AIA Peconic Presents Annual Architecture and Design Awards

AIA Peconic recently recognized architects at the 2025 Daniel J. Rowen Memorial Design Awards for outstanding work completed on the East End.

During the awards celebration at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor on Thursday, April 24, AIA Peconic, the East End’s chapter of the American Institute of Architects, presented six awards for design as well as the third annual AIA Peconic Community Award.

In the Architecture category, the Honor Award — the top award — went to Paul Masi of Bates Masi + Architects in East Hampton for Mohegan Trail on Block Island.

According to the project synopsis, the house is a 45-foot-by-45-foot square, gabled saltbox with the uniquely Northeastern character of an object perched amid a rugged coastal landscape. The project was limited by being on a remote island with no cargo boat or barge access, the synopsis notes, and also had to be durable to withstand violent storms and simple to repair due to limited access to tradespeople.

“This project stood out from the field with an integrated sustainability in the design team’s choices regarding the use of 6” of exterior insulation, simple materials, and an effort to limit the use of any steel in the project,” the jurors commented.

Summerhill Landscapes of Sag Harbor contributed to the project as well.

Bates Masi + Architects also took home a Merit Award. Masi and Katherine Dalene Weil earned the award for Walking Dunes in Amagansett. The home was built 9 feet above grade on a grid of slender metal columns for flood protection and to provide ample height below for outdoor living areas, according to the project description. Steel bars between the columns are designed to provide lateral support while also collecting sand as a sand fence would.

“The home above is arranged in 4 volumes, each with its own covered outdoor deck,” the description reads. “This arrangement provides privacy between the entertaining areas and the more intimate family spaces. The glass connections between the volumes, set well back from the facades, reduce the perceived size of the home and allow more daylight to reach the outdoor spaces below.”

“The expressed piers and the well-proportioned, elevated building envelopes drive a clarity of concept that helped this house stand out from its competition in this awards program,” the jurors said.

Partners on Walking Dunes include Men at Work Construction of Wainscott, interior designer Thomas Pheasant of Washington, D.C., and landscape architects from both Stimson, based in Massachusetts, and Summerhill Landscapes.

Katherine Chia and Arjun Desai of Desai Chia Architecture in Manhattan won a Merit Award for Montauk House.

“The house was designed to promote family interaction with easy flow between indoor and outdoor activities and clear sight lines across large sections of the home,” Chia said. “Three terraces allow family activities to spill out to the outdoors.

“The house facade is a combination of exposed concrete and shou sugi ban — a rainscreen of wood that lets the facade breathe,” she continued. “Shou sugi ban is a traditional Japanese process of burning the surface of wood to make it rot-proof and bug-resistant. The wood’s color and texture reference the ubiquitous sand fencing found along Montauk’s coastline while also articulating an iconic, crisp, modern form. The shou sugi ban wood wraps into the interiors, framing the living spaces on the upper floor and cascading down the staircase to the family room.”

The contractor was Aran Construction of East Hampton, with structural engineering by Murray Engineering of Manhattan. Christine Sciulli Light + Design of Amagansett was the lighting designer.

“The unified, sculptural porch volume and the spirited shift in the massing of the staircase help bring the whole project together,” the jurors said. “The jury also appreciated the way the terraces and interior are clearly defined and delineated by the exposed framing between the formal volumes.”

Nilay Oza of Oza Sabbeth Architects in Bridgehampton won a People’s Choice Award in the Historic Preservation and Adaptive Reuse category for Monroe in Hither Hills.

“This project’s original building, with its odd angles and level changes required ingenuity to create coherence,” the project description states. “The architect decided on a system of vertical battens to bridge these levels vertically, and the system they devised uses gaps between the planks to create a rich spatial layering.”

“This is what a house that has been ‘radically reimagined’ looks like,” Oza said.

The builder was Montauk Craftsman.

Steve Soule and James Merrell of Merrell Soule Architects in Sag Harbor won a People’s Choice Award in the Sustainable Architecture Category for Hamptons Potato Barn, a 1938 potato barn in Sagaponack transformed into a residence.

“It’s such an honor to be selected by our peers,” James Merrell said. “This house has a special resonance with the old barn that inspired it. We’re grateful to see that recognized.”

Eve Robinson Associates of Manhattan was the interior designer, and SilverLining Inc., also based in Manhattan, was the builder. The landscape architecture was by Hollander Design of Sag Harbor and Manhattan, and Orsman Design of Southampton was the lighting consultant.

Blaze Makoid and Matt LaBrake of BMA Architects in Bridgehampton won a People’s Choice Award in the architecture category for Calf Creek in Water Mill.

“A transparent glass enclosure bridges the two terracotta pavilions in this project, transforming
the core of the residence into an expansive, light-filled gathering space,” the project description states.

The landscape architecture is by LaGuardia Design Group of Water Mill, the lighting design is by Orsman Design and the interior design is by Pembrooke & Ives of Manhattan.

AIA Peconic presented its community award to Rockman Windows & Doors, a Tri-State window and door supplier based in Westchester. Rockman Windows and Doors has donated to the AIA Peconic scholarship and education fund for years, the chapter noted.

The jurors were Todd Kennedy, a partner at CCY Architects in Basalt, Colorado, outside Aspen; Nicholas Hofstede, the managing director of cultural, institutional, and residential design firm Johnston Marklee in Los Angeles; and Brigitte Shim, a partner at Shim-Sutcliffe Architects in Toronto, Canada. One of the mostly highly regarded design firms in North America, they work for private, public and nonprofit clients and have a long list of accolades for their institutional and residential projects.