New Work In Progress
Over 25 years and hundreds of successful projects later, we remain committed to design that is lasting and noteworthy, and craft that sustains, inspires and works in harmony with the beautiful, natural environment.
Here we share select projects in progress. These three distinct houses—designed to meet individual client ideas and site needs—are now being built and landscaped in three different Cape Cod environments.
- Location
- Harborfront, Mid Cape Cod, MA
- Scope of Work
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Architecture
Landscape Architecture
Construction
Hole-In-One Transformation
The property is beautifully sited on both the waterfront and the golf course. The existing house is fairly new and when our clients purchased the property, they wanted to keep it, and also fix its orientation to the street and add additional space. Our additions and renovations will give it the grand character typical in the neighborhood.
CHALLENGE
The existing house was built on a pan-handle lot. A long driveway led to the house where the garage doors faced the street. The design originally made sense, but when the previous owners bought the adjacent lot, the street frontage changed and now the house presented awkwardly to the public. It was difficult to even find the front door. When our clients purchased the property, they wanted to reorient the house to fix the entry scenario. They also sought to add a pool and guest house/pool house. The garage wing of the existing house was transformed into living space.
DESIGN INNOVATIONS
To keep most of the existing house, while renovating and adding on, we created a new front section flanked by two octagonal towers. This makes the existing house now the back wing. The new front is connected to the new guest house/pool house/garage. One face of the octagonal tower faces the guest house at a 45 degree angle to create enough room for the new pool.
“Keeping the existing house made the project less wasteful than tearing down a well-built but unsuited house to start again from scratch. The clients believed that together we could make something special out of it and they were right.”
- Location
- Seaside, Lower Cape Cod, MA
- Scope of Work
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Architecture
Landscape Architecture
Construction
Oasis by the Ocean
Sitting uphill from the water on a private site, this property features a main house, connected guest/pool house, and abundant outdoor living spaces. There is outlook to the ocean through a view corridor—an opening between the trees that reveals a spectacular view. The house is oriented to take advantage of the opening to the view. The first-floor living spaces facing the ocean have full height glass windows and doors.
CHALLENGE
This coastal site has conservation restrictions that protect the trees, a coastal bank, and wetlands. Because of this, site development was limited and required careful planning to maximize its potential. It was also desirable for the pool house to have a separate character from the main house, but regulatory requirements dictated that they be connected. To accomplish this, the two are joined by a breezeway.
DESIGN INNOVATIONS
Down a winding country road, this house and its entry are designed to be seen from the road, but do not face it. The driveway crosses in front of the entry and leads to garage doors concealed to the public. The house is based on the classic Shingle Style, but is very horizontal, with a broad gable and big roof overhangs. Outdoor living is a focal point at the property, with a long back porch, large screened-in porch, outdoor kitchen, cascading terraces, fire pit, and infinity-edge pool. There is extensive stonework in the landscape.
“People think of the Cape as having a unique character, but it has many different natural and architectural characters. We’re proud that we can succeed in design work in very different contexts, and at very different scales.”
- Location
- Seaside, Outer Cape Cod, MA
- Scope of Work
-
Architecture
Landscape Architecture
Construction
Net Zero, High Drama
A new house for a special site atop a bluff, with a panoramic view across the bay and of Provincetown’s skyline, is designed around the sun. Our client is seeking net-zero energy use and asked for a design to maximize solar energy collection. The house will not only have a large array of solar panels, but also geothermal heating and cooling. This requires wells to be dug into the Earth to capture a consistent moderate temperature, in addition to the house having extra-thick walls and triple-glazed windows.
CHALLENGE
This coastal community is one of open, rolling hills, and the houses that exist there are by nature ‘objects.’ The shed roof forms, which make up the bulk of the house, are designed to capture southern sun exposure—and that exposure is to the side of a house that is otherwise oriented toward views to the west. The three-part roof design eventually set the tenor for the whole.
DESIGN INNOVATIONS
It’s not very common to see a house where contemporary and vernacular styles merge. This house is wood-clad, but not shingled; it has window divisions, but not small panes. The setting—a stark, historic, and highly specific landscape—demands the house itself become a work of art suited to its rare and beautiful environment.
“It’s interesting to see how the starting point of maximizing southern exposure for a roof affects the ultimate form of a house with views to its west and north.”
PSD provides a highly collaborative process that is as special as the building they create.