Project Name: Osprey House

Location: Shelter Island, United States

Design Team: Desai Chia Architecture

Total Floor Area: 3700 ft²

Completion: 2023

Photography: Paul Warchol, Jake Balston

Feature:

Project - Perched at the edge of Mashomack Preserve on Shelter Island, the Osprey House by Desai Chia Architecture redefines coastal living through a thoughtful dialogue with its natural surroundings. This 3,700-square-foot residence, completed in 2023, draws inspiration from its avian neighbors—native ospreys whose nests punctuate the landscape—creating a harmonious threshold between domesticity and wilderness.

The structure employs an "upside-down" layout, elevating communal spaces to the second floor to maximize views of the marshland ecosystem. This inversion allows inhabitants to experience the dramatic roof geometries and vaulted ceilings while observing nature from an elevated position, much like the osprey's nests that inspired the design.

Most striking is the home's façade: vertical slats of gray cypress, treated using the Japanese shou sugi ban charring technique. This distinctive cladding serves multiple functions—it creates a bird blind effect that minimizes visual disturbance to wildlife, encourages animal habitation on the property, and requires virtually no maintenance while offering exceptional durability. The texture and color, reminiscent of driftwood found along the shoreline, continues inside, creating a seamless transition between exterior and interior landscapes.

The nautical-inspired geometries project toward the water like a ship's bow, providing covered outdoor gathering spaces on both floors. A graceful staircase descends from the second level, touching down gently on the ground—a poetic architectural gesture connecting the home's social and private zones while anchoring the structure to its site.

Light plays a crucial role throughout, with clerestory windows inserted where slanted roofs meet, washing the exposed wooden beams with dramatic southern light. Meanwhile, expansive north-facing glazing captures the verticality of surrounding trees and bathes interiors with gentle illumination, further cementing the connection between architecture and landscape.

Designed for a local builder and his family, the Osprey House exemplifies how architectural restraint and material sensitivity can create a peaceful nest that honors its context—a true threshold between built form and untamed nature.

Design Team - Founded in 1996 by Katherine Chia FAIA and Arjun Desai AIA, Desai Chia Architecture has established itself as a formidable presence in contemporary American architecture. The New York-based practice, currently ranked among Architizer's top 100 American architecture firms, creates environments that eloquently express their materiality and function through a sophisticated interplay of light, form, and site-specific considerations.

The firm's portfolio encompasses cultural, residential, and commercial projects, characterized by conceptually bold design solutions that blur boundaries between building and landscape. Their hallmark approach—integrating light as a unifying theme—has earned them numerous accolades, including the prestigious AIA Institute Honor Award, American Architecture Awards, and recognition from Interior Design's Best of Year program.

In 2018, Architect Magazine ranked Desai Chia Architecture #19 nationally for design excellence, cementing their reputation for technical innovation and material expertise. Their work demonstrates a commitment to sustainable strategies and social architecture that transforms communities through thoughtful place-making.

Led by Chia, who previously collaborated with Maya Lin, and Desai, whose background spans projects in New York and Washington D.C., the practice brings multidisciplinary perspectives to each commission. Their projects—distinct, evocative, and enduring—have been exhibited internationally at venues including the Chicago Architecture Biennial, Istanbul Bienniale, and Salone del Mobile Milan.