Catskills Residence, NY, 2008
Hemlock House is a Catskills retreat for a Brooklyn couple and their young children. Situated amidst a rich wooded landscape on a lake, this residence design began with the client’s personal reaction to its site: a wish to frame a particular view from his kitchen. With this real human experience as starting point, three parameters emerged to guide the overall house design: view, room adjacency, and proximity, the distance between rooms and overall square footage. Using real data recorded on site, the design team evaluated all functional schematic design options using stochastic algorithm technology developed in conjunction with Stevens Institute. The resulting plan, balances the intangible response to nature and the practical lifestyle needs of an active family with the latest technologies that allow bold design ideas to work. *In collaboration with IAD.