Archi Awards Honor Architects

Paul Masi, of Bates Masi + Architects in East Hampton, can’t help but laugh when he describes the trial and error it took to design a two-story, 600-square-foot house in Amagansett.

“It’s a small house because when the owners approached us they had a footprint defined by a court,” Mr. Masi said. “It baffled us.”

A couple had purchased land just 500 feet from the Atlantic Ocean more than 40 years ago and lived in a house on the property. As time went on, room was needed for their adult children to come visit so they opted to build another house on the rest of the property, near the water. But it was a hurdle to get state, county and town zoning and environmental codes to permit the 15-foot-by-20-foot beach house—which added up to the minimum amount of square footage East Hampton code requires.

Bates Masi + Architects was one of the big winners recognized by the American Institute of Architects Long Island Chapter last month for excellence. Several architectural firms received Archi Awards and commendations for residential and commercial building and renovation projects at a variety of price points.

Mr. Masi won an Archi for that tiny house—two bedrooms, two baths—in the under $1 million category. He also received commendation for a house on Acton Cove in Annapolis in Maryland in the over $3 million category, for a home near Georgica Pond in East Hampton in the $1 million to $3 million category and for a 5,000-square-foot commercial facility under $4 million on North Main Street in East Hampton.

Michael Lomont, of Stelle Lomont Rouhani Architects in Bridgehampton, earned his firm an Archi for an East Hampton home in the over $3 million category.

“When we design any house, we incorporate the sights, certainly; the orientation, definitely; the weather exposure,” Mr. Lomont said. “House design and site design needs to be developed simultaneously. This house is at the top of a bluff overlooking Gardiners island. It’s a spectacular sight.”

James Merrell, of the firm that bears his name in Bridgehampton, built a home in the hamlet that won him an Archi in that price point.

“Some people call it a modern barn; I call it a Bridgehampton villa,” Mr. Merrell said. “It’s not rustic, but it’s more refined than a barn. It’s mathematic. I think people have lost the idea that houses are meant to be lived in. The deeper the complexity in the design the more you come to understand it over time. The contemporary design of the day—that beauty wears off eventually.”

Mr. Merrell also received a commendation in the same category for transforming a 1930s bungalow into a bungalow-barn hybrid on Jobs Lane next door.

A residential house along the shore in North Haven priced at over $3 million won Leroy Street Studio, a New York City-based architectural firm, an Archi Award. The cedar-faced modern home in the woods overlooks Noyac Bay with large walls of glass, a covered outdoor courtyard and bedrooms on the second floor.

Murphy Burnham & Buttrick Architects in New York City also was awarded in that price point for a mahogany shiplap-sided house in Bridgehampton with an expansive great lawn that is situated on a piece of land between Sams Creek inlet and the Atlantic Ocean. The main floor has an open floor plan combining an informal kitchen-dining-living room, while the upper floor includes the master suite, large windows and roof-top decking.

Grade New York Architecture + Interior Design, which is based in Manhattan, received a commendation for a 10,500-square-foot house in Sagaponack in the same category, which also featured shiplap and bleached oak, Italian marble, limestone, white lacquer and polished nickel.

Blaze Makoid Architecture in Bridgehampton received a commendation for a pool house in East Hampton.

“The idea was that it was a way to extend the physical use of the property so that it was a standalone, destination place and self-sustaining,” Mr. Makoid said.

He received a commendation in the over $3 million category for the 10,000-square-foot modern spec house last year.

Desai Chia Architecture and SPG Architects, both based in New York City, were bestowed Archis for homes in the $1 million to $3 million range.

SPG’s 5,000-square-foot house features two rectangular wings reaching out toward Peconic Bay in Hampton Bays. The center acts as an entryway to the five bedrooms across the two floors. The exterior features sandy palettes of natural grays, beiges and taupe stone as well as bronze-colored windows.

The Desai Chia project was in Montauk, built for Jonathan Yellen, executive vice president and general counsel of luxury hotel owner FelCor Lodging Trust. Mr. Yellen bought and razed a termite-infested cottage from the 1960s a block from the beach for under $1 million. Architect Katherine Chia, a classmate from Amherst College, built a 4,600-square-foot beach house in its place. The two stories, plus a basement, include a living room, dining room, two studies, half bath and master bedroom suite is on the top floor, and a family room and three bedrooms on the ground floor.

Oza Sabbeth Architects in Bridgehampton took home an Archi for a residence on Noyac Road in Sag Harbor. It was inspired by fine art painter-turned architect Peter Sabbeth’s sustainable home with burnt cedar Shou Sugi Ban siding, green roofs, smooth concrete stucco, blond white oak and Terrazzo floors. The master is on the first floor of the 3,000-square-foot home. Mr. Sabbeth is the founder of the Bridgehampton-based home building company, Modern Green Home.

The firm also designed the guest house in the back, which was not part of the award.

Of note, Nick Martin, of Sagaponack-based Martin Architects, received a commendation for an estate on a historic street on the outskirts of Baltimore, Maryland, in the over $ 3 million category.