This modern beach house, situated in Westhampton Beach, overlooks a a scenic wetlands preserve. The hybrid structure is comprised of cantilevered steel and engineered wood. The entire house is raised up a full story to provide resilience from hurricanes, flooding and other extreme weather conditions prone to this site location. The facade is comprised of a clear cedar rain screen system and an ivory colored porcelain tile rainscreen. On the first level, the concrete walls are clad in an ebony basalt stone which provides a dark contrast to the white tile and cedar walls above. The wildly cantilevered forms appear to levitate due to the darker base below and an interesting interlay between indoor and outdoor, light and shadow.

In addition to the homes’ resiliency, it is a model for sustainability. With a sensitivity to the wetlands context, the house was built in the same orientation of the previous home and utilizes most of the same footprint. The use of low e windows, solar roof panels, recycled materials, low flow plumbing fixtures and all native landscaping will help contribute towards the project’s goal of achieving LEED Gold certification.