BERKSHIRES POOLHOUSE West Stockbridge, MA
Project Name Location Project Type Client Type Completion Date Construction Budget Primary Consultants
Size Program and Constraints
Site Description
Berkshires Poolhouse West Stockbridge, MA Residential Addition/Renovation Residential 2011 Withheld at client’s request Structural Engineer MEP Engineer Landscape Architect Lighting Designer
2,700 (interior spaces) + 1,150 (exterior spaces) Enclosed pool for year-round use, accessible from existing house. Full-bath with laundry. Spaces for entertaining inside and out. Gently sloping site with an existing two-story home has views of the Berkshire Mountains to the north and dense forest to the west. The family makes extensive use of existing patios and lawn to the east, south, and north.
Design Concept
The Poolhouse creates visual/spatial connections with adjacent outdoor patios, decks, lawn, and forest. During warm months, the sliding doors fold away to open the interior completely to the outside. In winter, swimmers can enjoy the water while watching the snow fall.
Primary Materials
Structural steel frame with SIPs Closed-cell spray foam insulation Cedar trims and finishes (interior and exterior) Nanawall Slilding/Folding Doors—Cherry Interior/Aluminum Exterior Wasco Ridge Skylight Ceramic Tile
Top: Existing House, north elevation Middle: View to west Bottom: View to north
Over the years, the client’s house in the Berkshires had become a muchloved gathering place for their family, particularly as the couple’s grown children have started families of their own. The poolhouse needed to reinforce and complement the ways that the family already enjoyed the house and setting, while also introducing new experiences and uses. With its broad lawns, patio, and expansive views, the setting called for a building that connected the new pool area with these outdoor features. The poolhouse was located on the western end of the lawn, along the edge of a forest. The building is oriented on a north-south axis, perpendicular to the house, making it formally distinct from the existing building. The long east face becomes an edge that creates a more intimate sense of outdoor scale for parents lounging on the existing patio and children playing on the lawn.
Clear openings up 24’ wide mean that the interior can be opened completely to adjacent patios, deck, and lawn. Or, only select doors can be opened to focus family activities and gatherings in specific ways: open the east-facing doors and the pool becomes part of the lawn and patios; open the doors to the south and the poolside experience extends to the new deck.
EXISTING HOT TUB ROOM
NEW DECK
BATH
While the siting of the poolhouse establishes formal relationships between existing and new, the poolhouse fenestration creates more finely-tuned ways for the family to make use of the interior and exterior spaces. Each side of the building features large, fully-glazed doors hung from the structural steel frame. By sliding and folding the doors, the poolhouse is not only transparent but transformable on all four sides.
EXISTING DECK
PLANTING BED
By sliding to the building to the north, western views of the forest from an existing hot tub room remained unobstructed. A new south-facing deck was introduced to act as a linking knuckle between the hot-tub and pool areas. A hallway with adjacent bath with laundry provide interior passage.
POOL AREA
NEW PATIO
Above: east and north faces Below: Transformational diagrams
Air. Light. Space. By opening the Poolhouse to the outdoors via the large folding/sliding doors, swimmers can enjoy summer breezes while chatting with people lounging in the sun; large family gatherings can flow from lawn, to patio, to pool, to deck; and everyone can enjoy views into, out of, and through the building. The largest opening creates an 8’ x 24’ clear opening between patio and pool.
Facing south, doors open Facing page: Facing southwest, doors closed
Directly above the pool, the 16’ x 24’ ridge skylight allows ample natural light into the space and creates impressive views of the sky above. Swimmers can float in the water while watching the clouds drift by. The skylight opening itself reduces the mass of the roof and reinforces the perception of the pool as the central spatial element.
Top: Ridge skylight Bottom: Section showing pool area, deck, and lower-level mechanical/storage space Facing page: Looking east
Above: Poolside sitting area with forest beyond. Facing page: South gable at exterior deck.