Rectilinear lines meet strong, sculptural furniture

Architecture by Alexander Gorlin Architects

Interior design by David Scott Interiors

From Alexander Gorlin Architects:

This 1114.8m² beach house sits on a sandy rise between the Atlantic Ocean and an inland bay.

The roof terrace offers the rare opportunity of being able to watch the sun rise and set from the same lounge chairs. Upon seeing the views, Gorlin recalled “Janus, the Roman god of doorways and beginnings, who has two heads that gaze in opposite direction.”

Thus inspired, he planned a residence with two radically different facades that seem to belong to different houses. From the shore, one sees a monumental, single-storey rectangle of white limestone whose planes echo the horizon.

A cantilvered zinc awning stretches from the roof out over the poolside terrace to create what Gorlin refers to as a sun loggia.

This shades a wall of glass that is punctuated by a door and window frames, deflecting the sun’s glare from the first floor’s open-plan living area and master bedroom suite.

The massive white stone edifice seems to float weightlessly between the sky and water.

The home’s entrance, which faces the bay side, is a two-storey glass gallery that bisects the main volume. It is framed by two substantial volumes, both clad in a Afromosia wood.

The extruded volume to the left cantilevers offices and a sunroom from the upper level; the two-storey wing to the right contains the children’s bedrooms.

The flat roof deck, which runs the length of the house, is punctuated by angled skylights and nautically inspired chimneys that Gorlin designed as pieces of sculpture.

The homeowner wanted “A spa-like family retreat with an upside-down floor plan and a feeling of openness and serenity. It had to be flexible enough for intimate entertaining or large gatherings. And low maintenance was essential.”

The couple had worked with interior designer David Scott on their apartment in Manhattan.

He recommended architect Alexander Gorlin, who Scott considered a “young master of the Modernist genre,” whose work “had precisely the balance of warmth and rigour” that his homeowners were seeking.

David Scott’s interiors were designed in response to Gorlin’s rectilinear planes.

He selected strong, sculptural furniture pieces that brought nature indoors.

The dining table by John Houshmand is cast in aluminium from a giant slab of oak, while a coral motif runs through Michele Oka Doner’s metal grille work that masks the ductwork of the heating and cooling vents.

Designed by: Architecture by Alexander Gorlin Architects; interior design by David Scott Interiors

Story by: Trendsideas

Photography by: Michael Moran