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30SR Project Info
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30SR

30SR is an addition and alteration project on a wooded, sloping site in Darien, Connecticut. Contemporary detailing at the exterior streamlined the façade while referencing the home’s traditional formal elements. Acknowledging the site’s scenic views and suburban density, the fenestration varies in its material, size, and geometry—depending on desired levels of privacy or openness to the environment. And at the interior, existing living spaces gain material simplicity and natural light to create a seamless transition to a new family room addition.

A stained, cedar pergola guides the procession to the entrance, inserting itself at the threshold between public, private, interior and exterior spaces. The glazed foyer bridges two wings of the house and creates a performative element out of the movement between more concealed spaces. The renovation reconfigures traditional rooms and corridors to facilitate fluid circulation that favors playful livability over traditional programmatic hierarchies. The eastern wing was expanded to create a social “jewel box,” the principal gathering space for friends and family. Here, a clerestory window on the street-facing elevation offers measured privacy and juxtaposes the complete openness of the east elevation to the rear yard. The property line and setbacks inform the plan for this light-filled entertainment space.

The new landscape plan responds to the variety of scale and density in the surrounding woods. Modestly sized shrubs and evergreens liberate the new roof and flank the pergola to enhance the approach. Visible from the street below, one reads the project’s rigorously arranged apertures, transparencies, and coexistence with the landscape.

 

Photography by © Timothy Schenck Photography

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