Pavilion House: Inside a Bright Modernist Portland Home
March 23, 2015
Can a 'glass house' offer privacy?
Architect Ben Waechter's clients wanted the light-flooded modernism of a glass house, but didn't want to "live in a fishbowl."
Pump up the volume
Waechter's solution: carve the Pavilion House's living spaces out of structural volumes that act to preserve privacy.
Lawn life
The resulting house opens directly on to the yard of its Northeast Portland lot.
Setting the table
Waechter on his conceptual design: "It could almost be imagined as a four-legged table. The main room is under the table, and the legs create privacy."
The open range
The open-plan main living space opens into a kitchen and a stairwell, both housed in one of the "volumes" that define the structure.
The eagle has landed.
The second floor centers on a "landing room," which can access any of the three bedrooms.
Suite situation
Each of the bedrooms is kitted out as a full suite, with a (modest) walk-in closet and a full bath. These amenities help Pavilion House punch above its 2,300-square-foot size.
The new neighbor
The house sits back from the street to complement the older, more traditional homes around it. "It doesn't look like them," Waechter says, "but it supports them urbanistically."
White on white
The monochromatic exterior both matches the drywalled interior look and expressed the design concept of a carved mass.
