We collaborated twice with the wonderful Poonam Khanna and her NYC-based architectural design studio, Unionworks, drafting a fresh bio (below) for the firm and later writing a press release (scroll down) to promote an important project.
//BIO
UNIONWORKS is a multidisciplinary design studio based in New York City, known for composing thoughtful spaces imbued with a sense of effortlessness—as pleasing to the eye as they are easy to inhabit. Our work embraces individuality and is threaded with quiet moments of discovery and delight.
We are deeply committed to creative collaboration. Our practice is founded on the belief that design is a personal process that thrives when trust and transparency guide our relationships with clients and colleagues. We are driven by a desire to learn and use our extensive experience and resources to develop uniquely bespoke solutions.
Founder and principal Poonam Khanna, a trained architect with years of field experience in interior design, approaches every project as a new opportunity to look beyond formulas in search of unexpected insights and inspiration. She begins with a clear understanding of the big picture while staying focused on the smallest details, and leads the design process with humor and humility. Her work has been featured in Architectural Digest, Interior Design, House & Garden and Vogue Living, among other publications.
//PRESS RELEASE
Unconventional Collaboration Leads to Remarkable Bridgehampton Home Inspired by Nature
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BRIDGEHAMPTON, N.Y. — Daryl Simon and her husband, Irwin, had two requirements when they decided to build a residence on their land fronting Sagaponack Pond: It needed to be unlike any other Hamptons home, and it had to be in harmony with the property’s fragile ecosystem. They found their ideal team in Poonam Khanna, of the multidisciplinary design studio UNIONWORKS, who conceived and composed the interiors, and Architecture Plus Information (A+I), an integrated design firm best known for their cutting-edge workplace design and architecture. The three-way collaboration that followed may be unconventional, but the results speak for themselves.
The Simons’ 12,000-square-foot residence consists of three dynamically arranged structures that are in constant interplay with one another and their natural surroundings, while affording unobstructed views in all directions. Because the lowest of the three volumes is elevated 12 feet above the ground plain, evoking a bridge, the home seems to float above a bio-swale with native grasses, shrubs and wildflowers created by LaGuardia Design. This strategic landscaping allows water during major storms and coastal flooding to pass underneath the structure without harm.
“The last thing we wanted to do was block the beautiful visual relationship between land and pond with a monumental structure,” notes Phil Ward, a studio director at A+I and one of the lead designers of the project. “We made a decision with the client to essentially pull the house apart into three linked volumes, opening up those vistas.”
The home’s exterior offers a significant departure from the typical Hamptons shingle style while at the same time perfectly suiting the site and family’s aesthetic. A+I and UNIONWORKS collaborated on an indoor/outdoor material palette that was unabashedly modern but without the starkness often associated with the style. Dark-stained, quarter-sawn wood wraps the façade, lending dimension and character. Burnished metal warms the window frames and reappears on interior fixtures. Sandy-colored, handcrafted brick also appears inside and outside the house.
“The opportunity to collaborate with A+I throughout the design process was especially rewarding because the client took a chance on an unconventional team and trusted that we could pull this off in a unique way,” notes Khanna. “Together, we were able to create something deeply personal to Daryl and her family.”
For the interiors, UNIONWORKS layered moments of discovery in the details, finishes, and fixtures and a sense of humor and fun with the furnishings. The kitchen island cabinets are clad in a golden bronze metal that reflects light and will patina over time. In the master bedroom, the headboard wall finish echoes the exterior dark-stained wood to create the feeling of sleeping in a treehouse with open views in front of you. A hidden office space contains a tactile surprise: suede walls calling out to be touched. Vibrantly colored furnishings placed throughout the house offer a counterbalance to the organic palette of the architectural finishes.
“We had a piece of land we knew was very special,” says Simon, “and we wanted to maintain that when creating our new home. In combining the design talents of A+I and theUNIONWORKS, I was confident we’d be able to create a place that was technologically sophisticated, modern and beautiful while being sensitive to an ecosystem we cherished.”
ABOUT A+I
Architecture Plus Information is a New York-based integrated design studio with projects around the globe. The 80-person firm unites architecture, strategy, and experience design in one place, creating holistic environments that support clients including Peloton, Squarespace, Horizon Media, and Hines.
ABOUT UNIONWORKS
Founded by Poonam Khanna, UNIONWORKS is a multidisciplinary design studio based in New York. They’re known for creating spaces that are carefully composed but feel effortless—as pleasing to the eye as they are inviting to inhabit. Founder and principal Poonam Khanna is a trained architect with years of field experience in interior design. Her work has been featured in Architectural Digest, Interior Design, House & Garden and Vogue Living, among other publications.
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