Stelle Architects
From our beginning in 1985 Stelle Architects have maintained a vision of high quality sustainable architecture. We believe in a non-invasive, and low maintenance approach to both design and construction. Inspired by indigenous forms and materials, we strive to create environments that respect and celebrate the beauty and fragility of the natural landscape in which our buildings are sited. We set out to marry sustainable design principles with a modern and inquisitive spirit that reflects the legacy of experimental design. Our philosophy of "less is more" applies to the architecture as well as the program. We are committed to reducing the impact of new architecture on the environment by reworking pre-existing structures, recycling materials, and preserving native plant species whenever possible. A smaller footprint is one of our primary goals.
While Stelle Architects offer a wide range of non-residential services, we specialize in single-family beach dwellings and second homes. We believe that houses should be places of inspiration and self-discovery. Our designs begin with the unique character of a given site and develop in response to the light, breezes, views, contours and neighboring structures. Low-lying silhouettes may be used to echo the lines of land and sea. Floor-to-ceiling windows bring the outdoors inside while discretely placed terraces and decks can expand the sense of space while helping to define the architecture in relation to its natural surroundings.
Select Residential Projects
Architecture and nature have been fully integrated in this oceanfront setting that includes guest quarters, a garage and a two-story house clad in horizontal slats of Alaskan yellow cedar and anodized aluminum windows. The natural dunescape was restored with beach grass, bayberry and other native plants. A sun deck and a free-form, chlorine-free swimming pool were also added. The remodeled house and guesthouse are equipped with geothermal heating/cooling and photovoltaic electric panels.
A rolling six acre site is carefully traversed by a winding half mile sand covered driveway. The 90 foot long steel, glass and wood box is cantilevered from a perpendicular concrete plinth, exposing its structure for a tectonic clarity. The south facing wall of the structure is covered with rolling wooden louvered panels to screen the summer sun. Under the structure, one enters a private outdoor sitting room and fireplace area, surrounded by dunes and native vegetation.
The center public spaces are open to the front and rear patios, while the private spaces are placed at the four corners. The polished concrete floor flows throughout the interior and exterior patios. The pool is located in the north-west corner of the patio allowing the water to flow over two sides. A concerted effort in choosing the materials, their intersections, and details was undertaken to promote a minimal, peaceful co-existence with the inherent beauty of a spectacular, unspoiled site.
Legend Park is comprised of 500 luxury condominiums are contained within 5 main buildings, varying in height from 18-24 stories, and 20 townhouses of 3 stories. The buildings are organized around central landscape spaces; the green-water system and plazas and gardens. The project incorporates advanced environmentally sensitive and sustainable design features which will enhance the quality of life for its residents, and set a high standard for future development within the city.
The design responds to the site’s foremost demand, which is to open itself up to the seascape. A succession of terraces modulates the terrain, defining areas in which the house ties in with spaces outdoors: a sculpture garden, a dining loggia, a sun terrace, and a pool. The house operates on three levels, with most of the key living spaces and guest quarters on the ground floor. The first floor consists of a master suite, a family room that opens to a porch and two bedrooms for the children.
This award-winning project reflects the small-is-beautiful vernacular of Fire Island's beach house culture. The bulk of the house is broken into three distinct but interconnected parts--parent's, children's and general living space--each propped on posts to keep it above flood waters and each using a choice of materials that make the architecture blend into the low-lying, sandy terrain of Fire Island: corrugated concrete roofing, galvanized steel railings, red cedar and cement panel siding.
Stelle Architects has overseen the ongoing design of this landmark house over a twenty year period and guided its development from bachelor pad to a family retreat. The goal was to preserve the 19th-century farmhouse and bring it into the 21st Century. The old structure was stripped and rebuilt with a new foundation, basement, kitchen, and fireplaces. A later addition for two children with a bed, bath and playroom, underscores the evolving and modern use of the house.
The client, a New York art dealer, loved her 700-square-foot beach bungalow but found herself overwhelmed by a neighboring Mac-mansion. Stelle Architects came to the rescue and expanded the old bungalow with a thoroughly modern 1,100-square-foot addition. A glassed-in breezeway separates old from new and serves as a transitional space between the ground-hugging bungalow and the elevated addition. Clerestory windows wrap around the entire house and give the interior an airy, light-headed feeling.
The house is perched high on a bluff and echoes the footprint of an older house that formerly occupied the site. While thoroughly a product of the 21st Century, it retains the spirit of a classic 50s beach house. A breezeway connects two pavilions, one part made from clear cedar siding with a sloping shed roof, the other part in cement stucco. The new layout includes four bedrooms, an open living/dining area and second-floor master bedroom suite.
A venerable 1920's house of 4,800 square feet was renovated and a modern addition of 900 square feet wraps around one side, mediating old and new for this garden site in Zurich. The architecture of the addition--with new kitchen and master bedroom--manages to be sympathetic to the scale of the original residence without being overtly contextual. Pale wood siding and screens of tempered glass create a harmonious juxtaposition to traditional Swiss elements.
