Steel Structure in this Remodeled 60s House Creates a Floating Roof
Architect Jim Rill knew how to handle the remodel of this 1962 home by Ulrich Franzen because it told him. No, not literally—but its rare steel structure spoke to Rill, even after previous remodels “bastardized” the original design.
“They had modified a lot of the interior detailing, and we saw through that with our client and stripped it down to its original, strong concept of architecture,” says Rill of Rill Architects in Bethesda, Md. “The house was strong, and the concept was obvious to us.”
Thankfully, a client with similar taste and desire to return the Gibson Island, Md. home back to its original glory made this remodel plan easy for Rill—after they removed the lower-level indoor pool, elevator, and interior walls. Rill also modernized the functional spaces and pulled the home further into the landscape with new outdoor spaces.
A New Open Floor Plan... Without Interior Walls
The home’s original exterior steel structure and glass made the design plan clear for Rill. These elements told the architect what the home longed for: no interior walls.
Franzen, the original architect, designed many “floating roofs” in his residential work, making this island home no different. However, one of the original homeowners sold steel for the now closed Bethlehem Steel, making this steel structure and floating roof more personal.
Rill maintained the floating roof detail with clerestory windows throughout the interior, allowing light to flow in through every partial wall in the home. And where there’s privacy on the front with the masonry facade, the rear of the home is entirely glass.
Privacy wasn’t too important for the homeowners though, who use this spot as their summer escape. The homeowners have large barn doors that act more like optional partitions between the primary bedroom and the open living space.
The kitchen is tucked away on the main floor, atypical for an average open floor plan that usually includes a large open kitchen. It’s an area of the home that makes a statement against the stone, wood, and dark tile with its bright white palette. Rill didn’t want this to take away from the natural views.
He also was tasked with updating the kitchen and bathrooms while returning to a mid-century modern look, so he did so with simplicity in mind.
“Make it simple enough that it doesn't detract but keeps the focus on the organic materials and the outside,” says Rill.
Opening the home also opened the project team up to challenges with HVAC and plumbing. The opening up and designing was the easy part, says Rill, and figuring out how to hide the systems in a home built decades ago without compromising the architect was the challenging part.
It required innovation to hide ductwork within the structure, but in many parts of the home, Rill embraced the exposed systems.
“When it did expose itself, we responded in some form to make it integral with the design, so that it didn't look like we covered something up,” says Rill.
Enhancing the Outdoors
During one of the home’s many previous remodels, homeowners chose to install a lower-level indoor pool and central elevator. Both elements disrupted areas of the home that could otherwise be used as functional space.
Rill and the team filled the pool, converted the space into a gathering place, and built an exterior pool on the tricky sloped site located within 1,000 of the Chesapeake Bay.
It made engineering more challenging, but for the design, Rill wanted something fitting for the natural landscape. They chose wood for the outdoor terrace so the connection to the space would be most fitting and it would not detract from the home.
“A terrace made out of wood is that much more soft and part of the land, and it felt better it was wood just because of the way it dropped off," says Rill.
Despite the home’s inaccurate remodels, the original design spoke to Rill, and the result is true and strong. He says every person that enters the home feels the same inspiration he did.
