Design Solution: While the clients originally hoped to remodel the existing 100-year-old bungalow, its framing’s poor condition made a new construction with the reuse of the existing concrete foundation more efficient. The design goal was to create a modern yet neighborly insertion into the existing traditional community’s fabric, while overcoming zoning challenges associated with the site, such as the existing structure’s nonconforming setback, narrow parcel, and strict height and setback requirements. The design reinterprets the traditional bungalow typology through a modern, regional lens, while integrating zoning challenges as poetic opportunities. A low-sloped gable roof with overhangs and a covered west-facing porch maintain the modest scale and neighborly presence. The home is surrounded with a native garden that sits slightly above the street level, reinforcing the connection to the community and passersby.

The narrow urban parcel and strict zoning regulations shaped the homes massing, height, and layout. The ground floor sits on the existing foundation, which allowed the existing 3-foot-wide side-yard setbacks to be maintained. An expanded upper level however was required by the planning department to conform to the current 5-foot setbacks, which created a tiered plan design with the upper level being held back from the lower-level floor plan and exterior walls, solving zoning requirements while also helping to soften the structure’s massing. This arrangement also created the potential for continuous perimeter skylights at the ground floor, which were used to create soft natural light while maintaining privacy from the adjacent homes.

Photo © Kevin Scott

Structure and Materials: Local materials are combined with traditional craft with a modern sense of light and space. Locally harvested rough-sawn Port Orford cedar siding will weather gracefully over time. It is detailed with open-joint rainscreen as an expression of Northwest timber craft. Darkened oak cabinetry and metal insertions bring a handmade and tactile quality to the interiors. Large triple-glazed windows with aluminum frames for a thermal break and perimeter skylights bring soft washes of light to the interior.

Additional Information
Completion date: November 2023
Site size: .8 acres
Total construction cost: Withheld
Client/Owner: Withheld

Photos © Kevin Scott

Drawings courtesy SAW // Spiegel Aihara Workshop, click to enlarge