The Shell House is a retreat home located in the Catskill Mountains. DAAM remodeled the kitchen, entry foyer and HVAC system to accommodate contemporary living needs while maintaining the existing aesthetics and quirkiness of the shotcrete dome structure, both of which are beloved by our client. Operating within the unique spatial constraints of the dome’s oblate ellipsoid geometry, we developed a design strategy that opened up the kitchen floor plan and reoriented the room to alleviate problematic head clearance issues where the existing cabinetry intersected the doubly-curved walls. Borrowing from the dome’s sinuous lines, we created a series of soft-edged ‘island’ units, tethered by a horizontal countertop surface, to produce an overall spatial composition that organically wraps the curvilinear surfaces of the room. The curvaceous theme is then elaborated further in various details - the front door lites, kitchen drawer pulls and tile pattern.