US firm Bates Masi Architects has lifted this New York home above the ground and added lower-level screens to let water pass underneath, helping ensure that "flooding becomes a non-threatening event".

Named after the Mohegan tribe's word for ocean, the Kiht'han house is located in Sagaponack, a seaside village on Long Island. The home sits on a one-acre property that straddles agrarian and coastal landscapes.
Bates Masi Architects, which is based in the nearby town of East Hampton, was tasked with creating a home that embraced is natural setting, including the incorporation of flood-protection measures. The architects strove for a solution that met flood protection requirements in a genuine, holistic way.

"Too often the architectural response to flood-prone sites is to distort conventional designs and methods to meet the flood protection requirements, masking the issue at best," said Bates Masi. "In contrast, the design for this property overlooking a coastal pond and the ocean beyond, celebrates the periodically rising water levels."

Encompassing 5,000 square feet (465 square metres), the home consists of "vertical volumes" placed at different angles and connected by glass-enclosed bridges. The team elevated the home and broke it up into different parts so that water can flow around the residence, reducing the "hydrodynamic pressure of coastal flooding".
"Perched safely above, flooding becomes a non-threatening even...