Second act

A radical revamp by Oza Sabbeth Architects has given a dramatic new look and layout to an existing timber structure in the Hamptons

- ELLIE STATHAKI

Oza Sabbeth Architects' co-founders often talk about 'radical reimagination. Business partners Nilay Oza and Peter Sabbeth (the first with a background in architecture, the second in art) have just completed one of their largest projects yet Brick Kiln, a family retreat in the Hamptons. The house, conceived as a holiday home, feels warm yet clean-lined, structured, crisp and contemporary. Anyone would be hard-pressed to guess that this is, in fact, an adaptive reuse project based on the transformation of an existing home dating from 2004. It's also one that perfectly embodies the duo's creative and sustainable architecture approach.

The clients came to the Bridgehampton-based studio (set up in 2015, after Oza and Sabbeth joined forces following a decade of independent practice) with a challenging brief. They had just bought an unconventional property a large, 5,000 sq ft house divided into two homes, which had originally been built for two siblings who wanted to live together but apart. The clients, a family of New Yorkbased professionals with adult children and a rich and varied art collection, sought to update the structure to their needs and tastes, but were faced with a problem: the building's awkward layout and size. So what did Oza Sabbeth do? They radically reimagined.