Peter Zimmerman Architects Designs Legacy Homes on the Coast
NOUBIKKO - Lifestyle & Interior Decor Moderator 
Architect Peter Zimmerman, AIA, believes architecture begins with a single idea—a vision of how space can transform life. That vision has grown into a philosophy emphasizing not only the importance of location, but also the design of houses that are “never jarring in relationship to the site.” Instead, they appear as natural extensions of their surroundings, drawing inspiration from the landscape, its history, and the way light and shadow play across the architecture. “It really does hearken back to the classical traditions of architecture—striving for absolute beauty through proportion and scale, those proportions that are based on natural harmonics,” says Zimmerman.
Zimmerman is the founder and principal of Peter Zimmerman Architects, based in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. Since its founding in 1982, the firm has grown from a one-man studio into a 25-person, award-winning residential design practice with projects throughout the country and abroad. Today, the firm’s additional principals—Warren Fisher, AIA, LEED AP; Tyson Chamberlain, AIA; Tim Lucci, RA, LEED AP; Sean Narcum, RA; and Richard Pinkerton, RA—work alongside Zimmerman and their team to design houses “to last for generations.”
Zimmerman grew up in what he calls “a wonderful Pennsylvania stone farmhouse in the country,” and by high school and college was already doing small restoration projects on houses. While studying 3D Fine Arts with a concentration in Architecture at Colgate University, Zimmerman spent his junior year at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Design in New York City. He later attended the Harvard Graduate School of Design, during which time he spent a semester teaching architecture at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland.
After graduating into a challenging job market, Zimmerman returned home to Pennsylvania and took a position with an architect in a corporate setting. Although he quickly realized that wasn’t where his passion lay, the architect offered him some studio space— and Zimmerman jumped at the opportunity. It was, as he describes, another example of the adage that “luck is the residue of design.” Equipped with the skills he had cultivated, he was ready to seize the moment, and from that opportunity, his own studio was born.
Zimmerman and his team still apply that philosophy today—meeting clients’ needs and desires while honoring the land and location where they’re building. Nowhere is that more important than when designing homes on the ocean, something Peter Zimmerman Architects has done many times. In such projects, beauty and aesthetics must harmonize with practical considerations—site contours, setting, views, and landscape orientation. “The goal,” Zimmerman says, “is to temper the environment and shape the environmental experience through the architecture—and that starts by really understanding your site.”
He adds: “Are you seeing the sunset over the water, or the sunrise? Where are your prevailing winds? Where are your summer breezes?” Each question guides a process that seeks to create an intentional sequence of experiences within the coastal environment. Zimmerman also considers the cultural and historic context, asking: “What is the architecture that fits into this environment?” A home in Palm Beach, Florida, functions very differently from one in coastal Maine, for instance.
One example is a home the firm designed in Falmouth, Massachusetts, where they “created transparency within the façade.” The design intentionally connects what once was a freestanding carriage house to the main house using glass. This approach broke up the massing, creating openness and light while maintaining a connection to history and tradition. “It is very reminiscent of a coastal New England sail loft,” Zimmerman notes.
Zimmerman and his colleagues carry this philosophy wherever they work—from historic renovations with additions, to authentic log construction in Wyoming, to a new home in Palm Beach inspired by British Colonial architecture. Each project is guided by a philosophy deeply rooted in cultural understanding and sensitivity to site—many of them earning awards for the firm. After more than 40 years in the business, Zimmerman has completed countless projects close to his heart. But he’s reluctant to choose a favorite among the “wonderful” homes he and his team have designed. “My favorite project,” Zimmerman says, “is the one that we haven’t designed yet.”
The post Peter Zimmerman Architects Designs Legacy Homes on the Coast appeared first on Ocean Home magazine.
