This house, an AIA Housing Award recipient, was designed by Frank Harmon Architect to tread lightly on its lush site, and to evoke the feeling of living outdoors. The long shape and one-room-deep floor plan create a slender footprint and give each room windows and porches overlooking Shem Creek. Operable windows provide natural cross-ventilation and lighting. Approaching the house under a canopy of moss-draped live oaks and up a gentle ramp, the view of the marsh – replete with blue herons and water lilies – appears like an element in a Japanese painting. A modern interpretation of Charleston’s historic shutters provides protection from harsh weather and summer sun.

Project description, images, and drawings following the break.

Architect: Frank Harmon Architect
Location: Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, USA
Project Team: Frank Harmon FAIA, Erin Sterling AIA
Structural Engineer: 4SE Structural Engineers
Mechanical: Orbit Engineering
Landscape Architect: Judy Harmon ASLA
Geotechnical: S&ME Geotechnical
General Contractor: Design Build Corp.
Project Area: 2,900 spf
Project Year: 2005
Photographs: Richard Leo Johnson, Atlantic Archives, Inc.