Bowstring Truss House

This private residence and studio was adapted from a 5,000 sf former warehouse and auto repair shop. The space is clear spanned by a series of four bow-string trusses and exposed roof framing. The intent of the design was to maintain the vast trussed ceiling and the open floor plane, while inserting a standard residential program that the clients could live among. 


The result manages both scales simultaneously: a sense of the expanse of the entire structure as well as scaled discrete living areas. A new environment; a simplified terrain between earth and sky.  The functionality of the house flows lucidly. A free pattern of new skylights create a constellation of light and discrete pools of sun. At the center of the house, the groundscape and the roofscape align to form a central courtyard—a vitrine of nature, and a vessel to capture the elusive Pacific Northwest light.


Bowstring Truss House – Atrium Time Lapse Video (by Joshua Jay Elliott)

Typology Residential
Location Portland, OR
Client John Montague, Linda Hutchins
Status Completed
Date 2013
Total square ft 5,000

Team

Architect Carrie Strickland, Bill Neburka
General Contractor Don Tankersley Construction
Structural Engineer Froehlich Engineers
Civil Engineer MGH Associates