WAECHTER ARCHITECTURE



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We have a passion for clarity— transforming complex conditions into spaces of elemental beauty and enduring value.

We work with our clients and partners to solve problems, reveal insights, and create inviting architecture for every place and purpose.


Red House




Location:
Portland, Oregon

Type:
Single-Family

Size:
1,860 sf

Photographer:
David Papazian

Status:
Completed 2015

Awards:
    ︎︎︎ 2016 AIA Portland Citation Award
 
Press:
    ︎︎︎ 2015 November, Dezeen
    ︎︎︎ 2015 November, Dwell
    ︎︎︎ 2015 October, Oregon Home Magazine
The challenge of this project was to breathe new life into an existing 1910 farmhouse-style building located in an urban SE Portland neighborhood. A balance between old and new was desired: memory of the original balanced with the freshness and vitality of the new. The solution was to maintain the original form, but abstract it into a modern sculpture. Furthering the experience of the building as a singular form, the traditional interior was reimagined as one main room per floor with support spaces surrounding these main rooms, thereby creating a “thickened edge.” New windows were cut into this thickened edge with the glass set to the inside. From the outside, the two-foot deep window sills give a carved-out and sculptural appearance. The exterior is painted a monochromatic red further giving the house an abstract quality and elevating economical cladding materials, such as lap siding, to a noble effect. Portland is in the midst of a heated controversy over the demolition of existing housing stock for new development. The Red House serves as an example of a third option that satisfies both the need to bring progressive architecture that meets contemporary demands as well as the preservation of historic forms and robust building stock.