LaGuardia Design Group Offices – Water Mill

David Scott Interiors and Stelle Lomont Rouhani collaborated to design a modernist office building for LaGuardia Design Group in Water Mill, emphasizing clean lines, a connection to the outdoors, and mid-century modern furnishings.

Firm
  • Client LaGuardia Design Group,
  • size 3,770 sqft
  • Year 2024
  • Location Water Mill, New York, United States,
  • Industry Architecture Firm,
  • Chris LaGuardia, founding principal of LaGuardia Design Group, landscape architects in the Hamptons, has worked with many accomplished architects and designers, which allowed him to choose some of his favorite collaborators, now professional and personal friends, to design his office. He asked Viola Rouhani of Stelle Lomont Rouhani Architects to design the building. He asked David Scott, interior designer, to design the interiors, and he asked Nathan Orsman to design the lighting. Another friend, Richard Dunphy, was the general contractor. Chris was intimately involved in the planning and design of the office. As a modernist, he wanted a clean-line, elegant interior. As a landscape architect, he wanted a close connection to the outside.

    The building, as noted above, was designed specifically for the LDG office; it is a simple box shape. The roof is zero-maintenance metal with skylights cut out, and the facade is Shou Sugi Ban, Japanese charred wood. It looks rather dark from the front exterior, even as it relates in scale to Hamptons architecture, echoing the form of a barn, a ubiquitous building type in the Hamptons. But the back wall is entirely window-walls and sliding doors opening to a lawn/garden, so the office is light-filled and porous to the outdoors.

    The interior is an open plan, with public spaces and conference rooms on the ends and an open center. The main space is defined by Core-Ten steel partitions, a poured concrete floor and walnut millwork. David Scott, the interior designer, leaned toward mid-century modern furnishings. The ceiling panels establish a linear pattern, supplemented by light fixtures chosen by Scott (although Nathan Orsman chose the majority of the lighting). Fine art in the form of sculpture and painting was mostly chosen by Chris LaGuardia, the founding principal, including paintings by his Paton Miller and sculptures by Dick Shanley, a local sculptor, shop teacher – and a disciple of Henry Moore.

    The big gesture of this office is that it is porous to the outdoors; the entire back wall is sliding glass doors that lead to a large outdoor space. The staff use the yard for meetings, meals, exercising their dogs and, sometimes, for games. A large custom-designed pavilion is furnished with upholstered outdoor seating and tables, providing a shaded space in the summer. Being in a semi-rural environment allows employees to be outside often; principles of biophilia suggest that even looking through the rear window wall to the grass and trees outdoors, being able to see the wind and weather, and allowing abundant sunshine in all contribute to a sense of wellbeing, higher productivity and wellness.

    Because Chris LaGuardia had a personal connection to every member of the design team, the space feels at once very polished and professional but also personal. Chris selected mid-century modern sculpture and abstract paintings to add color and sophistication to the office, balancing its emphasis on the outdoors. David Scott, the interior designer, established a modernist aesthetic from the beginning, in keeping with the work of LaGuardia Design. Walking into the office sends every visitor the subliminal message that the work is orderly, the thinking clear and the designs clean.

    One of the post-occupancy benefits has been that when clients visit the office, its residential scale, sophisticated design and overall feeling often prompt a response of “We want our house to feel like this.” For the same reasons, virtually everyone loves coming to the office five days a week. Only a couple of people use remote work days. The large open plan lends itself to collaboration and camaraderie, as does sitting at the custom 40” x 18’ work table that enables everyone to gather to have lunch together or to assemble for lectures and presentations. Feedback from employees has been very positive. Unsurprisingly the garden is a popular space for lunch and office events and the parking lot doubles as a pickleball court.

    Design: David Scott Interiors and Stelle Lomont Rouhani
    Design Partner: Viola Rouhani
    Landscape Design: LaGuardia Design Group
    Lighting: Orsman Design
    Contractor: Kiwi Construction
    Photography: Matt Carbone