A+Awards: the next project in our series on winners from this year's A+Awards organised by US site Architizer is a holiday home for a Brooklyn-based family on Rhode Island, with a charred-timber facade (+ slideshow).
Designed by Brooklyn firm Bernheimer Architecture, Quonochontaug House occupies a site near the coast of Rhode Island, New England ? a popular area among New Yorkers for weekend and holiday retreats.

The studio was commissioned by a family in Brooklyn to create the house as their holiday home on a long, narrow plot facing a coastal pond.
The architects wanted to create a house that could take advantage of the changing weather conditions and quality of light, with spaces that are flooded with natural light.

To achieve this, they created a two-storey residence with large picture windows, a series of angular light wells, white interior surfaces, and a black exterior created using charred timber to contrast the bright interior. "As those who dwell in New York typically experience light, shade, and colour as an exterior experience, this house harnesses an opportunity to allow sunlight (and moonlight) into the deep interior of a house as something unfamiliar," said the architects.

The largely open-plan ground floor contains a kitchen and living space, and a more private study area. A series of pale ashwood-clad structures contain the building's services and support the upper floor.

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