New York
Two New York artists, seeking a respite from city life, had lofty energy-saving goals for the renovation of a modest house, built in 1975, on a jagged bluff overlooking Long Island Sound. Shortly after purchasing the 2.5-acre property on the North Fork of Long Island in 2010, the couple tapped New York City–based Ryall Porter Sheridan Architects, a firm with three previous projects nearby, to update the rectangular volume and design a new stand-alone, net-zero, 1,200-square-foot painting studio.
The architects clad the existing three-story, 2,100-square-foot wood-frame structure with timber reclaimed from razed buildings in Brooklyn and softened the rugged wood facade with recessed triple-glazed windows set in aluminum panes. “We wanted that rough look on the outside,” says William Ryall, a firm principal. “Our aim was to make it feel like an artist's cottage in the woods someplace.” The muted interior, containing an open kitchen, dining and living area, an office, and a screened porch, with a master suite above and guest bedroom below, is finished with white and light-gray plywood floors and walls. Wrapped in a thick layer of insulation, the house offers an array of energy-saving bells and whistles: solar panels, windows imported from Germany with an R-value of 11, and an energy-recovery ventilator (ERV) that recovers 90 percent of heat. “The electric bills have been absurdly low,” says Ryall, adding that the clients were charged the minimum of $11 last month. “It's probably the most energy-efficient house on Long Island.”
Completion Date: August 2012
Gross Square Footage: 2,500 square feet
