Architects: ElliottArchitects
Area: 3921 ft²
Year: 2024
Photography: Rob Karosis
Design Team: Matt Elliott, Isaac Robbins, Maggie Kirsch
Structural Engineering: Thornton Tomasetti
Lighting Engineering: Greg Day Lighting
Mechanical Engineering: Claire Betze Building Works, LLC
Other Engineering and Consulting: ReVision Energy
Contractor: David Gray Carpentry, MK Purvis Construction
Materials: Uponor, Klus, Q-Tran, Runtal North America
Location: Brooklin
Country: United States
This project converts a former seasonal dwelling into a year-round residence through the addition of an art studio and dual workshops organized around a new courtyard. ElliottArchitects grounded the design in the agrarian traditions of rural Maine, translating barn and shed typologies into a contemporary architectural vocabulary. The studio’s orientation prioritizes consistent natural light, while the workshop building adopts a bank-barn configuration shaped by the hillside terrain. Across the ensemble, the architecture employs a restrained palette and disciplined geometry to establish coherence between the expanded program and the existing home. The result is a carefully structured environment that strengthens the relationship between landscape, craft, and daily living.
The transformation began with a reassessment of the property’s arrangement, replacing a scattered collection of structures with an intentional layout that brings clarity to circulation and defines the meadow site. The architects approached the project not as an expansion but as a restructuring, using the newly introduced courtyard as a spatial anchor that guides movement and establishes a more deliberate entry sequence.
The studio emerged from close study of light and orientation, ensuring optimal conditions for art-making throughout the day. North-facing glazing supports diffuse illumination, while additional openings to the east and west modulate sunlight and frame specific views. A glass connector links the new space to the existing home, addressing the grade change while providing a transparent threshold between residence and workspace.
Material decisions reinforce the project’s grounding in regional precedent. Corrugated metal siding and open-joint rainscreen assemblies recall agricultural buildings common to New England, while their precise and minimal detailing positions the ensemble firmly in the present. These choices support a cohesive aesthetic that respects local history without resorting to nostalgia.
The workshop building leverages the steep topography to create a functional split-level arrangement. The lower metal shop is embedded in the hillside, benefiting from steady temperatures and efficient spatial use, while the upper woodshop opens to the landscape on two sides. Generous apertures enable cross ventilation, and sliding barn doors regulate daylight, aligning functional performance with vernacular reference.
Throughout the project, geometric rigor shapes the architectural expression, allowing the expanded program to integrate seamlessly with its setting. The restrained forms heighten the role of light, terrain, and material texture, resulting in a unified environment where the architecture supports both the practical demands of craft and the quiet rhythms of year-round habitation.
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Project Location
Address: Brooklin, United States
The location specified is intended for general reference and may denote a city or country, but it does not identify a precise address.
