the north side is a three-story wall of windows. A large folding roof plane on the western side creates a bold form that offers shade when the sun is in the southwest. Below, we sited a pool close to the ocean to connect swimmers with the water beyond. Materials: Cast-in-place concrete; exposed aggregate; granite; mahogany cladding and windows; copper; bamboo; stainless steel; acoustical plaster; glass pavers. Completed: 2004 Collaborators: General Contractor: Thoughtforms Corp. Landscape Architect: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc. Acoustical Consultant: Cavanaugh Tocci Associates, Inc. Lighting Consultant: Reflex Lighting Group, Inc. A/V Consultant: Spearit Sound - See more at: http://www.charlesrosearchitects.com/projects/jib-house/#sthash.Z2yXus6p.dpuf

Gloucester, MA

Jun 2001

Commissioned by: Private individual with children Scope: Adaptive reuse of light industrial building in Chelsea: 3-story single family home at top, with retail on ground floor and 2nd floor rental apartment. This project started with an old brick building, just yards from Manhattan’s High Line. Our client wanted a contemporary home in historic Chelsea, plus space for retail and residential tenants. Historic guidelines required that we keep the façade. Everything else on the 50-foot by 100-foot lot was demolished. In its place installed a piling system and steel structure to support the design, which doubled the number of stories of the original building. The house, occupying the uppermost stories, begins on the third floor. Approach is by a long interior stair from the street that, at the top, opens into a garden; the house wraps around on three sides. The garden is both entryway and center—an airy void that offers a counterweight to the dense urban surroundings. Our intent was to make an aperture for daylight to illuminate the interiors and through which occupants visually connect to the home’s layered spaces. Each floor of the house has spaces for sitting, recreation or taking in views of the skyline: a deck runs the length of the second-floor; the third floor has a garden and basketball court. Materials: Stucco; copper; painted steel; mahogany windows; pigmented concrete; exposed aggregate concrete; cedar; maple; oak; stainless steel. Completed: 2001 Collaborators: General Contractor: Higgins Construction Mechanical Engineer: Reynaldo C. Prego Consulting Engineers - See more at: http://www.charlesrosearchitects.com/projects/west-22nd-street/#sthash.fsye8t1y.dpuf

New York, NY