Cape Cod / Atelier Waechter

This residential renovation by Atelier Waechter transformed an existing 1947 single story Cape Cod style house into a compact and functional 1,400 sqf modern dwelling.  Simple clean lines, each level of the new house has a distinct character to meet the needs of the new inhabitants.  Cape Cod received a 2010 AIA Portland Built Merit Award.

Follow the break for more photographs and drawings.

Architects: Atelier Waechter
Location: Portland, Oregon, USA
Builder: Prutting and Co.
Structural Engineer: Munzing Structural Engineering
Owner: Lola Oyibo & Eric Boardman
Project Area: 1,400 sqf
Project Year: 2010
Photographs: Sally Schoolmaster

The first floor living space is now one open room with living, dining and kitchen areas. Offset from the center of this room is a wooden box that contains “servant” spaces (stairs, powder room and storage). To go upstairs one literally steps into this wooden box creating a dramatic threshold between the main living space and the more private bedroom area above.

The original Cape Cod roof was removed and a second floor was added for bedrooms. In stark contrast to the first floor, the spatial order is comprised of 4 rooms organized around the central stair. The mood is quiet and calm through the scale of the rooms and the soft texture of the carpeting.

The open floor plan of the first floor reappears at the rooftop terrace. The diagram, once again, is a single room with a box “floating” off center. This time, however, the room perimeter consists of parapet walls which afford sweeping views of the neighborhood and distant mountains.