Design and Craft: Cat Hill Floating Studio

We recently spent one of our team lunches revisiting the stories, inspiration, and teamwork behind the design and completion of Cat Hill. The fitness studio, a stand-out moment of the home, holds a lot of memories prior to construction and continues to gift the homeowner with breathtaking views all year long. Let’s take a closer look at the process behind the Cat Hill floating studio.

Design and Craft: Cat Hill Floating Studio

Initial Site Visit

In the woods of Kerhonkson, NY, on the last of the sites at Waterfalls Properties, Cat Hill sits on a ridge with a steep drop. We were immediately drawn to a finger-like portion of the ridge that sticks out a bit further than the rest. We knew that we could play with this topographic element and translate it into a special moment for the house. We landed on designating the studio for that space so it can float among the trees. 

Design

Our client expressed that she wanted to curate special magic moments and views throughout her home, and wanted a space to run and play guitar. She is an accomplished marathon runner and enjoys collecting art and special furniture pieces from local makers. To craft the special moment of the studio, we allocated the hallway leading to the studio to be a gallery showcase of our client’s art collection and accomplishments. Returning to the main area of the house, we also wanted the view to be a special moment by playing with light (rendered design pictured left). 

The floating studio successfully plays with the topography. When in the studio, you’re looking midway up the trees and beyond. You can also see the tops of distant trees as the slope continues downward. This point of view is unique in the house and draws our client to the space, encouraging her to use it and providing some extra motivation for her workouts. 

Staking Out the Footing

With just a couple of us and some measuring tape, we staked out where the footing for the steel beams would be constructed. As often happens onsite, the footing ended up in a slightly different location than we had originally designed. This shift caused us to slightly readjust our layout for the home. 

The main differences included widening up the hallway leading to the studio, the exact angles of the hallway and the studio, and removing a window at the beginning of the hallway. None of these were major losses. Instead, widening up the hallway allowed more sunlight to shine through casting stunning shadows on a larger space curated to encourage visitors to pause and appreciate the art on the walls.

beginning construction of Cat Hill, finger of land seen covered in snow on the top right

Value Engineering

While we were value engineering this project (reevaluating the plans in response to the budget) we decided to redesign a similar moment for the bathtub. We had originally designed for the bathtub to protrude past the rest of the walls and sit in a nook with a window wall, creating a similar effect to that of the studio. With our client, we decided that we wanted to focus on the studio instead of the bathtub. Ultimately, the space our client was most excited by and would use most often was the studio, so we made revisions in response to her priorities.  

left: original design for bathtub, right: final bathtub design

Construction

When constructing the floating studio we had the steel beams assembled onsite. After putting all of the beams in place, the contractors needed to add some extra stabilization to the main beam by  embedding it in additional cement. For a final touch, we later had the steel painted black to make the structure blend into the bottom of the home.

Inside the studio, we paid special attention to a number of design elements.  We decided on two operable windows, one on each side, allowing our client to control the natural breeze as she exercises. Another element inside the studio, the built in bench, conveniently covers the HVAC unit for the space. Finally, our client wanted the option of having shades over the windows to avoid seeing her own reflection when she uses the studio in the evenings.  

View from inside the studio with built in bench on the right

Ultimately, we aimed to design an aspirational space for our client to imagine how she would use the space and how often she would use it. When working on custom homes we deeply care about our clients’ passions. By knowing what’s important to them, we can craft a space that amplifies their connection to their favorite activities. We are pleased to know that our client loves her studio and uses it everyday. Every winter we get an update on how beautiful the view is from the floating studio, appearing like a real-life snow globe.