This modern residence in SE Portland creates an open living environment that makes the space live much larger than its modest size.

With the tight constraints of the site, our design challenge was to create a home that feels spacious and performs well as the climate changes. To accomplish these goals we created a great room, with large south facing sliding glass doors that open to a garden patio. This outside living room makes the interior feel larger. The large overhangs of the roof shade the glass walls during the summer while letting the winter sun warm the interior (when it pops through the Oregon clouds). To maintain the landscaped area of the site, we stacked the bedrooms and submerged the lower level to create more ceiling height within the zoning height limits.

Sustainable features include closed cell spray foam insulation on the ceilings, sustainably harvested wood products, locally sourced materials wherever possible, sun shades on the windows, energy efficient LED lighting fixtures, low flow appliances, radiant heating in the floor slab, thermal mass in the exposed concrete, and native plantings in the landscape, eliminating the need for irrigation. There will also be solar PV panels installed on the roofs at a later date.