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Last week, a bunch of architects played hooky from their offices for the better part of an afternoon.

Few architects will confess to sneaking away during the business day, especially since clients believe that an architect’s attention to their projects should be undivided. That said, all work and no play dampens creative juices. So, every now and then, a little respite from the same old same old is in order.

By now, you’re probably wondering what we possibly could have done that would be so worthwhile and exciting. This group of 20 curious souls simply came to East Hampton to see two houses by their colleague, Maziar Behrooz, AIA. But these weren’t just any two houses—these were houses under construction!

The idea for our afternoon of fun came from architect Maxine Liao, AIA, who had visited one of Mr. Behrooz’s job sites in February and was so taken by the steel skeleton already in place that she lobbied AIA Peconic to set up an informal viewing for the benefit of its members.

Most people think “finished product” when it comes to houses. But for architects, the construction phase of a project can be the most exciting part of the job. This is the time when everything on the plans comes together and is translated into three-dimensional built form. And while most architects will say that they expect a building to look exactly the same as conceived in the plans, the truth is that there are always little surprises that crop up when it’s under construction.

So, with Mr. Behrooz acting as master of ceremonies, our group went to see the first house—a 6,000-square-foot addition to a 5,000-square-foot, 8-year-old house—designed by award-winning architect Alfred de Vido. Mr. Behrooz’s challenge was to add to the de Vido house without disturbing its integrity. To achieve this he created a transparent, bridge-like link between the two structures.

The addition—encompassing a library, four bedrooms, wine cellar with tasting area, garage and caretaker’s wing—sits to the north of the existing house on land where another house had been demolished. The architect positioned the addition in relationship to the shadow it would cast so as not to interfere with the light path over the existing house.

The addition was subordinated to the peaked roof of the existing with a series of lowered, terraced roof gardens. A system of Cor-Ten steel (a form of corrosion-resistant steel that weathers to a rusted finish) planters, hung from roof overhangs with rods and attached to the exterior walls, will provide a screen of vegetative shading for the house in the summer while allowing for passive solar heat gain in the winter.

At the connection between the two houses, the materials change to the rusted steel, reflecting the material of old farm equipment similar to barn door hinges—a symbolic hinge to the new addition. Unlike the existing house, the addition is both informal and non-orthogonal.

The idea was for the two parts of the whole to have a dialogue between one another. The added structure will actually be covered with green roof sections and add almost 10,000 square feet of planting area to the existing landscape.

To achieve all of this, the architect worked with the builder, the engineers and other consultants and employed the Integrated Project Delivery process to reduce costs and add efficiencies to the project. This process promotes a collaborative approach between the various entities involved in the construction process.

Initially, Mr. Behrooz considered the idea of a wood structure. But after consulting with both the builder and engineers, it was determined that the structure, which contains two gravity-defying cantilevers, would be less costly to build in steel. At a cost of $400,000, approximately 170,000 pounds of steel went into the structural framework.

Architect Bill Chaleff and his son, Ben, provided Mr. Behrooz with sophisticated energy-performance calculations to aid in the design of a high velocity air conditioning system.

To view the addition unclad, with its structure exposed, while hearing about the anatomy of this complicated project, our group was able to appreciate the more striking aspects of construction, much of which will be clad over when finished. Drawings pinned to the exterior plywood sheathing told the story from concept to anticipated completion. It was show and tell with a lot of banter, and our group gobbled it up like the hungry breaking a fast.

The other house, located closer to the airport, employed the same design philosophy, but with what will be a totally different outcome. This residence, modeled after an airplane hanger, and initially designed for an artist, was sold during construction to a couple from Oregon.

With Mr. Behrooz retained as architect, the new client forged ahead as a proactive partner in the decision making. The building, which looks, in a wonderful way, as if it has landed from some other world, is really a Quonset hut made from lightweight, prefabricated galvanized steel, bolted together.