The Wissioming Residence is a single family house sited on a heavily wooded lot overlooking the Potomac River in Bethesda, Maryland, United States. This house built in 1.7 acres site area, pies the footprint of a pre-existing house in an effort to minimally disturb the site, removing no mature hardwoods in the process. A new swimming pool is suspended twenty feet above grade to further reduce the impact to the steeply sloping site.

The office space become part of this house to lessen his dependence on the automobile, located on the ground floor of a detached structure separated from the main residence by a reflecting pool. That structure also contains a garage on the first level and a guest suite above. Translucent glass and panels of Kalwall are used to allow the building to serve as a lantern to the main house at night.

Structural pre-cast concrete planks are employed throughout the project in effort to expedite the construction process, span large open areas and to provide the ability to heat the house hydronically. Combined with a 5” concrete slab and terrazzo flooring the structural system provides additional passive heating. Large overhangs on the glazed southern wall and the tree canopy minimize solar gain in the summer.

Wood siding is combined with soft gray terne coated stainless steel and black steel window frames to provide an exterior material palette that fits comfortably in the landscape. Bluestone, gravel and water complete the palette. Interior materials such as white terrazzo flooring, white oak cabinetry and aluminum compliment the light filled and minimally detailed space. The creation of this atmosphere refocuses one’s attention outward, allowing the owner to reconnect with the inherently picturesque site already preserved through the design.

Architects : Robert M. Gurney, FAIA
Photos Courtesy of Robert M. Gurney, FAIA

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 11th, 2011 at 1:22 am and is filed under Contemporary House Design. Tags: bethesda maryland, black steel, concrete slab, Contemporary House, Contemporary House Design, Contemporary Residence, FAIA, gurney, house in Maryland, interior materials, kalwall, mature hardwoods, oak cabinetry, open areas, pre cast concrete, reflecting pool, Robert M. Gurney, sloping site, solar gain, swimming pool, terrazzo flooring, translucent glass, tree canopy, Wissioming Residence, Wissioming Residence by Robert M. Gurney, wood siding. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.