TOSHIKO MORI ARCHITECT

Images: 1 2 3 4 5
LocationCasey Key, FL
OwnerPrivate Residence
ProgramResidential Addition to Modernist Residence
Size2,800 sqf.
The guest house to a 1957 house designed by Paul Rudolph is on a 535-foot wide sand bar near Sarasota Florida. The Gulf of Mexico is to the west, Sarasota Bay to the East. The Gulf side is a protected sea turtle habitat; the bay side a protected manatee habitat. The house is built on the footprint of a structure destroyed by a hurricane. The densely planted site is exposed to extreme climatic conditions - hurricanes, floods, downpours, and strong sun. To protect the house from hurricanes, storm surges and flooding, the house is raised seventeen feet above sea level. Sheltered by live oaks, palms and mangroves, it is reached by an exterior stainless steel staircase. The stair becomes the new "center" of the house to connect and separate activities within.

Photographs © Paul Warchol