logo.png

Profile

Bates Masi + Architects LLC, a full-service architectural firm with roots in New York City and the East End of Long Island for over 45 years, responds to each project with extensive research in related architectural fields, material, craft and environment for unique solutions as varied as the individuals or groups for whom they are designed. The focus is neither the size nor the type of project but the opportunity to enrich lives and enhance the environment. The attention to all elements of design has been a constant in the firm’s philosophy. Projects include urban and suburban residences, schools, offices, hotels, restaurants, retail and furniture in the United States, Central America and the Caribbean. The firm has received 43 design awards since 2003 and has been featured in national and international publications including The New York Times, New York Magazine, Architectural Digest, Architectural Record, Metropolitan Home, and Dwell. Residential Architect Magazine selected Bates Masi one of their 50 Architect’s We Love. A gallery exhibition in May 2010 featured the firm’s earlier work from 1960-70.

 

Paul Masi spent childhood summers in Montauk and currently resides in Amagansett. He received a Bachelor of Architecture from Catholic University and a Masters of Architecture from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He worked at Richard Meier & Partners before joining this firm in 1998.

Harry Bates, a resident of East Hampton, received a Bachelor of Architecture from North Carolina State University. After ten years with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, he was in private practice in New York City for 17 years before moving the firm to Southampton on the East End in 1980. Our offices are currently located in Sag Harbor with plans to relocate to a new LEED Certified office building of our own design in East Hampton.

map.png
arrow-left.png
arrow-right.png

Laight

Size: 3,200 sq. ft.

Location: New York, NY

Program: Single Family Residence

Photographer: Marco Ricca

Contractor: Woodweave Furniture

This recently converted Tribeca loft came to us through a designer who wanted architecturally designed furniture pieces inspired by a beautifully curved, opalescent glass egg. The work included kitchen cabinetry, an entry console, an entry bench, fireplace wall unit, gallery seating, a master bath vanity and a master bedroom storage unit. First, it was important to understand what about the egg could pertain to these pieces. It seemed that the calm and wholeness of the egg were its appeal.

The characteristic of calm was in its light-grabbing color and this influenced the palette of materials which include African ribbon striped mahogany, brushed stainless steel, unprocessed leather and mirrored acid etched glass. The idea of wholeness conveyed in the seamlessness of the egg inspired a vocabulary of interlocking panels with no apparent hardware, floating above the ground. Although all of the pieces share the use of materials and design vocabulary, each piece was designed specific to its function with the intent of changing their perfunctory uses into more thoughtful experiences.

The entry console positioned at the front door, floats above the wood floor and asserts its independence from all other

objects. Its stainless steel counter wraps down around its side and becomes a water-collecting pan for the clients wet umbrellas. Cut into the top of the counter is a leather pocket for those items (loose change, mail, metro cards) that one scoops up on his/her way out the door or deposits while returning home. A drawer pulls out of the front of the console with an outlet for a cell phone re-charger.

The fireplace wall unit also shares the same use of materials. It is a puzzle of glass veneered panels that when closed is the seamless, calm egg. When one or all of the panels are opened a new world of complexity unravels and the functions of television, stereo system, wood storage and media storage is revealed.

The master bath double vanity takes the experience of daily grooming to another level. A single piece of 6” thick cast resin rests on top of the floating mahogany cabinet. This piece of glass is lit from below and formed within it are two sinks that pitch to a common drain. When turned on, the wall mounted faucets set the stream of water in motion along the interconnected troughs.

All the pieces are individual in their form, yet they all share the calming and wholeness qualities of the egg with an added layer of complexity driven by each one’s purposiveness.

email

Submit