The River Bend Residence by Pb Elemental Architecture
Seattle based Pb Elemental Architecture have designed the River Bend residence, which is located in rural Washington State.
Full description after the photos….
The River Bend Residence by Pb Elemental Architecture
The River Bend residence sits at the base of the Cascades in a heavily forested site on the bank of the Snoqualmie River. The home balances the client’s desire for privacy, while embracing nature.
Many challenges faced the design and construction of this home, low budget, sustainable desires, but most of all schedule. The client, a young family of four, located the site two weeks before legislation would change setbacks and make the site unbuildable. The challenge was to design and submit a sustainable home that would accommodate their existing family and could later be added on to as their family grew, before the change in legislation. The second challenge was accommodating the existing setbacks, protected old growth trees, septic drain fields, and the buildings proposed/future footprint. A seemingly simple bar diagram formulated the initial concept, living/entertaining on the ground floor, private bedrooms on the upper floor. In the future as the clients family grow a third bar was designed to bridge over the living room. Conceived as three masses (private, living, utilitarian) and three materials (wood, concrete/ metal), the River Bend Residence offers a low mantainence exterior and naturally light interior. The river can be heard from the 2400 sqft of exterior decks, while viewed from the upper deck. The forest surrounding the home was maintained to ensure wildlife habitat and reduce the homes impact on the site. Wild grasses and local plants were installed in areas affected by construction. The home features a Geothermal in-ground heat loop and Desuperheater for free water heating during cooling season and reduced energy usage during heating seasons.
Visit the Pb Elemental Architecture website – here.
Bill Gates on 06 Oct 2009 at 8:30 pm #
I like the house but what’s with the photos? It looks like a bad point&shoot and an amateur photoshopped sky.
tom on 07 Oct 2009 at 8:59 am #
what was the final cost? Something I would like to know about all of these homes
zack on 07 Oct 2009 at 3:58 pm #
Very nice proportions and compostion. Beautiful windows. Who is the manufacturer? Incredibly thin mullions for the glass size.
Also, I would love sleeping in that bedroom. Its like you are one of the birds.
p.s. I love that dog
pb on 07 Oct 2009 at 4:01 pm #
This home cost around $138 a sqft, 3600sqft.
pb on 07 Oct 2009 at 6:08 pm #
Smokey Point Windows – Arlington Washington.
Bitter on 08 Oct 2009 at 7:48 am #
Very cool house, but I’ve never been a fan of concrete floors. I’ve seen a similar floor treatment in a house in my neighborhood and while they has a very industrial look and is certainly low maintenance, they simply aren’t as livable as wood or tile. Also, if you have small children these can result in a lot of scraped knees and elbows.
Nicolas on 08 Oct 2009 at 11:48 am #
Bitter, these look like “polished” concrete floors. These floors have a smooth finish and you can even wax them if you want even more sheen and smoothness. No scraped knees or elbows for your kids -but mind those rough concrete walls, though!!
Maybe the concrete floors look a little cold (and usually feel so, except in this case I think the floors are heated) but in this house there is a lot of wood in all rooms to balance the cold, industrial feel of concrete.
Looks warm and cozy enough to me.
Matt on 08 Oct 2009 at 12:11 pm #
Bitter, if the concrete floors are polished, then they will be smooth and your kids won’t get scrapes. That’s what I did with my house, and I’ve got two young boys. But after living with the concrete floors for 3 years now, I wouldn’t recommend it for your home (vacation home would be fine). They are hard on the feet, create a loud space (esp. with my roudy boys), and are a bit trendy. They were half the cost of wood floors though.
Chris on 08 Oct 2009 at 1:34 pm #
I agree with Bitter, I really like the design and set-up of the house, but the concrete floors seem to counter the warm feeling the rest of the house gives off. I understand concrete being a sustainable material, but the cold concrete seems to completely contrast the warm use of wood everywhere else. I do really like the bedroom, and how there are 2 walls cut out, to insert it into nature as much as possible.
RT on 08 Oct 2009 at 6:32 pm #
Beautiful home, love the combination of materials.
$138 – 3600 sqft,, is that including land and permits?
Michael Nash on 09 Oct 2009 at 2:07 am #
Elegant solution to the conditions.
I don’t mind the concrete floors; has no one here heard of rugs?
pb on 11 Oct 2009 at 8:47 pm #
Construction cost only (from breaking ground to move-in)
Jon on 12 Oct 2009 at 6:54 pm #
That house is absolutely gorgeous. A very appropriate response given the site.