An ever-growing earth berm levee is nestled between this greater New Orleans home and lake Pontchartrain. The levee ensures hurricane storm surge does not affect the property. The location of the home provides a spectacular view of the lake and the neighborhood from each floor. Early on in the schematic design phase, we rented mechanical lift to see the views from each floor. The views were largely maintained despite the rise in the levee’s height during the construction phase.
Project Name: Miller Lane
Project Category: Private Residence (Large) (Built)
Studio Name: M2 Studio
Design Team: Charles Neyrey, Sherrie Hope, Gabriella Mujica
Area: 10,000 SF
Year: 2018
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Consultants: Nordic Kitchens & Baths, Stone Interiors, Pemba Lighting, Sounds, and Automation Ferguson
Photography Credits: IMOTO Photo, Sarah Essex Bradley
Other Credits: General Contractor: Chase Davis
We began the project’s initial design with the homeowner’s passion for luxury automobiles, relating it to high design and caliber, attention to detail, exceptional quality, and modern sophistication. Additionally, technology, material, performance, strength, and blending of the interior and exterior environments were crucial in the drive of this design.
The massing for the project is broken into:
- Curved and folded plain in plan which folds at the second-floor ceiling to define the main living, and dining area, and folds at the third-floor roof to define the third-floor living space.
- Cantilevered wood second-floor mass continued with indoor and outdoor kitchen wood mass.
- Rectilinear solid connecting much of the remaining volumes.
A large curved wall that separates the public spaces from the private ones was a significant design element in the project. The goal was to organize the spaces based on site adjacencies and on public and private functionality. In order to allow for an acoustic separation between the public and private spaces, we designed the private family spaces to be located on the second floor adjacent to the southern property line. The larger public spaces are located on floors 1 and 3, to optimize the backyard view and the scenery of Lake Pontchartrain while also taking advantage of the cooler, Northern natural light on the third floor.
The Interior color palette is monotonous and accented with off whites, blacks, and shades of greys. Specialized design highlights include:
- The first-floor powder room features backlit custom art glass.
- The stairs are an integral design feature of this modern dwelling.Threaded metal cables cascade from the double-height ceiling down to the edge of the first-floor stair treads. Cladded walnut stair treads are supported by concealed, floating steel plates. The stairway is lined with sleek, smokey gray glass and decorated with a black, flat plate steel rail. Each design element intertwines to create dimensionality, airiness, and transparency.
- The living area has Fleetwood sliding doors that are able to open and blur the lines between the interior and exterior spaces. It also features double-height windows overlooking the pool, a modern outdoor kitchen, and a small putting green in the backyard.
- The kitchen island is draped with waterfall edge countertops on both ends creating dynamic angles while maximizing guest space for entertaining.
