The Kitchen in This Pacific Northwest Retreat Is Made From Douglas Fir Felled On-Site

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Project Details:

Location: Washington, United States

Architect: GO'C / @go_c_studio

Footprint: 1,700 square feet

Builder: Sparrow Woodworks

Structural Engineer: SSF Engineers

Civil Engineer: J Welch Engineering

Envelope Consultant: RDH Building Science Inc.

Photographer: Kevin Scott / @k7scott

From the Architect: "Located northwest of Seattle on the Kitsap Peninsula a few blocks up from a small beach town, this residence was built on a cherished piece of family property. On a secluded wooded site, the new structure grounds itself to the earth with its approach to material and form.

"The program for the house is simple: a three-bedroom, two-bath house with space for playing music and drawing for a musician and an architect. The house is 1,700 square feet, and reaches into the landscape with a sheltering roof and screen walls to create usable outdoor spaces on all sides. The site offers unique access to the sky and light for this heavily wooded part of the Kitsap Peninsula. The roof is an additional level that provides more outdoor space, and has an elevated herb garden. The house was structured to support a second story along the north section if future expansion is needed. Areas of the site were thoughtfully zoned and the placement of the structure carefully considered to maximize space for growing vegetables, a future shop/guest house, firepit gatherings, and star-gazing from the roof terrace.

"The design concept evolved out of a solid rectangular volume stretched across the site in a typical one-story rambler style. The volume was carved away to create gathering spaces, sliced through to open axial views, and punctured and perforated to let in light and provide natural ventilation while maintaining privacy where needed.

"The concrete base and full height masonry walls serve to create a material language of visual mass and permanence for the home. The masonry walls and deeply raked mortar joints are highly textured, countering the smooth finished concrete surfaces and lime painted walls. Materials that are low maintenance and that get better with age were very important from the outset of the project. Douglas fir trees from the site that made way for the structure were milled and dried in situ during construction and used to create the finish lid of the roof plane as well as the open kitchen shelves and coffee table. Cedar milled on site was used to create the entry door, entry benches, and east privacy fence. A strong connection of interior and exterior spaces was considered from the very beginning of the project. Brick screen walls extend out into the landscape creating semi-enclosed exterior rooms that filter light and views at the east and west ends of the site, dissolving the structure into the landscape. The green of the landscape is invited right up to the perimeter walls and in some cases like the entry garden, right into the center of the home."