House on the Gulf of Mexico I
Casey Key, FL, USA
1999

House on the Gulf of Mexico I, the guest house to a 1957 house designed by Paul Rudolph, is on a 535-foot wide sand bar near Sarasota, Florida, with the Gulf of Mexico to the west and Sarasota Bay to the East.  The gulf side is a protected sea turtle habitat; the bay side a protected manatee habitat.  The house is built on the footprint of a structure destroyed by hurricanes.  The densely planted site is exposed to extreme climate—hurricanes, floods, downpours, and strong sun.  To protect from hurricanes, storm surges and flooding, the house is raised seventeen feet above sea level.  Sheltered by live oaks, palms and mangroves, it is reached by an exterior stainless steel staircase.  The stair becomes the new "center" of the house to connect and separate activities within.

The construction responds to the intensities of this climate.  Concrete foundation piles are driven twenty-one feet into the sand.  Concrete grade beams and pile caps support cast-in-place concrete piers.  The habitable space is raised on "pilotis" above wave crest height.  The pilotis also respond to the trees on the site: the bulk of the building is within the dense tree canopy providing privacy and shade.  The floor slabs, also poured-in-place concrete, are supported by concrete masonry shear walls and steel tube columns.  Window frames are steel; glazing is clear, opaque or translucent as needed to protect from glare and heat gain.

The design has been conceived as a tribute to the legacy of the "Sarasota School," a group of architects led by Paul Rudolph  and Ralph Twitchell, who practiced in the area from the early 1940's through the mid-'60's.  The vocabulary of their work such as protective roof planes and concrete blocks is reinterpreted in a more compact volume, incorporating a longer life span and ease of maintenance required by the unique climate of the site.

Credits:

Design Team: Toshiko Mori, Dwayne Oyler
Contractor: Michael K. Walker & Associates
Structural: Stirling and Wilbur Engineering Group
Landscape: Quennell Rothschild & Partners

Photographs © Paul Warchol