Roadhouse
Roadhouse embraces and updates a classic rural typology, finding new opportunities for warmth and connection with a mass timber approach.
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Located along the Sandy River on the historic Columbia River Highway, the project’s site was long home to Shirley's Tippy Canoe, a much-beloved roadside restaurant and bar. Following a fire that destroyed the structure, the owners of a nearby popular drive-in purchased the property with the dream of rebuilding and reimagining the roadhouse model for a contemporary visitor. While the client’s vision was clear, the site presented a distinct limitation: the property was located within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Any new construction along the Highway would be required to have dramatically larger setbacks than the original structure did, breaking the fundamental connection between the road and restaurant. The only exception was if the destroyed building was reconstructed.
Accepting this site constraint as an opportunity, the new design responds to the footprint and organization of the previous roadhouse, while rethinking each element from an experiential and material perspective. The formally separated deck, covered outdoor areas, and indoor dining room of the destroyed structure were reinterpreted through a field of structural fins that house and unify seating areas, frame a porch, and direct views outward. Similarly the broken up massing crowned by a false front of the Tippy Canoe’s street facing facade were reformed through a singular datum that envelopes the building and provides a billboard appearance.
Bringing all these elements together, the design introduces a CLT framework that provides a clear and strong character to the reimagined roadhouse. The wood interior introduces warmth and hospitality, while referencing the surrounding woods. Seen as a structural diagram, the pavilion-like form of the new building further highlights the organizational and experiential potential of the mass timber approach.
Located along the Sandy River on the historic Columbia River Highway, the project’s site was long home to Shirley's Tippy Canoe, a much-beloved roadside restaurant and bar. Following a fire that destroyed the structure, the owners of a nearby popular drive-in purchased the property with the dream of rebuilding and reimagining the roadhouse model for a contemporary visitor. While the client’s vision was clear, the site presented a distinct limitation: the property was located within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.
