The renovation of an American farm
You can speak a local language with an international voice, combine the two languages at the same time with perfect fluency and the mixture is successfully harmonious. This has been demonstrated by the young New York architecture studio Wirrel Yeung, who combines the American agricultural style and the current of minimalism in the same place: an avant-garde farmhouse as the latest residential project.
Located in the town of North Salem (Westchester, Upstate New York), this new single-family home displays minimalism while recovering the iconic American building. In its updated version, the autochthonous establishes a dialogue with a stripped-down, synthetic and essential aesthetic, without rejecting what is typical of the region.: the classic simple silhouette with its gabled roof. In other words, a transformed vernacular construction that claims the permanence of an environment while renewing it.
The minimalist bet
With previous works in the same vein, Wirrel Yeung’s proposal consists of three joined structures that play a perfect game. One between the verticality of the slats and the horizontality of the elongated frame. In their outward appearance, each of them presents a dark metal cover covered in dark green cypress wood. A chromatic choice that translates the sobriety of its minimal commitment. “The façade palette was inspired by moss-wrapped barns, so we came up with a custom stain that takes on different readings depending on the light and season, while imbuing the character of the cypress wood,” he says. Yeung. The team considered it important that the design integrate with the environment, so it not only explores the architectural paradigm of that area, but also supports its work in that of RAFT Landscape, who has collaborated in the landscaping of the green areas that surround it. surround.
The introduction of geometries on the flat surface of the blocks —mainly squares and rectangles— is given by the glass. The latter reveals a warm and peaceful interior, where the sensation of spaciousness prevails due to its high ceilings, which breathe bathed in natural light. And while on the outside all the volumes offer a nod to the characteristic barn, inside the different colors and details of the materials ensure that each one has its own character.. “We didn’t want a monotonous experience of going from one dark building to the next,” says Yeung. In this way, fir wood takes on a special role in its layout and tones. Along with it, the terracotta tones, the slate ceramics or the original stone foundations from 1800 provide a variety and richness in textures. All this added to the large openings that provide panoramic views towards the pond and the garden.
The complexity of the simple
The house is both simple and complex. Gabled contours are familiar, but they are also layered in the way they interact with the site or each other, creating spaces that reframe the site. The result exemplifies the Worrell Yeung team’s fascination with creating sophisticated systems that require ingenuity and collaboration but seem quite affordable. An interest in expressing the architectural volume through a simplification of the elements, capable of composing an elegant and minimalist design that combines refinement and homely relaxation with the vernacular.
In this link you can also read how in Poland they have transformed a mill into a home or how in Spain they have converted an old church into an authentic loft.
Founded in 2014 by Max Worrell and Jejon Yeung, their practice synthesizes complex systems and needs into clear conceptual solutions. Working at various scales and typologies, from public space to residential and cultural, he approaches each project as an opportunity to create work that is focused on function and enduring. His intention is to create an architecture that improves people’s lives and positively transforms the experiences of its users and communities.
