The Designer Magazine
Centre for Living
We all understand the importance of ‘the heart of the home’, so a house with a hollow centre definitely deserved a closer look
Situatedin the Southampton area of New York, the Centrifugal Villa is arranged around a hollow centre, as if the heart of the house had somehow fallen outside its body.
The string of subsequent interior spaces are intended by New York architects OBRA to provide an understanding of the whole by sacrificing their individual “geometric cohesiveness” – and perhaps familiar form that we would recognise in more traditional homes - to the fractured configuration of the entire composition.
The experience of the interior is characterized by constantly shifting ‘vanishing points’, at the point in which they meet the rest of the structure on the plan. Large openings cut dormer scoops on the roof, centrifugally releasing the views out to the surrounding landscape.
The house, defined by this idea rather than a formal architectural set of rules, cannibalizes the local ‘vernacular’, distorting it through the hexagonal nature of the plan.
Designed as wood post-and-beam structure, the exterior cladding is detailed with vertical board and batten seams to give continuity to the building exterior and encourage an uninterrupted rhythmic flow around the elevations.
The house includes geothermal heating and incorporates passive energy-saving techniques, including a narrow-section interior to allow natural ventilation and a sequence and layout of dormer windows and openings to allow maximum daylight and minimize artificial lighting needs.
Set on a 5-acre property overlooking a nature reserve, the completed project includes main house, separate guesthouse and garage structure, and poolhouse with poolside pavilion.
It was a project which, according to OBRA founder Pablo Castro, started small but grew and grew in scope – whilst the budget remained static. It meant that finishes remained simple, but the re-sale potential of the property was maximized by expanding the overall structure to include seven bedrooms, a four-car garage and 8,000 square foot.
Designed by Castro and partner Jennifer Lee, they addressed the client’s grand plans by implementing an early idea they had for the site, “the excluded middle”, a court between house and guesthouse that would channel views toward the nature reserve. “We liked the idea of a vacant place where anything can happen,” explains Castro. “The house surrounds a void and spins out - the centrifugal force - toward the view.”
The odd angles and extra planes created by the insertion of the dormers increase the possibilities for varied visual effects, and the corridor, which hides the next door or window around each turn, is full of surprises rather than a long march. The house also has three custom-made fireplaces that add another geometry and focus to rooms.
