Inside Look: Dune CEO’s Southampton Home by Sawyer|Berson

Over the past few decades, the New York architecture firm Sawyer|Berson has designed a bevy of houses in the Hamptons. Admired for their stylistic versatility, founding partners Brian Sawyer and John Berson have masterminded everything from stately Colonial Revival residences to bold, contemporary compounds. But never before had the studio worked on a home quite like the one proposed by Richard Shemtov for a wooded single-acre property in Southampton.

Shemtov, the CEO and founder of furniture company Dune, was looking to build a weekend retreat to share with his wife, Dominique, and their three daughters, who range in age from 14 to 26. He envisioned something modestly scaled, modeled after traditional gable-roof barns but in a rigorously pared-down style. Key inspirations were Herzog & de Meuron’s Parrish Art Museum in nearby Water Mill and the Baron House in Sweden by John Pawson.

“It wasn’t our typical commission,” says Sawyer, who has known and worked with Shemtov for years. “It was an exercise in discipline, really, a fun puzzle to work out. We could fit a certain amount of program in the box.” Adds Berson, “As it turned out, that was a deceptively simple idea, to coordinate the plan and section and make the entire composition sing.”

A Southampton Home Three Years in the Making

To create a crisp silhouette, Sawyer and Berson sunk one of the structure’s two main levels entirely below-grade and devised the standing-seam roof, a weathered-gray zinc, so that it is flush with the perimeter edges and has hidden gutters. Expanses of 10-foot-high, black-painted aluminum–framed glass—most of which slide open—line much of the front and rear facades, while the rest of the exterior is clad in a distinctive recycled-glass brick.

The house’s ground floor encompasses an open living/dining area, the kitchen, and four bedrooms. The loftlike basement level—housing several entertaining areas, Shemtov’s home office, a laundry room, a gym, and a kitchenette—is completely column-free, which added significantly to the engineering complexity of the project. The house also expanded a bit as plans developed: A custom-fabricated carport was tacked on and room was carved out below the eaves to create a half level, a cozy attic den that can double as a guest bedroom. “It’s the house we wanted,” Shemtov says. “But we went way over budget and it took nearly three years to build.”

Interiors are by Homeowner Richard Shemtov

A big chunk of that time was devoted to fitting out the 8,000-square-foot interiors. It’s not uncommon for Sawyer|Berson to handle every aspect of a project—architecture, interiors, landscape—as can be seen in the duo’s forthcoming monograph, to be published by Rizzoli this fall in advance of the firm’s 25th anniversary. But in this case Shemtov oversaw the interiors himself, his first time designing a project of this scale. “Every inch of the house was considered and thought out, almost to the point where it was obsessive,” he admits.

A Courtyard Garden by Sawyer|Berson Brightens the Lower Level

The art is mostly things the homeowners have collected over years, works by friends or that have a personal resonance. One new acquisition is the Bernardo Siciliano painting of a restaurant interior that hangs in the dining area. The scene felt distinctly familiar to Shemtov, who learned after he bought it that the artist had based it on Lincoln, a restaurant in Lincoln Center where Dune created a custom banquette.

To bring light down into the lower level, Sawyer|Berson, which oversaw landscaping, created a courtyard garden with a series of amphitheater-style concrete terraces that are arrayed with a profusion of potted plants. “I originally saw it as a kind of hanging garden with things tumbling down,” says Sawyer. “Richard came up with the idea of lining it with pots, which I think is fun and punchy.”

The focal point of the rear grounds is a minimalist swimming pool, surrounded by porcelain-tile coping and a sweep of precisely graded lawn. There’s an outdoor kitchen and a poolside dining pergola, as well as a covered terrace that’s become one of the family’s favorite hangout spots. Shemtov imagines spending weekends and summers here with the girls—and, eventually, their families—for many years to come. “Labor of love is a commonly used term,” he says, “but with this house, it resonates a lot.”

Inside a Southampton Home by Sawyer|Berson 

sawyer|berson: alex taylor wilk

blue sky design: structural engineer

bk kuck construction: general contractor

toulemonde bochart: rug (lounge)

normann copenhagen: small side table

romo: chair fabric (lounge), drapery sheers (living area, dining area), banquette fabric (mudroom), bench fabric, window-treatment fabric (guest bedroom), settee fabric (main bedroom)

anna karlin: pendant fixture (dining area)

élitis: chair fabric

crosby street studios: rugs (dining area, guest bedroom)

schmitt design: chandelier (living area)

pollack: sectional fabric

kerry joyce: chair fabric

through jeff lincoln art & design: cocktail table, side tables

Ortal: fireplace

foro marble: fireplace stone

stone source: floor tile (mudroom)

renson: custom carport, custom pergola (exterior)

damien hirst: wallpaper (bedroom)

art + loom: rug

Knoll Textiles: wall fabric

robert allen: headboard fabric

brinklicht: pendant fix­tures (kitchen)

corian: countertops

piet boon: stools

wolf: oven

California Faucets: sink fittings

through lee jofa: drapery fabric (main bedroom)

c & c milano: bed fabric

céline wright: pendant fixture

beadlight: sconces

jab: chair fabric, ottoman fabric (main bedroom), chair fabric (game area)

mgs milano: outdoor shower (guest bedroom)

pelican pools: pool (terrace)

ceramiche refin: pavers

lindsay cowles: wallpaper (bedroom)

paul smith: lamp

loro piana: chair fabric

verzelloni: bench

jane churchill: bench fabric

modernica: screens (game area)

Moooi: pendant fixture

salvatori: wall tile (bathroom)

concrete collaborative: countertop stone

ann sacks: floor tile

brizo: sink fittings

&tradition: lamp (den)

fleetwood windows & doors: windows, exterior doors

rheinzink: roof

harbour outdoor: outdoor furniture

Stonhard: resin floor coating

benjamin moore & co.: paint

A Standout Gym Entices Employees Back to This Los Angeles Office

Design a post-pandemic workplace. That was architect Kristi Paulson’s first assignment for a confidential client when she landed at Behnisch Architekten. Fortunately for the client—and Behnisch—Paulson had already worked for the firm, when it had a previous L.A. studio from 1999 to 2011 (she was there from 2007 to 2011 as project partner). After a seven-year run at ZGF, she’s returned as partner-in-charge, her duties, in addition to designing the aforementioned workplace, also encompassing putting together a team and heading up the new L.A. operation with majority ownership—making the studio a woman-owned business.

The endeavor also marks Paulson’s first copiloting expedition with her husband, Behnisch director Daniel Poei. Further worth noting is when the client’s workplace project began: January 2020. Talk about timing. The confluence of the COVID-19 shutdown, working remotely, and a tight schedule from the client conveyed an unprecedented urgency. It meant two years of quasi 24/7 dedication. “We lived and breathed this project,” Paulson recalls. Fortunately again, the couple’s commitment and joint four decades of design experience is clearly evident in the end result: a bright four-story office that focuses on employee connectivity to each other and nature.

Design Considerations for This Post-Pandemic Workplace Centered on Collaboration and Wellness

The process began with the client introducing Paulson and Poei to its 110,000-square-foot “developer box,” Paulson notes, with a central elevator lobby. “Luckily, the owner opened the door for us to communicate directly with the sub-contractors, not just the contractors,” Poei says. “So we could get to the right people and figure things out.”

For the client’s small, low-density workforce valuing connection and operating on egalitarian premises, the Behnisch team’s first step entailed translating said connection to physical reality. Irregular cuts piercing three of the floor plates were means to that end, while simultaneously creating “an eccentrically shaped atrium on either side of the elevator lobby,” Paulson says. The resulting new territory sports “a diversity of spatial environments and visual connections between levels.” Moving up and down between them was crucial to collaborative success. She and Poei provided plenty of stunning options—make that eight of them. Four cantilevered, hairpin-turn staircases, a pair for each of the two atriums, connect the upper three levels, designated as office areas. Beyond, four spiral staircases, counter­acting the building’s rectangularity and its orthogonal layout, are two-story connectors. All are similarly constructed of matte black–painted steel cladding and white oak veneer for risers, treads, and inner balustrade paneling.

The Office Gym Features a 15-Foot-High Climbing Wall

As striking as the stairs are, there’s another showstopper standing front and center on the ground floor. A 10,000-square- foot gym adjoining reception is fully out in the open, not secreted away as is often the case. Outfitted with weight and cardio apparatus, it offers a plethora of choices for staffers. But their real challenge comes at the 15-foot-high bouldering wall, conceived to wrap around and conceal some of the existing building core elements. “Many of the buildings Behnisch designs worldwide have ground-floor amenities for connectivity. We think globally and share knowledge,” Paulson says, referring to projects by the firm’s other offices in Boston, Stuttgart, Munich, and Weimar. “Here, the client even provides its employees with free bouldering shoes.”

The Space Nods to Company Values With Custom Art Pieces 

Given Behnisch’s global reach, Paulson’s art program for the client, themed to geography, was a natural—literally and figuratively. Six continents, mapped out as massive oak wall sculptures, unfold two per floor across the office levels. Antarctica, the seventh, is on the ground floor. Meanwhile, conference rooms are named after rivers, like the Amazon, signifying movement and the flow of discussion, with cut-vinyl graphics for signage. The earthy theme continues with open lounge areas named after lakes to connote serenity. Which is, after all, an important vibe when venturing back to the office.

behnisch architekten: tony gonzalez; vera tian; laura fox; erik hegre; apurva ravi; victoria oakes

ockert und partner: graphics consultant

loisos + ubbelohde: lighting consultant

spmdesign: art consultant

john a. martin and associates: structural engineer

acco engineered systems: mechanical, plumbing contractor

morrow meadows: electrical contractor

spooner’s woodworks: millwork

washington iron works: metalwork

dpr construction: general contractor

diamond perforated metals: staircase panels (atrium)

california sheet metal: staircase soffits

Dinesen: wood flooring

stone source: stone flooring

Gubi: coffee tables (break-out areas, atrium)

knoll: chairs (break-out areas, lounge)

caesarstone: sectional tabletops (break-out areas)

spinneybeck: sectional leather

unisource solutions: custom sectionals (break-out areas, gym), parson’s table (meeting area), coffee table (lounge), benches (gym), table (conference room)

krc rock: custom rock bed (lounge)

sistemalux: pendant fixtures

Arup: Consultant for Fire/Life Safety, Acoustics and Audio Visual

blå station: chairs (lounge), sectionals (conference room), sofas (break-out area)

sorensen: chair upholstery (lounge), sectional upholstery (conference room)

Fritz Hansen: chairs (atrium)

walltopia: climbing wall panels (gym)

climbmat: mat

beta-calco: spotlights

mondo: floor­ing

carl hansen & søn: chairs (break-out area)

kvadrat: sofa fabric

leland: stools (meeting area, cafeteria)

eureka: pendant fixtures

daltile: wall tile (cafeteria)

concrete collaborative: flooring

Dupont: tabletop material

west coast industries: table bases

flor: carpet tile

Maharam: wall panels

conwed: wall system

schüco: glazing system

vibia: flush-mount fixtures

lumenpulse: downlights

CertainTeed: suspend ceiling grids

assa abloy: door pulls

guardian glass: glass

vista point: paint

These 9 Award-Winning Products Prove Design is All About the Details

From whimsical home accents to bold wallcoverings, take a look at some of Interior Design‘s Best of Year winning products, which are sure to spruce up any interior.

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Huntsman, Pfau Long, RMW, and SHoP Deliver a Five-Star Campus for Uber Headquarters in San Francisco

It’s been 12 years since Uber disrupted the transportation system with its ride-hailing technology that’s now ubiquitous. Today, the company proves itself another disruptor, this time in workplace architecture and design. Uber’s new San Francisco headquarters is a consortium of four towers, not by one or even two firms, but four internationally renowned studios. Like dating, Uber paired them in a harmonious match. For MB1 and MB2, Uber’s first commissioned ground-up headquarters, SHoP Architects conceived the original building plan, and then RMW came aboard for interiors. Huntsman Architectural Group was mainly responsible for the interiors of MB3 and MB4, originally created on spec by Pfau Long (which has since merged with Perkins&Will). Then Huntsman and RMW collaborated with Uber on the campus master plan. MB, by the way, stands for Mission Bay, the city’s burgeoning, formerly industrial neighborhood. As for stats: MB1 is 11 stories, MB2 seven, including the partially enclosed rooftop, and buildings three and four rise 11 stories each. All told, interiors total just over 1 million square feet and will eventually bring together some 6,000 staffers. “We saw this as an opportunity to unite employees within a campus setting rather than have them scattered throughout the city,” begins Uber director of workplace and real estate Tracie Kelly, who worked alongside project executive Michael Huaco, Uber’s VP of global real estate. As for the design teams? “It was a happy marriage,” Huntsman associate principal Nicole Everett reflects.

On a grand scale, Uber is conceived as a micro-city, one within and connected to the urban area at large where the two pairs of towers align. This micro-city breaks down into boroughs signified by the towers, communities analogous to floors, and neighborhoods as sig­naled by teams. It’s a broad organizational device allowing for—and encouraging—qualities of contributing to a “sense of place bring­ing people together to a positive environment,” Alison Woolf, also a Huntsman associate principal, notes.

Thus everyone, no matter where their location, experiences a shared panoply of indoor-outdoor junctions: public spaces, collaboration areas, and quiet zones in the form of libraries, wellness facilities, terraces, cafés, and break rooms—specifically designed to be communal and active, or focused and calm. Each pair of buildings shares an approximately 30,000-square-foot cafeteria, supplemented by four coffee bars. All together the setting offers a work-from-anywhere scenario, albeit one with dedicated workstations, indicative of an autonomous office paradigm. The fact that each environment presents a uniquely textured fabric induces folks to interconnect and continuously explore the entire campus—much as they would San Francisco’s heterogenous streetscape.

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Given their origins, the two sets of buildings are entirely different. Logic has the introduction start at MB1 and MB2, since the gateway to the campus occurs at the latter. Double-glass facades create layered transparency as a vertical atrium weaving through all floors be­tween the two skins—and a literal and metaphorical connection to the city. The design teams refer to this interstitial space as solariums, for gathering or working. “They give people the choice to choose their own adventure,” SHoP associate principal Shannon Han says. They also add the asset of fresh air. Computer-controlled, operable windows respond to weather conditions creating what she terms “breathing facades.” Yet, adds RMW design principal Hakee Chang, “We were essentially presented with 17 different floor plates due to the various ways in which the solariums engage with the building core.” Unlike typical buildings with a central core, he continues, “Circulation is concentrated along the sides to high­light the bridge connections.” Two reflective glass sky bridges, mirrored on the bottom and visible from outside the buildings, span levels four to six and five to seven with pathways both covered and uncovered.

Inside, the main lobby is a digital experience. “Conduits run from the feature wall behind the 40-foot-long concrete desk, up to the ceiling and along the length of the space,” RMW senior designer Jenna Szczech explains. Then come choices. Grab a coffee or proceed directly to the events space occupying most of the rest of the floor. Like moths to a flame, visitors are pulled to it, since it’s wrapped in a backlit and perforated white screen. Inside, the room is multifunctional and divisible, made so by an accordion-pleated partition that can rise to the ceiling.

These are two of what RMW calls “iconic spaces,” meaning places with campus-wide draw. The cafeteria is another. In MB2, it occupies the entire second floor in a setting every bit the hip restaurant: polished concrete flooring, serpentine white-oak banquettes overlooked by a curvaceous installation of acrylic tubes, and brass floater strips. Up on the sixth floor is the second and main events space. The Forum, preceded by an icy white pre-function environment with a mossy back wall hinting at the rooftop terrace above, counts as an all-hands venue. “The architecture is a beauty,” Szczech states. Indeed it is: a bright, double-height room enclosed on two sides by a floor-to-ceiling window system capped by a grid of skylights.

Work areas, with each team neighborhood introduced by a “front porch” and privy to break rooms, are focused and calm. Quieter still is the cobalt cocoon punctuated by oak and walnut millwork. Sssh, this is the fifth floor’s head’s-down library devoid of any AV component. What’s missing from this complex scenario? Art, as true walls are scarce. For that, all commissioned from locals, cross over to Huntsman’s component. The two buildings face each other across a plaza; MB3 has a terrace off its seventh floor. While the SHoP-RMW parcel has built-in wow factors, “We had to create these spaces after the fact,” Woolf recalls.

For starters, the firm cut through slabs in multiple locations. Now both structures have double-height lobbies, the larger with a slatted wood statement stairway, the smaller a cube framed with dichroic glass tubes, their colors changing according to one’s viewing stance. The ceiling above the bleachers, beneficiary of a cutout between floors four and five, has more fluctuating colors. A double-height break room, itself a novel amenity for the top 10th and 11th floors, has a fiber artwork extending upward over the expanse. Meanwhile, a vibrant, multi-panel painting is installed at the connector stair from yet another break room to the wellness suite.

Uber is particularly proud of this initiative. Almost every floor campus-wide has a mother’s room, but the big push is the mirrored studio for yoga, barre, or dance classes with a bird’s-eye view of the terrace below thanks to glass sliders. There are also adjacent pre- or post-workout chill zones that beckon with hanging wickerlike chairs.

Back inside, the cafeteria serving this part of the quad is anything but corporate. It presents a cheeky take on the green wall with verde tiles. The ceramics combine with stitched, white-bolster fabric to form a dimensional divider between servery and seating. Post-prandial, staffers can head to MB4’s makers’ room for collaborative work or MB3’s library for heads-down work. This version is “a digital and tech-enabled space prompting different neurological stimuli,” Woolf says. Regardless, Huntsman paid some homage to the old-school library format by furnishing it with long tables and carrels. It turns out, some things don’t need disrupting.

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huntsman architectural group: david link; david meckley; rene calara; adam murphy; greg dumont; edna wang; jena kissinger; saruyna leano; amy stock; sierra goetz; hadley bell; patrycja dragan; david hevesi; julio gutierrez; edward sweeney; elias horat; pam robinson; takrit jirawudomchai; joanna heringer; eric nelson

RMW: terry kwik; karen letteney; jin park; owen huang; britni williams; darren barboza; janet braden; sal wikke; oscar catarino; felice rosario; gloria n. rasmussen; annette litle; josh carrell; maurice farinas; jonathan chow; yinong liu

quezada architecture: architect of record (core, shell)

alfa tech: lighting consultant, mep

there: graphics consultant

swa group: landscaping consultant

hush: digital experience design

thornton tomasetti: structural engineer

salter: acoustical engineer

atelier ten: leed consultant, well consultant

acco: mep

mission bell; montbleu: woodwork

concreteworks: concretework

dpr construction; truebeck: general contractors

Yellow Goat Design: custom screen (events space); custom ceiling installation (cafeteria)

steelcase through west elm workspace: bench, tables (lobby)

zehnder rittling: ceiling panels (library)

Interface: carpet tile

Allied Maker: sconces

watson: table

muuto: armchairs

gus modern: side chairs

& Tradition: stools

associated terrazzo co.: flooring (pre-function)

apparatus: pendant fixtures

menu: stools

skandiform: chairs

kristalia: table

filzfelt: acoustic wall panels

designtex: banquette back fabric

Knoll Textiles: banquette seat fabric

minus tio: tables (event space)

arper: stacking chairs

decoustics: ceiling panels

carnegie: wall panel fabric

bendheim: glass panel (break room)

martin brattrud: custom banquettes

global lighting: pendant fixtures (cafeteria)

molo: pendent fixtures: (coffee bar)

goldray industries: dichroic glass panels

pedrali: chairs

west coast industries: tables

muuto: stools (coffee bar, break room, counter)

hbf textiles: cushion fabric (stadium seating)

fermob: chairs (terrace)

kettal: sofas

CB2: tables

landscape forms: custom trellis

woodtech: tables, benches (makers’ room)

solid manufacturing co.: stools

lightolier: ceiling fixtures

ton: chairs (café)

V2 lighting group: pendant fixtures

statements: wall tile

geiger: wall fabric

garret: banquette fabric

sika design: hanging chairs (wellness center)

mafi: flooring

garden trellis co.: custom ceiling

Finelite: linear fixtures

schiavello: screens (library)

turnstone: tables

Hay: chairs

studio trevelyan: pendant fixtures (wellness)

caesarstone: solild surfacing

Mannington Commercial: flooring

grato: wood slats

stone source: stone

dunn-edwards paints: paint