Modern Lodge

Modern Lodge sits on a waterfront plot at Weatherby Lake in Missouri, designed by KEM STUDIO for owners who work in the city's urban core and wanted a calm place to retreat and entertain. The brief, a "modern lodge", took its cue from one owner's work as a commercial photographer and the idea of capturing a single experience in a still frame.

The house reads as two simple platonic volumes, one resting on the other and pulled apart to open an aperture toward the water. The lake view stays hidden until you step inside, so arrival leaves the city behind and settles you into lake living. The main public space is a wood-clad, two-storey volume full of daylight and framed views, set against a crisp white stucco volume that holds the private rooms.

A 6-metre (20-foot) glass wall with sliding doors faces west across the main lake, drawing sunset light into an open-plan living, dining and kitchen area; the kitchen is finished in white with dark grey Caesarstone worktops. A full-length deck runs along the lake elevation, and large stones taken from the site tie the building physically back to the land.

Completed in 2015, the three-level, 284 m2 (3,052 sq ft) home has been recognised with an AIA Kansas City Design Excellence Award, a Platinum A' Design Award and an Archilovers Best Project Award.

Architecture by KEM STUDIO. Photography by Bob Greenspan.