Maryann Thompson Architects design the Bluff House, occupying the crest of a windblown bluff overlooking the Atlantic and nearby saltwater ponds

Architects: Maryann Thompson Architects
Location: Chappaquiddick, Massachusetts, USA
Photo courtesy: Chuck Choi Architectural Photography
Description:

“Bluff House solves the clients’ request to create a light-filled, yet sun-sheltered place of habitation, concealed from intermittent harsh weather while visually open to enjoy a panorama of distinct views.

Occupying the crest of a windblown bluff overlooking the Atlantic and nearby saltwater ponds, the house’s interior situates the occupant between an earthen stone plinth and light trapezoidal roof forms. Shifting and skewed roof planes simultaneously shelter and open the jagged and tautly stretched building envelope.

Varied interior and exterior spatial, lighting, and viewing conditions heighten the awareness of site and allow the user to occupy the house in response to the ever-changing environment. The roof planes reciprocate the formal qualities of the bluff, windswept cedars and cresting waves of the Atlantic below.

The building’s interior continues the cedar tongue and groove cladding, creating visual continuity to the outside, as well as offering a sense of craft and tectonic similar to the local boat-building traditions.The structure’s complex form navigates highly restrictive building envelope limitations and utilized portions of a pre-existing cape to avoid an arduous review process.”