Two faces of sustainable building: Modern

Though the word “green” is something of a recent entry in the lexicon of American architecture and design, the idea behind sustainable building is far from new. Just ask Harry Bates, the founding partner of Sag Harbor’s Bates Masi + Architects, who has been practicing architecture on the East End for more than 40 of his more than 50 years in the business.

Mr. Bates, whose initial foray into East End architecture was designing and building houses on Fire Island, said that creating structures that made the most of their landscape and energy benefits was an absolute necessity when he started out as an architect. That credo has never wavered for him during his years on the job.

“Even though there was no such term as ‘green’ back then, you built the houses in the best location you could. This was before people could afford air conditioning and double-glazing,” he said during a telephone interview last Thursday. “We had to build the house to be open to cross ventilation, to be oriented to the south for the winter sun and shielded in the summertime. It was just common sense then, and it still is now.”

Mr. Bates explained that getting building products to Fire Island, and the rustic terrain in that community, presented challenges which ultimately led to the use of local supplies and keeping as much of the area as indigenous as possible—two basic tenets of green building today.

“We tried to use as few materials as possible, as the environment there was so fragile and we worked hard to preserve the growth and keep the environment as best we could,” he said. “We used a lot of rough materials right off the tree. People seemed to like that. And they still seem to respond to that now.”

The multi award-winning architect, whose early works will be on exhibit at Sylvester and Co. At Home in Amagansett beginning Saturday, May 15, summed up his firm’s philosophy simply: “We try to preserve as much as we can. We want to save water, save heating and ventilation and save trees. Really, we just want to save as much as possible.”

Fast forward to the 1990s, when the idea of McMansions began to wane for the architectural elite. It was around that time when forward-thinking architects began looking to the past to create sustainable ideas for the future.

Bates Masi + Architects partner Paul Masi, who joined the firm in 1998, said during an interview last week that the concept of sustainability is something that has been ingrained in his design philosophy since his days in graduate school.

“That was always stressed in my education” he said last Thursday. “Maybe 10 or 15 years ago, there was a handful of architects pushing boundaries. But nowadays it’s so much a part of our practice of achieving harmony of architecture, budget, sustainability and modern aspects.”

According to Mr. Masi, the majority of the 300 to 400 projects his firm—which is certified as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) company—has completed are green in some way.

“All projects have different levels of sustainability, some maybe more than others,” he said. “But whatever the parameters are, a lot of our design philosophy is about efficiency.”

The firm, which is known for its modern architecture designs, won 11 design awards during the 2008 and 2009 season.

One of the newest Bates Masi modern green projects is Lion’s Head, a waterfront home that sits on a narrow property atop a bluff facing Gardiner’s Bay in East Hampton. That job presented some interesting challenges for Mr. Bates and Mr. Masi, as the house’s location makes it a 3,500-square-foot target to be ravaged by extreme wind and moisture.

For Lion’s Head, the most important environmental design strategy became extending the life of the home’s materials and reducing its maintenance. According to Mr. Masi, the goal of the design, the cost of such a project comes out to approximately $350 per square foot, was to develop an envelope to withstand the harsh conditions naturally without the need for expensive refinishing, which would necessitate inorganic and potentially toxic materials.

According to information provided by Bates Masi, Lion’s Head is composed of two simple rectangular volumes, clad in durable slate tiles and weathering wood (pre-weathered cedar siding and sustainably-harvested mahogany decking) with naturally water-resistant tannins and oils, with zinc-coated copper used in the most vulnerable areas of the exterior.

Another distinct sustainable feature of the house includes a north-south orientation to allow light to penetrate deeply—the north and south ends are solid walls, while the east and west faces of the house are mostly operable windows and doors. By reducing the southern exposure, the solar heat gain is minimized to reduce energy demands.

As the large expanses of windows and doors on the east and west faces of the house let in light and ventilation, cool breezes blow in from the sea side. Additionally, fixed overhangs and retractable awnings provide shade and reduce high sun in summer. And the light colors of the cladding reflect solar radiation to reduce energy demands.

Keeping a tight envelope is the main priority at Lion’s Head, Mr. Masi said, adding that the green aspects of each project are always fluid, depending on the needs of clients.

“Each project is different and there are a lot of different ways to venture,” he said. “But whatever the parameters are, it’s about approaching each project from a green or sustainable angle ... Our clients have been very open to the different strategies out there: it’s about what makes the best sense for the aesthetics, budget and site. There’s a lot of ways of approaching this.”

And though Mr. Masi said that he is glad that the sustainable trend is gaining strength, making green building a more affordable and accessible option for many, he and his partner’s ideas for green design will stay the course that Mr. Bates started so many years ago.

“We’re not doing it to be fashionable, we’re doing it to be practical,” he said.

“Second House: The Early Architecture Of Harry Bates, 1960-1970,” an exhibition of rarely seen early work of Mr. Bates, will be on view at Sylvester & Co. At Home in Amagansett beginning Saturday, May 15. The exhibit will remain on view through June 2.