Glass house

The modern glass house, situated on a gentle slope of the Westport River, Massachusetts, is designed for leisure and family guests. The architecture reflects the lifestyle of the owners who love to cook and spend time in a large group of friends. RUHL WALKER Architects designed the glass house as two long residential block with glass walls. At the top of the residence are located living room, dining room and kitchen, which have access to an outdoor terrace.

Open space and function rooms, as well as the active use of glass give the impression that the glass house is much more than its actual size.

“The glass house is technically a renovation, recycling an earlier faux “Saltbox Colonial” house’s foundation. Conceptually, two long, low bar-buildings float above sculpted lawn terraces stepping down to the river, sliding past each other to enhance views and cross ventilation. The river-side bar has a ten foot high by eighty foot long continuous wall of glass that frames views of the river, while the inland bar is shorter and more solid, with windows opening to carefully edited views of the woods.  Between the two bars is a compact circulation zone that terminates at one end in a floor-to-ceiling window facing the woods; the main roof drain is directly above, framing a rain-waterfall that spills into a steel-framed, rectangular bed of river rock in the ground below.”