Intervals of Metal

by Christopher Brinckerhoff | February 1, 2021 12:00 am

“At first glance, it was kind of an interesting spot. And then as we were clearing the lot, we uncovered this granite milestone, which is the slab of granite that’s about 3 inches by 12 inches and sticking out of the ground at a couple of feet,” Zalneraitis says.

He would later learn there were old granite milestones all along what was at a time a road skirting a coastal estuary between two villages.

Zalneraitis, who is an architect at Bates Masi + Architects in East Hampton and designed his residence, recalls thinking of the milestone, “That’s really interesting. So, I said how can I use this as a sort of driver for the design? What is a milestone? It’s something man-made out of the most permanent material available, and driven into the earth at evenly spaced intervals over a distance. How can I realize that on my property?”

Zalneraitis’ vision became a house with alternating solid and open volumes. Three solid volumes are clad with gray, vertical standing seam metal panels and two open volumes are constructed with glazing, screened panels and wood trim. In fact, he ultimately dubbed the house Milestone.

“I said, I’ll take a material that’s extraordinarily durable, something that lasts, something that looks man-made and make a series of identical volumes evenly spaced apart that look like they’re pushed into the earth. And that’s how I came on to metal because it looks man-made, it looks artificial, but it looks elegant. And the other aspect of the metal that I really liked is the folded standing seam shingle gave a directionality to the surfaces of the volumes and give them a vertical presence as if they were driven into the ground.”

To further emphasize the solidity of the metal-clad volumes, the metal cladding continues from the exterior to the interior, completely wrapping them.

“It was about maintaining the rigor and clarity of these three metal boxes. If I were to use more conventional man-made materials in the connectors in between them, I don’t think that the three metal boxes would read as distinct elements and that would weaken the concept of the house.”

In addition to emphasizing the solidity and man-made-ness of the solid volumes, which house private spaces, continuing the metal cladding and other materials from the exterior into the interior contributes to a sense the open volumes, with floor to ceiling glazing and screened spaces, feel as open and connected to the outdoors as possible, Zalneraitis says.

“I really wanted to feel when I was occupying either the screened porch or the living room that I was sitting in an outdoor space. On the screened porch, you’re literally doing that. And then the living room, it feels like you’re sitting outdoors because all of the materials that you’re seeing are exterior-grade materials. You can see the wood decking flow into the interior, and you’re framed end-to-end between two glass walls that are filled with trees, the sky, lawn and nature. I also wanted to maintain continuity of material.”

Another benefit of the standing seam cladding, which is aluminum, is its weather-resistant durability. “The house lies across the street from a harbor susceptible to flooding in strong storms,” Zalneraitis says. “As a practical matter, corrosion-resistant painted aluminum was an ideal material to clad the house, as it extends all the way down to ground level.”

To complete the project, Dan Loos Inc., East Hampton, general contractor, installed 2,800 square feet of Allentown, Pa.-based ATAS International Inc.’s Standing Seam Shingles. The 16-inch by 60-inch, 0.032-inch-thick aluminum panels have four-way interlocking edges and a 70% PVDF gray painted finish.

Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/articles/intervals-of-metal/

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