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Spring 2024
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SEAMLESS TRANSPARENCY MODERN ARCHITECTURE WITH THE DESIRE OF A SEE-THROUGH HOME
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“From the beginning, the clients wanted a see-through house,” shares Architect Mark Sultana, Owner of DSDG Architects. With a level view over Sarasota Bay to downtown, Sultana is keen to design it. April Balliette, an Interior Designer with DSDG Architects at the time of this project, took inspiration from the architecture for the interior design since it is just as visible as the exterior. Even as Balliette ventured out to establish her own brand, April Balliette Interior Design, they readily collaborated and successfully completed the project, showcasing their mutual dedication to achieving excellence. On the exterior, the modern architectural style complements the see-through concept with its ability to seamlessly integrate expansive walls of windows thanks to its straightforward geometry. As a result, the entire rear of the home is predominantly windows. A desire for privacy on the street side of the home sparks Sultana’s creativity, designing vertical louvers that introduce architectural rhythm on the front facade. u
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Balliette layers a wave pattern tile from Modular Arts, a metallic silver acrylic panel, and a wooden panel to create this modish wall feature. A white oak floor spans the home. “In designing the living room, we added floating shelves to accommodate the couple’s rotating collection of accessories, allowing them to rearrange items as they wish. The goal was aesthetic fluidity that aligns with the client’s vision for their home,” explains Balliette.
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Kitchen: The undulating gray veins on the Cambria quartz countertop endow the space with beautiful movement and complement the colorway of the high-gloss acrylic cabinetry. Balliette takes the silver cabinet hue around the room, framing the wet bar and appliance bays. White and gray hues swirl together on the backsplash tile from Lunada Bay Tile. The flow of Sultana’s floor plan allows for effortless entertaining, particularly with the nearby service kitchen and wet bar. Service Kitchen: This additional kitchen serves both the main kitchen and the dining room, illustrating Sultana’s attention to the function and flow of the home. While this finish palette leans away from the bright white and gray of the kitchen, the pale ash hue on the cabinetry endows a “warm modern” ambiance. This space contains a separate oven, dishwasher, and refrigerator, providing an additional prep zone. Durable finishes grace every surface, especially this Atlas Concorde floor tile.
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Dining Room: Transforming the buffet niche into a floor-to-ceiling cabinet with storage and display is a contemporary take on the traditional china cabinet. Balliette’s ingenuity doesn’t stop there, extending her creative solutions to the pendant lighting. A single pendant was underwhelming above the expansive Cattelan Italia dining table. So, Balliette pairs two identical Rinkle pendants side-by-side for this impactful display. Sleek high-back chairs from Elite Modern draw the eye upward. Wine Room: For these homeowners who are passionate about wine, the placement of the wine room was important. Sultana positions the wine room to be visible from the primary open areas of the home — even to greet visitors right at the entrance. Balliette dresses the base and ceiling with this lustrous Sapele and uses this arctic white limestone by Realstone Systems from Design Works as a neutral backdrop for this discerning wine collection. Family Room: The inspiration for a see-through house comes into focus with this breathtaking view of downtown Sarasota lit up at night. Balliette makes this a place to gaze with two sleek swivel chairs from Interlude Home in a stormy blue fabric and to relax with two powermotion reclining sofas from Bracci Sofas. A plush area rug from Rugs As Art shows off the colorway with a mix of gray, white, cream, taupe, and sapphire blue and defines this space with comfort.
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Sturdy cladding that mimics the look of warm cherry and exterior lighting gives this architecture a “warm modern” feel. “The structure is cantilevered off the foundation wall. When lit up at night, it gives the impression that the house appears to float,” Sultana shares. Sultana repeats the same roofline fold over the entry door and cantilevers the roof, creating a cohesive cladding element inside and out. Balliette exhibits an exceptional grasp of her client’s vision in executing this living room, where clearstory windows, a door opening, and a fireplace all share a wall. The clients envision a living room setting with a fireplace and television. “To achieve a functional space, the design of the feature wall needed to offset the room’s asymmetry while also centering the furniture,” Balliette explains. This feature wall shifts the visual focus of the room to the Bayside and allows for a perfectly centered furniture arrangement. This ingenious design does all this while blending in with the home’s modern aesthetic and architectural finishes. u
Powder Room: Balliette elevates the glamorous allure by extending the vanity mirror ceiling-high. The iridescent blue wall tile by Glazzio Tiles pairs beautifully with the translucent blue showpiece vessel sink in the powder bathroom from Gorman’s Gallery Kitchen & Bath Studio. None of the acrylic cabinets came in just the right hue, so Balliette uses Santorini Blue from Sherwin-Williams on this wooden cabinet, fitting it with polished nickel pulls that complement the sconces from Corbett Lighting.
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Primary Bedroom & Primary Bathroom: The primary bedroom blends contemporary elegance and modern form, highlighted by white Robb & Stucky club chairs. For the en suite, Balliette selects this Bianco Dolomite as the flooring, pulling out its brown accents to inspire the warm chocolate brown of the vanity cabinets. The iridescent mosaic tile from Design Works, reminiscent of sea shells, features silver, gray, blue, green, and brown hues. Three generous mirrors interspersed with linear blown-glass sconces from Generation Lighting add rhythm to the design.
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Overall, the interior has a contemporary-modern feel in a palette of white, silver, graphite, and touches of blue. This palette flows into the kitchen and dining room, where Sultana lowers the ceiling height to create an intimate atmosphere. These rooms boast unique lighting fixtures, each a standalone work of art thoughtfully designed to complement the breathtaking views. Sultana designs balconies for the primary and guest bedrooms to capitalize further on the Bay views. A see-through house redefines indoor-outdoor living as this airy architecture creates a sense of weightlessness along Sarasota Bay. From the dock, the view of the house is mesmerizing as the expansive wall of glass captures the reflection of the Florida sky. For the homeowners who dreamt of a see-through house, Sultana and Balliette have created a masterpiece and delivered a stunning home where the boundary between inside and outside is nearly indistinguishable. n
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Front Elevation: This home boasts an asymmetrical design, featuring a rectangular massing on one side and a cube on the other. To mirror the centered window on the cube, five vertical accents in a gray stacked stone on the rectangle massing replicate the cube’s appearance. Sherwin-Williams Westchester Gray draws attention across the architecture, while Longboard Architectural Products’ light cherry wood-look aluminum cladding forms the vertical louvers, interior ceiling, and exterior accents. Rear Elevation: “Off the living room is a covered outdoor kitchen and seating area. As you’re standing at the railing, you can see the Bay, the city, and south to Siesta Key, and at your feet is a waterfall that cascades down to the pool,” delights Sultana. The pool features Tulum Iridis tile from ONIX. Concrete stepping stones act as a bridge across the water and a path in the foliage.
Written by Rachel Seekamp Photography by Ryan Gamma Photography Interior Designer:
Resources:
April Balliette Interior Design Sarasota, FL 941.312.1289 www.aprilballietteinteriordesign.com
Design Works 29 North Pineapple Avenue Sarasota, FL 34236 941.355.2703 www.floridadesignworks.com
Robb & Stucky 7557 South Tamiami Trail Sarasota, FL 34231 941.702.8400 www.robbstucky.com
Gorman’s Gallery Kitchen & Bath Studio 6101 Sawyer Loop Road Sarasota, FL 34238 941.927.8511 www.gormansgallery.com
Rugs As Art 6650 South Tamiami Trail Sarasota, FL 34231 941.921.1900 www.rugsasart.com
Architect: DSDG Architects 1348 Fruitville Road, Suite 204 Sarasota, FL 34236 941.955.5645 www.dsdgarchitects.com
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