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Lara Swimmer
Residential
Alberta Street Residence, Portland, Ore.
Custom Home / Less than 3,000 Square Feet | Merit Award
1 MIN READ
The judges were impressed with this sophisticated “black box” on a budget, citing it as an example of how to insert function and artistry into an ordinary semi-urban setting. Built on the foundation of a dilapidated house, the 28-foot-by-28-foot footprint wasn’t large enough to accommodate the four second-level bedrooms the owners wanted. Architect Benjamin Waechter’s solution was to add a second floor with a 5-foot cantilever in front and a 10-foot cantilever in back. That upper volume is clad in a black corrugated metal sleeve, “as if it were a stretchable garment pulled down tight over the structure,” he says.
In a neighborhood of bungalows, the resulting recessed porches also fit the vernacular of the street. Waechter carved them out of the larger volume, “as if carved out of an apple,” he says. The “cut” sections—soffit and wall—are clad in MDO plywood painted white. A judge applauded the “nice open spaces built on top of an old building,” calling it a “complex project that creates something exciting.”
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