6.12.2020 | DIGS.NET 37
CANTILEVERED over a bluff, the design
capitalizes on its PROXIMITY TO THE
NATURAL world, mimicking its character
with a limited PALETTE OF MATERIALS
including oak, stone, and glass.
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The architect is the first to admit
that the simplest projects are the most
complex and Writer's Studio follows
suit. "When you look at the pictures
now, the building looks like it is just
sitting out in the middle of the woods,
but imagine having to get trucks and
workmen in there," says Smith, noting
that a corduroy road was installed for
this purpose, boulders were marked
and numbered before being cleared,
and trees protected. "It took about 14
months so that it would feel natural,
like the forest grew up around the
structure," he adds. "It's a small little
jewel, but like a diamond it takes
years of pressure." With the region
having been battered by Hurricanes
Sandy and Rita, the client told Smith:
"If a tree falls on the building, I want it
to stand." So it does. "Fundamentally
it is a structure built to last forever; it
has a robust feel," says Smith, who
credits his collaborators in this effort,
Nordic Custom Builders and D.R.
Pilla Engineers as particularly key
to the project, along with masons
and the mill workers who completed
cabinetry from his mockups. "The
building reads as essential because
while every edge was carefully
studied, no corner was cut," he says.
ericjsmitharchitect.com
