News & Politics

Circle in the Square

Sixty feet above the Occoquan River in Prince William County, what the judges called “a modern still life” interacts with the texture, light, and colors of its five-acre site.

Robert M. Gurney set a corrugated-metal trapezoid along the wooded river view. An elliptical section in oxidized steel panels is meant to mirror the hues of the ground and autumn leaves; it contains a fireplace and an oculus whose light moves around the living room. Where the pieces intersect, in the main public areas upstairs, the plan is open; rooms are defined by height.

“The strong juxtaposition of volumes and materials makes a memorable presence in the woods,” the jury said. The contractor was Chandler Construction of Clifton.