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ANd UNExPEcTEd INTERIORS The Design Magazine for the Pacific Northwest
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interior AvAnt-gArde: OsMOse Design’s bOlD visiOn fOr a POrtlanD cOttage dISPLAY THROUGH MAY 2015
ch24 wishbone chair, 1949 by hans wegner - made in denmark by carl hansen & son
please inquire about our A&D trade program
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carl hansen carl&hansen son bensen & son bensen knoll artek knoll vitra artek kartell vitraherman kartell miller herman flos miller artifort flos foscarini artifort foscarini moooi emeco moooi moroso emeco and moroso moreand more
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on what’s next Dwell on Design Los Angeles. America’s Largest Design Event Celebrating its 10th Year.
May 29-31, 2015 Los Angeles Convention Center See 90 onstage programs, 250+ speakers and more than 2,000 innovative, modern furnishings and products / Hear from design industry experts / Walk through prefab homes and living landscapes / Explore stunning homes with Dwell Home Tours / Connect with hundreds of brands / Curated by the editors of Dwell magazine
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ALCHEMY C O L L E C T I O N S MODERN
FURNITURE
STORE
2 0 2 9 2 N D AV E . SEAT T L E , WA 9 8 1 2 1 T. 2 0 6 . 4 4 8 . 33 0 9 WWW. AL C H EM Y C O L L EC T I O N S. COM 9 0 9 WE ST E R N AV E . SEAT T L E , WA 9 8 1 0 4 T. 2 0 6 . 6 8 2 . 75 7 5 WWW. C AM E R I C H SE AT T L E. C OM
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F O O D
I S
A R T.
R E S P E C T
I T.
p r e s e n t i n g a n e w g e n e r a t i o n o f s u b - Z e r o a n d w o l f.
It is an entirely new way to think of appliances: sleek, innovative designs that incorporate the most advanced food preservation and precision cooking features of any appliance brand on Earth.
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subzero-wolf.com
DIVA group
D E S I G N PO R T R A I T.
Tufty-Time, seat system designed by Patricia Urquiola. www.bebitalia.com B&B Italia and Maxalto Store Seattle by DIVA Group: 1300 Western Avenue Seattle, WA 98101 t. 206.287.9992 - www.divafurniture.com - seattle@divafurniture.com
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cont 32
50
68
april–may.15
12. hello
40. trends
SCENE 23. news
42. profile
Call in the pros.
Not-to-miss exhibition openings and what’s hot on the arts and culture scenes.
32. interiors
Vancouver’s new virtual golf complex sheds the country club look for high-tech urban style.
38. made here
Boone Speed’s photographic wall murals of Oregon landscapes capture the (really) big picture.
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Washington’s largest net-zeroenergy, solar-powered community is poised to grow.
The uncommon beauty of Allison Ullmer’s jewelry designs, and her journey from tomboy to trendsetter.
STYLE 49. renovations special
Change is a really good thing when the result is a living space that sparks joy every day. Take inspiration from these featured renovations and gather useful tips to reshape your rooms.
50. norwegian wood redux
In the dark former home of a Scandinavian ship captain, Mallet builds a bright master suite inspired by vintage fittings and turn-of-thecentury hotel bathrooms.
58. raise the roof
An interior designer pushes her family’s dated kitchen up and out— letting light in and banishing the bad finishes.
62. case study
Beebe Skidmore Architects renovates a midcentury house in a historic Portland neighborhood.
68. sourced: lighting
Combining artistic flair with functionality, these fine fixtures bring beauty and brightness to your life.
tents 80
FEATURES 73. plot twist
Designer Brian Paquette nails a relaxed, urbane look in the home of a Seattle couple who love to entertain.
80. open secret
Indoor slides! Ladders to the roof! The Cloister House balances serenity with a sense of play.
90. a little offbeat
Osmose Design turns a Portland couple’s bungalow into something artful and unexpected.
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102. architecture
Design agency Burnkit’s new office by BattersbyHowat sparks creativity through minimalism.
106. architecture
Small budget, small space, and freezing weather didn’t get in the way of designing and constructing Montana’s most striking garage.
110. resources
Your guide to the designers, shops, furnishings, craftspeople, and suppliers featured in this issue.
114. my northwest BACK OF BOOK 96. landscape
102
✤
On the Cover
Custom stained-glass panels are an artful touch in a historic Portland cottage made over by Andee Hess of Osmose Design. See page
90
Carl Spence, Seattle International Film Festival’s artistic director, sinks into a dark booth at Vito’s.
Paul Sangha creates a modern outdoor tour-de-force in Vancouver. GRAY ISSUE No. TWENTY-ONE
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hello
Adam Friedberg, adamfriedberg.com
call in the pros
Don’t try this at home. Japanese architect Terunobu Fujimori demonstrates how to char cedar boards, an ancient Japanese method of weatherproofing wood.
Like many people obsessed with design magazines, I spend an inordinate amount of time fantasizing about revamping my own living space. When my husband and I bought our first house, graduating from renter to homeowner opened the floodgates. Tile! Hardwood floor finishes! Built-ins! This was much more fun than a simple coat of paint. However, this new sense of possibility had a dark side. It quickly became abundantly clear that my appetite for hands-on home improvement projects is way out of scale to any actual skills I possess. I was raised to think renovation is easy—my father could build anything, from boats to houses, and he made it look simple. And, in a double whammy, I now live and breathe design journalism. When you’re steeped in a culture of beautiful images and tidy narratives—stories that take you from a project’s raw “before” to its picture-perfect “after” in just a couple sentences—it’s easy to lose sight of the gritty work that goes into renovation. Here’s what I’ve learned from recent experience: Refinishing hardwood floors is not, as it turns out, easy. Watching someone else Sheetrock a wall doesn’t mean you know how to do it. And even if a famous Japanese architect, in an interview, makes charring cedar planks sound simple, you shouldn’t undertake such a project in your backyard. (In one conversation about fence construction, I found myself confidently describing how to stuff flaming wads of newspaper between bound wooden boards. My husband’s look of disbelief brought me back to reality.) As I’ve come to terms with my amateurism, my respect for true professionals has ballooned. My passion for design magazines has been fueled, too—as a catalyst for sparking inspiration, nothing compares to poring over a print publication. To fuel your own design inspirations, we’ve filled this issue with renovation success stories and a plethora of home-makeover ideas. And for real-time renovation education, take a look at our lineup of spring events, from house tours to panel discussions, on page 30.
Jaime Gillin, Editorial Director jaime@graymag.net
Overheard on social media “daylight savings time perks: 5:45 pm at the office #jhidoffice.” @jhinteriordesign
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Torsion >> Bright Nickel with Maple Blades and optional Light
Celebrating the modern idiom modernfan.com GRAY ISSUE No. TWENTY-ONE
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contributors
BelathĂŠe Photography belathee.com pg 73
Rachel Eggers pg 80
Lucas Finlay lucasfinlay.com pg 102
Cory Holland hollandphotography.biz pg 58
Andrew Latreille andrewlatreille.com pg 80
Nic Lehoux niclehoux.com pg 80
BRIAN LIBBY portlandarchitecture.com pg 40
JOANN PAI sliceofpai.com pg 32
Colton Stiffler coltonstifflerphotography.com pg 106
Nate Watters natewatters.com pg 114
bruce wolf brucewolfstudio.com pg 62
BRITTANY Wright wrightkitchen.com pg 49
Cully Wright cullywright.com pg 42
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Photo Michel Gibert. Special thanks: TASCHEN / www.virginiaflorista.com. *Editions Speciales prices valid in the U.S.A. until 7.31.15 and not to be used in conjunction with any other offer. **Conditions apply, ask your store for more details.
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I N S P I R AT I O N
•
PA S S I O N
•
I N NOVA T I O N
•
PERFORMANCE
•
J. Visser Design • CYPRIUM HOUSE
CONTEMPORARY DESIGN, TIMELESS COMFORT Throughout our history, Loewen has delivered an unrivaled aesthetic that both complements and inspires changes in architectural trends. The timeless comfort that radiates from our Douglas Fir and Mahogany windows and doors provides the perfect contrast of warmth to contemporary design, while the ever-changing patinas of our copper and bronze clad products offer rich, deep textures that are both contemporary and future-facing in their own right. We craft our windows and doors with aesthetic value that endures — just like the long-lasting performance of all our products. We look forward to helping you realize your vision. Contact your Loewen Window Center or get inspired by visiting www.loewen.com
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GRAY ISSUE No. TWENTY-ONE
5102 Auto Center Way Bremerton, WA 98312 P. 800.468.9949 www.soundglass.com
D E D I CAT I O N
Adams Architecture adamsarchitecture.net
AKJ Architects LLC akjarchitects.com
Architecture Building Culture architecture-bc.com
pacific northwest architects
Baylis Architects baylisarchitects.com
BC&J Architecture bcandj.com
Beebe Skidmore Architects beebeskidmore.com
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These architecture and design firms are doing outstanding work in this region. They also support GRAY and our efforts to advance the Pacific Northwest’s vibrant design community. Please contact them for your next project. Visit their portfolios at graymag.net or link directly to their sites to learn more.
DeForest Architects
Emerick Architects
FabCab
Janof Architecture
KASA Architecture
Lane Williams Architects
rho architects
richard brown architect
SHAPE Architecture Inc.
deforestarchitects.com
janofarchitecture.com
rhoarchitects.com
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emerick-architects.com
kasaarchitecture.com
rbarch.com
fabcab.com
lanewilliams.com
shape-arch.ca
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m
CTA Design Builders, Inc.
BUILD LLC
Chesmore Buck
Gelotte Hommas Architecture
Guggenheim Architecture + Design Studio
Iredale Group Architecture
Potestio Studio
Prentiss Architects
Stephenson Design Collective
Workshop AD
buildllc.com
gelottehommas.com
Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses mcleodbovell.com
Skylab Architecture skylabarchitecture.com
chesmorebuck.com
guggenheimstudio.com
potestiostudio.com
stephensoncollective.com
ctabuilds.com
iredale.ca
prentissarchitects.com
workshopad.com
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1611 nw northrup
maison inc
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portland
interior design
maisoninc.com
503 295 0151
scene
Something Like This, Bryophyte Edition 1; image courtesy Trygve Faste.
news
April 17–Aug. 16
meet the
new frontier
of designer-makers
The Pacific Northwest’s unique design ethos is distilled in the upcoming Bellevue Arts Museum exhibition “The New Frontier: Young Designer-Makers in the Pacific Northwest,” which features 28 independent designers and companies that epitomize the region’s creative, innovative spirit. On June 25, GRAY, as the exclusive media sponsor, will host “‘Making It’: Craft and Entrepreneurship in PNW Design,” a panel discussing 21stcentury approaches to growing a business in today’s design landscape. �� bellevuearts.org »
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EVENT May 14
Through May 1
2
must see 24
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(1) The University of Washington’s College of Built Environments presents “Home Base,” the debut exhibition of the work of prolific Seattle architect Jim Olson. On display in the Olson Gallery of Gould Pavilion, the show includes photos, architectural models, sketches, and memorabilia from the principal founder of Olson Kundig Architects’ 56-year-and-counting career. �� arch.be.washington.edu
May 20–31
(4) Forget the big box—right now it’s all about the small stuff. Independent designers and makers in Vancouver’s thriving contemporary design scene are set to gather in the Waterfall Building for Address, an exclusive 12-day event presented by furniture designer Kate Duncan and sponsored by GRAY. Part pop-up shop, part showroom, Address will feature furniture, lighting, and accessories from participants such as Propellor, Heyday Design, and Nicholas Purcell Furniture. �� whatsyouraddress.ca
May 27 & 28
FUEL—“The Future of Urbanity, the Environment and Our Lifestyle”—returns to Vancouver with a full two-day calendar of workshops, activities, and talks by global leaders, including a keynote presentation by Matt Stinchcomb of Etsy. Intended to inspire and educate participants to investigate how we live and work today (and how we will in the future), FUEL sessions will cover topics such as creative leadership, personal spirit, and storytelling. �� fuelvancouver.com »
Courtesy Kevin Scott (top); courtesy Luciana Lastre Conceicao (bottom, detail).
EXHIBIT
(2) As a part of the Seattle Architecture Foundation’s Design in Depth Lecture Series, art and design professionals will talk about public art—sanctioned and not—in the city. “Painting Emeralds/Bronzing the Rain” will be a dialogue exploring how our encounters with street art shape how we view our city and, in turn, shape the city itself. �� seattlearchitecture.org
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scene
| news EXHIBIT Through May 3
(3) The Portland Art Museum’s lush exhibition “Italian Style: Fashion since 1945” immerses the viewer in la dolce vita. Organized by London’s Victoria and Albert Museum and featuring more than 100 ensembles and accessories by designers such as Valentino, Armani, and Prada, the show offers insight into the rise of Italy as a fashion and luxury goods powerhouse after World War II and a look at the Hollywood starlets who helped to loft its style to the iconic. �� portlandartmuseum.org
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LAUNCH (5) Now you can add a touch of
Now open in Vancouver’s Gastown, Lightform’s new showroom clocks in at an impressive 6,000 square feet—three times the size of its former Yaletown location. The 29-year-old Canadian company displays a vast rotating collection of modern lighting, with special sections devoted to technical and LED, outdoor, and bathroom lighting, as well as a training room for educational sessions with manufacturers and designers. �� lightform.ca
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This spring, Ben Bridge, Seattle’s iconic 103-year-old jeweler, has energized its stable of classic offerings. Lisa Bridge, a gemologist and the first member of the Bridge family to try her hand as a designer, has debuted a collection of 35 pieces in four collections inspired by her travels around the world. Two of the lines, Cascades and San Juans, reflect the special beauty and earthy hues of the PNW. �� benbridge.com
LAMP, the Vancouver-based international lighting competition, returns for its third year with a new theme, “Crystallize,” and three entry categories: student, emerging, and professional. Aiming to provoke designers to imagine new concepts and ways to engage with their local communities, “Crystallize” will exhibit the finalists this fall, and GRAY, the competition sponsor, will publish the winner in our December/January issue. �� Submissions accepted June 1–July 27 �� welovelamp.ca h
COMPETITION Hey, architecture students and interns, this is your time to shine. Your mission: design a concept for a net-zero-energy, mixed-use, multifamily building in downtown Portland. Registration is now open for Hammer & Hand’s PerFORM 2015 design contest, which strives to show that efficiency and good design aren’t mutually exclusive. Go ahead and show them your stuff. �� Submission deadline: June 19 �� hammerandhand.com
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Sfilata in Sala Bianca, 1955; photo by G.M. Fadigati, courtesy Giorgini Archive, Florence (Top); image courtesy Kate duncan (bottom).
Brian Paquette’s style to any room in your house. The Seattle interior designer (featured on page 73 of this issue) hand-drew three patterns for Studio Four NYC that were inspired by his world travels and his background in art history and painting. The patterns—Nantes, Corrine, and Reynakos—are each available in three colorways and debuted in February 2015. �� studiofournyc.com �� brianpaquetteinteriors.com
Take home a piece of good design from one of a dozen attending, hand picked Portland-based designers. Featured products by Caravan Pacific, Revolution Design House, Merkled and Quartertwenty
The Western hub for all things design Buy your tickets online at IDSwest.com
Sponsors
Complimentary trade registration now open Produced by
Vancouver Convention Centre West
#IDSwest GRAY ISSUE No. TWENTY-ONE
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portland april 25 seattle may 2
modern home tours sponsored by ™
Waechter Architecture, featured on 2014 Modern Home Tours
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Lara Swimmer, courtesy Waechter Architecture
tickets + info modernhometours.com
THE BEST OFFICE MIGHT NOT BE AN OFFICE AT ALL. Imagine sharing an environment with people in different creative fields who happen to be as interesting and motivated as you.
A shared-space community of socially conscious entrepreneurs and creative business owners. Opening Spring 2015 | cloudroomseattle.com GRAY ISSUE No. TWENTY-ONE
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let’s talk
design GRAY Conversations The Sorrento Sessions in partnership with
April 9 | Pacific Northwest Design Now May 5 | Remix Culture & Cross-Disciplinary Design June 11 | Northwest Fashion on the Rise July 9 | Art, Landscape, & the Public Realm August 20 | Next-Wave Graphic Design & Branding Don’t miss this five-part conversation series at Seattle’s historic, newly updated Sorrento Hotel. In the revamped lobby Fireside Room and the penthouse-level Top of the Town, GRAY editors will moderate dynamic panel discussions with creative thinkers from all corners of the Pacific Northwest on subjects ranging from the Northwest’s rising fashion profile to “remix culture” and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Come for the conversation and stay for the cocktails! Space is limited; RSVP required.
The Design Magazine for the Pacific Northwest
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Meet the Architects and Designers April 25 | Portland After a day of house-gawking with Modern Home Tours, GRAY digs deeper with an engaging panel discussion with the architects, builders, and homeowners behind the inspiring residences on the tour. Space is limited; RSVP required.
New Trends and Innovations in Kitchen Design
Inspired by Travel: Local Design, Global Influence
Coming up:
May 19 | Seattle Designers and architects: join GRAY at Bradlee Distributors in Seattle for a trade-focused conversation about kitchen design, from futuristic materials and next-wave appliances to creative ways to think about workspace and storage. You’ll come away with new resources and ideas, and a jolt of fresh inspiration. Space is limited; RSVP required.
June 9 | Portland How does travel inspire designers to create? Join GRAY at Tufenkian in Portland for an around-the-world tour—no passport required. Northwest designers, working in architecture, interiors, and textiles, share images from their most inspiring trips and discuss the designs that resulted from their fresh perspectives. Space is limited; RSVP required.
Sept. 15 | Seattle Alchemy Collections
Creative Entertaining & Tabletop Design
The IDSwest Sessions Sept. 24–27 | Vancouver Interior Design Show West
For more details and to rsvp, visit:
graymag.net
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| interiors
Located underground in Vancouver’s century-old Rogers Building, One Under features six state-of-the-art electronic golf simulators with a selection of courses from around the world. The lounge sits next to a private conference room with a table by John Rousseau of Okanagan Block Co. and custom wallpaper by Josh Vanderhide from the package and brand-design studio Also Known As.
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DESIGN TEAM
interiors: Occupy Design construction: Seaforth Construction branding and graphics: Also Known As
Eden Chips in for Birdie Jen Eden unleashes a bold design vision for One Under—part nightclub, part golf club—that’s no starch and all style. Written by RACHEL GALLAHER : Photographed by Joann Pai
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scene
| interiors
e
very 48 hours, at least one traditional golf course in North America closes. Distressed by this statistic, entrepreneurs and golf enthusiasts Ryan Hawk and Jay Young conspired to transform the game—meaning to make it more accessible, affordable, and time-efficient. One Under, centrally set in downtown Vancouver’s Financial District, realizes their vision by merging the centuries-old game with cutting-edge technology. Hawk and Young describe the 5,000-square-foot subterranean space as an urban golf venue, eatery, and watering hole, complete with a craft cocktail bar, lounge, private meeting room, and chef-driven menu. And then, of course, there’s the virtual golf: six simulation bays that combine high-resolution imagery with geophysical and satellite data to create photorealistic three-dimensional reproductions of 24 courses around the globe. »
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The chic reception area features tile original to the building and a fir-clad reception desk. A small retail area includes hats from Seattlebased Ebbets Field Flannels and custom -01 golf gloves. With help from Seaforth Construction and her clients, designer Jen Eden salvaged the original staircase by hand-sanding and staining the wood.
SURFACESREDEFINED
TEXTURE
Design:ArjayBuilders | 2604S.158thPlaza | Omaha,NE68130 | 402-333-0121 | Photographer:AmouraProductions
Interlam is the innovator and the leading manufacturer of architectural wall panels and components. The Interlam advantage is achieved by assembling unique designs, the best materials, and using them in the most innovative ways. Connect with us: www.interlam-design.com | 1-800-237-7052 | Shown here:
SOU009 in customer speciied white. GRAY ISSUE No. TWENTY-ONE
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“Not everyone has the ability or time to go out and play a round of golf. We wanted to make it easy for anyone to come in and experience that same activity and camaraderie with friends on a moment’s notice.” —Ryan Hawk, co-owner, One Under
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: The Tartan Bar is topped with solid white oak, while sophisticated black subway tile shows off custom taps from Turner Taps. The high-tech golf simulators can track everything from launch angle to swing speed. In the lounge, a world-map mural designed by Josh Vanderhide depicts the 24 courses available on the simulators.
Interiors by Jen Eden, of Vancouver-based Occupy Design, combine the rich tone of an old-school golf club with the edginess of a modern bar. Working with Seaforth Construction, Eden retained many surface materials original to the venue’s historic Rogers Building location, including the curving staircase railing and mosaic tile floor. She then layered in handcrafted furnishings by John Rousseau of Okanagan Block Co., such as a fir coffee table, a custom door handle, and the conference table in the private 1911 Room (named for the year the building was constructed). Herringbone-patterned floors from Metropolitan Hardwood Flooring underscore a masculine palette of leather, concrete, metal, and wood. Eden cleverly injected golf references throughout the space without ever getting kitschy: a custom wall graphic depicting the courses available to play on the simulators, a framed vintage photograph of Arnold Palmer, and tartan-upholstered stools in the aptly named Tartan Bar. When it comes to the design game, Eden’s clearly swinging aces. h
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| made here
into the woods
Lensman Boone Speed is having a moment with his bigger-than-life photo murals.
“I believe that a great image holds up at any scale. As long as the light and composition and moment are right, a photo should be compelling as a postage stamp and only get better the larger it becomes.” —Boone Speed, photographer
Portland photographer Boone Speed has a knack for capturing his subjects at just the right moment. While traveling in China in 2009, he snapped a photo of a friend, an acrobat with Cirque du Soleil, practicing his routine in a rural field—and, thanks to the alignment of the shot, seemingly flying over the distant mountains. The striking image caught the attention of Jon Sherman, founder of the Brooklyn-based wallpaper company Flavor Paper, who turned Leap of Faith into one of the company’s first digitally printed wall murals. Since that release, Speed has developed 30 of his own images for Flavor Paper: large-scale, nonrepeating photo murals depicting, for example, a surfer riding a monster wave in Todos Santos, Mexico.
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His latest images, released earlier this year, portray tranquil Oregon landscapes. Forests may seem easier to shoot than an athlete in motion, but Speed says that’s not the case. To create the immersive Mount Hood (pictured here), Speed camped out in a forest for hours until the perfect light hit the trees. It was a carefully timed photographic ambush: “I waited and waited until the time I thought would be ideal—a day in the springtime when the deciduous trees were budding,” Speed explains. “There was a one- or two-day window to capture the moment between dead-looking branches and new leaves that would obscure too much of the scene. And, of course, it couldn’t be raining.” Finally nailing the shot, he says, was “magical.” h
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| trends
Community Builders
DAVID COHEn
scene
Grow Community, a green residential development on Bainbridge Island, Washington, consists of “micro-hoods”— clusters of six to eight houses. Front porches and doors face each other and neighbors share gardens to promote interaction.
In 2010, architect Jonathan Davis received a serendipitous phone call. Asani, a development company, was creating an environmentally friendly community on Bainbridge Island, Washington, and wanted to learn about pieceHomes, Davis’s line of sustainable modular residences. It just so happened that Davis, who at the time lived in Los Angeles, was in the midst of planning his own family’s move to Bainbridge, a quiet island with a small-town feel. Asani didn’t end up using Davis’s prefab houses, but it hired him as the architect for the first phase of Grow Community. He also became one of the development’s early residents, designing his own 1,540-square-foot home, as well as Grow’s 22 other detached single-family houses and 20 rental units, flats, and townhouses. “We wanted a neighborhood where our kids were safe to run around and play like kids did 30 years ago,” Davis says. “It’s also important to us to live with a small environmental footprint. Grow made both possible.” Every detail in the three-acre community was designed to foster a closely knit neighborhood and set a new standard for green living. “We oriented things to encourage interaction between residents,” Davis says. Its bike
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paths connect people to downtown in under five minutes, and the community hopes to add an electric car–share program. A main organizing element is the concrete path that meanders diagonally across the entire site. Smaller walkways branch off to “micro-hoods” clustered around an outdoor gathering space and shared gardens. As Davis notes, “The idea is that coming and going from your house, you’ll bump into a neighbor sitting on the porch or out front gardening, and you’ll build personal relationships.” The success of a project like Grow relies on self-selection— it draws social people interested in living in a tight-knit community. “One thing we didn’t know when we were creating the community was if it would become a community,” admits Davis. It’s clearly working. Grow has attracted so many residents—families, empty nesters, retired individuals, young couples—that second and third phases are planned for the coming year. Residents carve pumpkins together in the fall, garden together in the spring, watch one another’s kids, and even, in the case of a few families, share dogs. Now that’s some next-level neighborliness. h
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| profile
Conversation Pieces Portland designer Allison Ullmer ups the ante on statement jewelry.
If an obsession to create can run in the blood,
Allison Ullmer has the right genetic makeup: her lineage includes an engineer father, rocket-scientist grandfather, and inventor great-grandfather. But a pivotal trip to Italy in high school is what led Ullmer to her own creative vocation, jewelry design. Exploring Venice one afternoon, she spied a Murano glass bead necklace in a shop window. Something about the object drew her back to the shop multiple times over the course of her visit. When she returned stateside, her infatuation kicked off an exploration into jewelry design that took her from the University of Oregon’s School of Fine Arts to an MFA in metalsmithing from SUNY New Paltz in New York. Finally, in late 2013, Ullmer launched AU—“a jewelry business that revolves around exceptionally made, designcentric, heirloom-quality statement work,” as she puts it. Ullmer’s major muse is the outrageous, over-the-top ornamentation of the Baroque period—objects that are “so beautiful they’re almost grotesque.” She obsessively collects reference images, “taking patterns from every source
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I can find—wallpaper, carpet, cornices, books, you name it,” she says. “Then I amalgamate these designs into other patterns. My copier gets a workout.” Her fall–winter 2014 collection, Reveal, made her inspirations wholly modern, mixing historical patterns with organic objects such as pieces of loofah cast in gold. Ullmer is hard at work on her next collection, which will be released in summer 2015. To realize her ambitious new designs, the designer is flexing her stone-carving skills, a talent she picked up while studying in Florence in 2004. She’s currently prototyping the new pieces, some of which will feature knotted gold snake chains embedded in raw chunks of gem-quality cola and green quartz. Cutting and carving stone is painstaking but rewarding work. “It’s quiet, reflective, and meditative,” Ullmer says. “It takes planning and understanding of each singular stone, and it requires an acute concentration that can both drain and inspire me. It is some of the most satisfying work I do in the studio.” Soon her labors can be your reward.
STYLED BY Julia Platt-Hepworth
Written by COURTNEY FERRIS : Photographed by CULLY WRIGHT
The austere beauty of an all-white winterscape oil painting was the inspiration for Allison Ullmer’s Reveal photoshoot, a collaboration with photographer Cully Wright and stylist Julia Platt-Hepworth. “We wanted minimal color but a sort of Russian winter opulence with lace and braids,” says Ullmer (pictured opposite). “[Model] Julie Kane’s Estonian-like beauty really completed our desired feel and look.” In this image, Kane sports Reveal #9, a twofinger ring with Ullmer’s signature Baroqueinspired patterns. »
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“For my Reveal line, I decided life was too short to hold back—and so I went smaller and more detailed than I ever have in the past. I saw that it was time to commit to a line of statement work, work that could be casual and ‘wow’ at the same time.” —Allison Ullmer
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Richard Gehrke
To achieve her one-of-a-kind beauties (such as Reveal #10, pictured here, and Reveal #1, opposite), Ullmer hand-pierces a filigree pattern onto 20gauge sheets of sterling silver, sometimes also incorporating cast objects such as loofah. Each piece is then carefully shaped with a Delrin metalsmithing hammer and slightly reticulated—a process that involves heating the object to 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit to achieve a wavy, slightly melted look. Depending on the piece, Ullmer may solder on additional accoutrements, such as earring posts or a sterling-silver snake chain, before plating the piece with 24-karat gold. 
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Richard Gehrke
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Ullmer’s pieces—or “conversation starters,” as she calls them—tend to be voluptuous and ornate, as seen in Reveal #12 (left). “There’s enough subtlety in life. I want some energy and beauty,” the designer says. “Beauty is comforting and elating.” Ullmer considers her jewelry to be unisex and plans to shoot both men and women wearing her next collection, which she will release this summer. Of her works in progress, which she’s in the midst of developing, Ullmer says: “The necklaces are becoming both more mellow and more flamboyant, a bangle or cuff is finally happening— and as for the rest, you’ll just have to wait and see!” Early concept sketches of a necklace (bottom left) and a carved stone pendant (below) offer a tantalizing glimpse of what’s to come. h
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style
renovation Hit Refresh In the mood for a change?
Turn the page to see spaces that have emerged triumphant from their renovations, and glean tips from the pros for transforming your bathroom, kitchen, and beyond. We know you’re feeling it—this is the year you’ll make your house your home.
In their master bathroom, residents Wade Weigel and Jeff Ofelt opted for Barber Wilsons & Co. fittings in unlacquered brass, a notoriously hard-to-maintain material prone to extreme patina. But that’s what they love about it—in fact, they accelerated the aging process by spraying it with saltwater. See page 50 for more. »
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Norwegian Wood Redux In a historic Seattle home, design-build firm Mallet carves out a bright master suite for a pair of sun-hungry entrepreneurs. Written by Jaime Gillin : Photographed by Brittany Wright
To scoop light into a new master bedroom, Seattle firm Mallet coated the paneled walls with a full-gloss, high-solids paint from Fine Paints of Europe. “We’re light-starved creatures up here in the Northwest,” says Mallet founder Eric Hentz. “A core goal for the residents was to create a space that had light and volume and felt like a wholly different experience than the rest of the house, yet was in line with its general aesthetic.”
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Built in 1933 by Ole E. Nilsen, a nostalgic Norwegian
Hentz describes the master bath’s materials as composing “a historic bathroom-finish palette, something you might find in a grand residence or a turn-of-the-century hotel.” Reclaimed nickeled brass–and–glass doors, sourced from Demolition Depot in New York City, flank the sink console and give access to the shower–steam room. The medicine cabinet is from Restoration Hardware, and the light fixture is by Thomas O’Brien.
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ship captain, the Rosen House is among Seattle’s most eccentric residences. A faithful reproduction of Nilsen’s childhood home in Bergen, it is landmarked in recognition of its atypical-for-America features—especially its all-wood interiors (not an inch of drywall anywhere) and its massive beams adorned with decorative rosemaling, traditional folk-art floral paintings. The house was impeccably preserved by the time Wade Weigel and Jeff Ofelt bought it, in 2006. The couple own a fleet of Seattle institutions (Weigel is a cofounder of Ace Hotel and Rudy’s Barbershop; Ofelt helms the Cha Cha Lounge and Percys & Co.) and have always been drawn to historic buildings. They could overlook the building’s less pleasant quirks—such as dark rooms that can feel gloomy by day—in favor of its many charms and architectural anomalies. Nevertheless, the woodiness started to wear on the pair of self-proclaimed sun-worshippers. “The house is dark. We wanted a white room, a little oasis,” Weigel explains. Though much of the landmarked house is protected from major renovation, one wing of the second floor, added in the ’40s, was exempt. Last year, the couple transformed that space—a low-ceilinged warren of small rooms—into a proper master bedroom and bathroom. Weigel and Ofelt have worked with Eric Hentz, founder of Mallet, on upward of 20 commercial projects over the past two decades. Their familiarity and friendship enabled an unconventional design process: “Gut it and make it up as you go along” is how Weigel describes it. Adds Ofelt, “Wade loves to explore every single »
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Mallet’s tips for smart and stylish bathroom design. Find the hidden opportunities. Look for awkward spaces, such as compressed areas under rafters, that you can revamp to define the useable space in the room. These areas also offer pocket-storage opportunities. Think high-low. Use lower-cost garden-variety materials throughout a project. Save your splurge for one or two special items that will be the stars of the show. It’s an approach analogous to dressing up Gap khakis with expensive shoes. Salvaged makes sense. Found objects add layers of depth, warmth, and history to a project that are simply impossible to get any other way. Go for grand effects. Don’t be afraid to make big statements in a bathroom. This one has a 64-square-foot shower with a 14-foot-long marble bench, and 11-foot-high double entry doors accentuate the room’s height. Pick the right palette. Opting for white walls and very dark floors is the easiest way to add a sense of volume to a room. Know yourself. Select finishes that suit your lifestyle and comfort level. For example, don’t install unlacquered brass just because you like the way it looks new. This material changes drastically over time, so you’ll need to constantly maintain it—or else embrace its aging process.
A pair of 11-foot-high reclaimed elm doors open onto the bathroom, with a clawfoot tub from Seattle Interiors, Belgian bluestone floors from the David Smith Company, and two vintage wall-mounted last-rites boxes. A built-in linen closet takes advantage of otherwise wasted space beneath the gable. »
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: A short flight of stairs leads down to a large walk-in closet built over an adjacent garage. Globe pendant lights from Rejuvenation parade the full length of the bedroom and bathroom. “I love orb lights—they’re like moons floating in our room,” says Weigel. A leather-upholstered headboard from Restoration Hardware and a vintage light found on 1stdibs.com create a cozy reading spot.
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option. Until you swing the hammer, it’s all on the table.” Fortunately, Hentz was game. “Wade has amazing intuition for what feels right,” the designer says. “Architecture is often treated as too much of an intellectual exercise and not enough as an emotional response to an environment.” The renovation started with major demolition and slowly developed from there. Mallet ripped the rooms down to the studs, and Ofelt and Weigel walked life-size cardboard silhouettes of key pieces—a king-size bed, a toilet—around the space to try out various configurations. First they picked the bed’s location—under the sloping southern gable—and then they ratcheted the other furnishings around it. The layout determined, Hentz made it work structurally, reengineering the roof and craning in a 30-foot-long beam to create an open, airy volume. He then layered in architectural detailing and fittings, including, in the bathroom, unlacquered brass fixtures sourced from England, a cavernous shower–steam room with a 14-foot-long Carrara marble bench, and reclaimed 11-foot-high elm double doors with transom windows. “Eric’s brilliant at exquisite custom details,” Weigel says, pointing out the poplar paneling that Hentz had milled to match the original paneling throughout the rest of the house. To maximize reflectivity and light, Hentz coated the paneling in a high-solids white paint from the Netherlands that’s so glossy it looks wet. Now, when the couple climbs the stairs to their bedroom, they move from a “dark, compressed space into a bright, open space. That was the psychological impact we wanted,” Hentz says. Mission accomplished—as Ofelt attests, even on the grayest days their new master suite is “often brighter than it is outside.” h
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Designer Harmony Weihs clad the picture window wall with a stacked slate that’s typically used for fireplaces, a dramatic statement in her mostly white kitchen.
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Design Harmony’s top tips for a modern, open kitchen. Reconsider standard items. Upper cabinets can make a room feel closed in. Use as few as possible to create an open and bright kitchen. Go tall. If you do include upper cabinets, build them all the way to the ceiling. They draw your eye upward, make the room feel taller, and fill in dead space. Storage tips. On open shelves, group things in similar colors to make storage look less busy and cluttered. Basin basics. Go big with your kitchen sink: a deep one hides dirty dishes and keeps counters clear. Matching is overrated. If you have hardwood floors, avoid all-wood cabinets. Instead, create interest by mixing colors and materials. Consider other opportunities to mix and match, too: use different countertop materials or colors on your island and main counters, or on your base cabinets and the upper ones.
Raise the Roof
A time-capsule midcentury kitchen gets a crisp, modern makeover.
Written by stacy kendall Photographed by Cory Holland
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Northwesterners know the dual nature of an original midcentury modern kitchen: great lines but small size, and bad finishes to boot. For six years, this described the so-called heart of the 1963 house in Kirkland, Washington, where designer Harmony Weihs lives with her husband, Ken, and their two small children. “We love to cook and have dinner parties, and in the old kitchen we were always bumping into one another,” says Weihs. Weihs was eager to make the necessary changes to the outdated kitchen, and in May 2014 she was finally able to enact her plan. The couple’s goals were threefold: to comfortably accommodate up to four people working side by side; to entertain guests; and to make the renovated kitchen seem as much a part of the original house as possible, but with a modern look and a view to the outside. Their biggest move was to expand the existing footprint of the kitchen by 100 square feet and add a gable and four skylights, raising the formerly flat ceiling to 10 feet at its peak. To bring in more natural light and grab the coveted view of the greenbelt outside, Weihs introduced a large picture window wall as a visual focal point. Her designer instincts told her that plain Sheetrock wouldn’t cut it—she wanted to add some drama to the mostly white kitchen. “I love natural materials for adding depth and interest to walls,” Weihs says. The dark-gray rock complements the shock of green branches outside and draws the eye to the window. In a kitchen now full of beauty and functionality—a 180-degree transformation from its cramped and closed-off previous incarnation—“it’s the show stopper,” says Weihs. h
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With no room for an island in her midcentury-era kitchen, Weihs, founder of Design Harmony, reworked an existing peninsula to make it larger and more functional. She installed an extra-wide quartzite countertop—dedicated space for additional chefs to work or for guests to gather on bar stools, away from the cooking but still in the mix. All the lower cabinets are black and the uppers are white to add visual interest and draw the eye upward.
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Lever Architecture. Photo by Jeremy Bittermann.
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case study
Beebe Skidmore Architects do renovating right by respecting the character of a midcentury kit house while transforming it in remarkably fresh ways. Written by rachel gallaher : Photographed by BRUCE WOLF
Walking into Ladd’s Addition is like stepping back in time. The tree-lined streets of this historic Portland neighborhood are peppered with pre-1930s homes, spacious front porches, and community rose gardens. Its old-fashioned feel drew local architects Heidi Beebe and Doug Skidmore to buy a modest house here in 2004. Three years later, the couple remodeled, maintaining the building’s vintage character while expanding it to fit the needs of a modern family. The 850-square-foot midcentury house—a rare style in this neighborhood—was small and cramped. “Our goal was to
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modernize the house by making it bigger and lighter,” Beebe says. Yet the architects hit a snag: due to the neighborhood’s status as a historic district, stringent rules govern construction here. Although the house was built in the 1950s, “probably from a kit,” Beebe notes, the architects had to adhere to preservation laws that guard against bulky additions. By adding another story and expanding the first-floor footprint in subtle ways, such as constructing 3-foot cantilevers on the back of the house and bumping out the living room by 12 feet, the finished house grew to 2,500 square feet without »
In the kitchen of a Portland house renovated by Beebe Skidmore Architects, cork flooring and brass cabinet pulls honor the home’s midcentury roots. As architect Heidi Beebe puts it, “The pulls were on closeout at the hardware store—and totally out of style—but they trick out the Ikea cabinets and make them look vintage.” OPPOSITE: The green paint used on the exterior is a custom hue created by adding black to dark-green paint. According to Beebe, the dark areas represent the additions, while the white sections indicate parts of the original house.
DESIGN TEAM
architecture: Beebe Skidmore Architects construction and custom woodwork: Ken Lais Construction
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Beebe and Skidmore bumped out the front of the house by 12 feet to accommodate an airy new dining room. Thonet armchairs and white oak Prouvé Standard chairs surround a Strut table from BluDot. Schoolhouse Electric blown glass–and–brass pendants hang above. »
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The living room is part of the original structure. The purple chair is vintage Herman Miller; the striped chair is vintage Metropolitan with new wool upholstery. The staircase leading to the second floor was crafted by Ken Lais Construction from new oak stained to match the first floor’s veneer walls. “We wanted to modernize the house by making it bigger and lighter,” Beebe says of the renovation, “but we also wanted to keep the things that we liked about it, including the fireplace and all of the wood panels and walls.”
looking behemoth. The architects even added a second story but maintained the one-story look of the original house by preserving the height of the eave. “One way we think about the project is that the original house was a neatly packed chest of drawers,” says Beebe. “We pulled all the drawers out to open it up.” Thoughtful changes such as vaulted ceilings and windows and added skylights conspire to make the space feel larger. Throughout the house, the architects integrated elements with a midcentury aesthetic to unite the old home with the new construction. In the kitchen, cork flooring nods to midcentury style, and the cabinet pulls have a vintage brass finish. Bronze-plated push-button light switches reference an
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earlier era. The architects also kept many of the home’s original details, including the sliding pocket doors, the fireplace, and the lauan plywood veneer walls that panel much of the first floor. More recently, Beebe and Skidmore sold their newly renovated house to a young couple, Marc and Kristen, and their infant son. “They designed a thoughtful, modern, and functional space,” says Marc of the architects’ careful remodeling efforts. “We moved in and simply filled it with our things.” A creative house that successfully merges past aesthetics with modern needs, this project shows that thinking within the box can actually result in beautiful out-of-the-box solutions— if smart architects are at the helm. h
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wow factor
These cast bronze–and–glass “seeds” are lit from within by tiny LEDs, giving the appearance of a sunlit dewdrop at the end of each pendant. Seed Cloud Lamp by Ochre, $3,500 at Trammell-Gagné, Seattle, tgshowroom.com.
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STRONG FOUNDATION Fortress-like forms built from thousands of tiny brass rods, Philippe Malouin’s Gridlock lights are a 21st-century nod to Brutalism, infused with an airy brilliance that’s very now. Gridlock 7440 chandelier by Philippe Malouin for Roll & Hill, $28,000 at LightForm, Vancouver, lightform.ca
All Aglow Bad lighting makes even the best decorating job fall flat. Include one of these statement fixtures when you make over a room to see the results of your work in the best light. Edited by stacy Kendall, Nicole Munson, and Nessa Pullman
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that’s rich
With clear glass tubes suspended from an antiqued brass ring, the Royalton Sconce emanates a soft glow and glam vintage vibe. Royalton Sconce by Arteriors, $895 at Maison Inc., Portland, maisoninc.com.
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1. Light 73 by Bocci, from $745 at Bocci, Vancouver, bocci.ca. 2. Geneva Chandelier by Fuse Lighting, $20,542 at Trammell-GagnĂŠ, Seattle, tgshowroom.com. 3. Cliff Sol by Lambert et Fils, $902 at Stylegarage, Vancouver, stylegarage.com. 4. 041 wall light system by Pierre Lapeyronnie, price upon request, Ligne Roset, Seattle and Vancouver, ligne-roset.com. 5. Meridian Sconce by Hudson Valley Lighting, $250 at Ferguson, multiple locations, ferguson.com. 6. Swell pendant by Pablo Designs, $249 at EWF Modern, Portland, ewfmodern.com. 7. Thin lamp by Peter Bristol for Juniper Design, $450 at Inform Interiors, Seattle, informseattle.com. h
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home
Interior designer Brian Paquette masterfully mixes textures and neutrals in a bohemian-inspired Seattle living room. Turn the page for more.
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Plot Twist
Texture and rich neutrals set the stage for a Tangletown home— and for interior designer Brian Paquette’s evolving aesthetic. 74
Written by rachel gallaher : Photographed by Belathée Photography GRAY ISSUE No. TWENTY-ONE
OPPOSITE: The Zak + Fox wallpaper pattern in a Seattle dining room was adapted from a handpainted design by Gabriel Hendifar, cofounder of New York–based design studio Apparatus. The custom chandelier, reminiscent of soap bubbles, is also by Apparatus. THIS PAGE: Interior designer Brian Paquette played with texture in the living room by layering two rugs (the larger from West Elm, the smaller from Totokaelo Art + Object) beneath a Moroccan coffee table. A Lawson-Fenning chair, upholstered in a light-gray Pindler fabric with a custom bolster, completes the tableau.
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urveying Brian Paquette’s interior design portfolio is a bit like flipping through a Pantone color fan deck. In one project, a collection of vintage purple bottles sits on a console across from a royal blue velvet chaise. Another home features a Kelly green headboard against tropical coral walls. Throw pillows tend toward the vibrant; fabrics are punchy and bright. But in his latest project, a sleek, modern house in Seattle, Paquette’s style has shifted. Here the furniture, fixtures, paint, and rugs all fall within a luxuriantly neutral palette— a new direction for the 33-year-old Seattle-based designer. The house itself is tucked away in Tangletown, a small, triangular-shaped neighborhood southeast of Seattle’s Green Lake. In September 2014, a photographer and his wife who needed a change from their traditional Craftsman
moved into a new 2,200-square-foot home just four blocks south. They loved its clean lines, natural light, and rooftop deck, but the interiors didn’t speak to their personal style (eclectic and well traveled). So they enlisted Paquette to make it over, using their collection of inspiration images— including magazine tear-outs of actress Kate Hudson’s bohemian Los Angeles house—as his muse. Drawing upon one of the couple’s favorite places, the Ace Hotel in New York, Paquette created a loungey vibe for the living room, with a perfectly mismatched mélange of furnishings and accessories. “You’ve got multiple styles in that room,” he says, ticking them off on his fingers. “Contemporary, midcentury, Moroccan, ’70s chic, and a Chesterfield sofa are thrown into the mix.” » GRAY ISSUE No. TWENTY-ONE
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FROM LEFT: The dining room features a black dining table, iconic Ghost Chairs from Design Within Reach, and a faux-shagreen sideboard from Dwell Studio. Boxes from Brian Paquette Interiors are a bohemian juxtaposition to the sleek gold-and-black West Elm lamp. OPPOSITE: The butcher-block island with a dark steel front was original to the house but merges seamlessly into its new palette. Three distressed chairs are from Jayson Home, and the lighting above the island is from Apparatus, a company whose designs Paquette integrates into nearly all his projects.
The homeowners, who split their time between Seattle and San Francisco, love to entertain and requested that Paquette design relaxed, interconnected living, dining, and kitchen areas. In the dining space, wallpaper that resembles swirling rock formations is the main visual feature, while the custom blackened-walnut dining table, described by the designer as “new Parisian meets new Moroccan,” was the first item chosen during the initial client meeting. Transparent polycarbonate Ghost Chairs keep the focus on a few key items in the room, such as the custom chandelier, and, as Paquette notes, their lightness “balances out the table.” The clients both meditate regularly, but have different styles—she sits on the ground, inches from a wall, and he sits on a chair in the center of the room—so Paquette designed a meditation room for each of them. Hers is in the basement, painted floor-to-ceiling black, and his is in a light-filled room with a vintage leather-detailed wood
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chair and a black-and-white chaise. Upstairs, the clients’ bedroom is the epitome of minimal, with a king-size bed, Workstead light fixtures, and a rich leather chair by Garza Marfa. An office down the hall features a prominent chalkboard wall and a basic black desk fronted by a 20th-century dentist’s chair—a unique find typical of Paquette, who often adds such pieces to his projects for an appealing, quirky twist. “This project was a launch for me,” he says. “It was a new way of working, a new aesthetic that is much less colorful. I worked with pattern more than color and let a few ‘wow factor’ moments really stand out through texture. I plan to follow that direction in my future work.” If this is the direction Paquette aims to head, we’ll happily follow. »
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In the upstairs office, a 20th-century dentist’s chair straddles the line between creepy and cool, while the chalkboard wall enables the couple to leave each other notes and drawings. The antique desk chair is vintage; the desk is from Restoration Hardware.
“The clients wanted a retreat with soft lighting and sumptuous materials, but when they have people over, they want them to engage with the space and feel as if they have just walked into the Standard hotel.” —Brian Paquette, interior designer
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: The master bedroom is large, but the clients opted for spare furnishings, choosing only the leather Garza Marfa chair and a simple wooden bed. The wife’s sitting room, located off the living room, features a chaise longue from Room & Board upholstered in what Paquette calls “10,000 Leagues under the Sea” blue. The husband’s dedicated meditation room is as stylish as it is serene. h GRAY ISSUE No. TWENTY-ONE
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OPEN SECRET Take a rare glimpse inside Cloister House— an artist’s private city sanctuary, with a modern heart and a free-spirited soul.
Written by RACHEL EGGERS : Main house photographed by Nic Lehoux Laneway house photographed by Andrew Latreille
A
n artist living primarily in a remote locale wanted a home in Vancouver, but she didn’t want to leave privacy and lush views entirely behind. She envisioned a cabin in an urban environment—a tranquil harbor that could also serve as a creative playground for her grandchildren. Inspired by these inherent contradictions—a rural existence transposed to the city; serenity balanced with squealing kids—Clinton Cuddington and Piers Cunnington, the principals of Measured Architecture, designed Cloister House using contrasting materials and color palettes to enhance unique details throughout the home. Few empty lots are available in Vancouver, where new builds usually begin with a demolition. To make this process a little greener, the city instituted, in 2010, a building-deconstruction pilot project that carefully pulls apart homes so that their »
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In contrast to the concealing front façade, which Cuddington describes as a “bunker to the street,” the back of Cloister House is mostly glazed, offering occupants an unrestricted view of water and mountains. The earthy materials, including poured-inplace textured concrete and a chunky rock wall, engage in a conversation with the surrounding environment.
DESIGN TEAM
architecture: Measured Architecture construction: CX Contracting & Construction Management landscape: Aloe Designs design consultant: Fei Disbrow
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The architects at Measured selectively introduced neon colors throughout the project to intentionally overstate the hues outdoors. The neon-green glass backsplash transitions into dusty-blue custom cabinets fabricated by local millwork firm Nico Spacecraft. Cheerful modern lamps from Artemide, Flos, and CĂŠline Wright drop down between the yellow cedar beams, creating a play of light on the reflective black PaperStone countertops. Âť
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left: Designed by Measured and installed in one piece per floor via crane, the slides flanking the staircases recall cement chutes. Cuddington calls their installment “a small miracle”; the grandkids who get to swoop down them most likely agree. BOTTOM: The fumed oak, exposed beams, and linen-toned Venetian plaster walls in the hallway exemplify the material palette used throughout the home. The piece on the wall is a “system” by artist Fei Disbrow.
materials can be sorted for recycling or reuse. This program, developed with local job-training program Pacific Community Resources, enabled the piece-by-piece pull-down of an old asbestos-riddled home on the client’s lot in the West Point Grey neighborhood. Rising up in its place was the 2,900-square-foot new residence and an adjacent 600-square-foot laneway house—a secondary structure, unique to Vancouver, that looks onto a back alley— designed as guest quarters. Anchoring the main structure is a fragmented spine wall of stone and steel, running lengthwise through both the interior and exterior. “We often use a spine wall as a formal device to reinforce the connection between inside and outside,” says Cuddington. “And although Cloister House has 9-foot ceilings, it’s modestly sized, so the wall creates a sense of elongation and borrows space from the outside.” The black-steel sections of the wall “bounce colored light into the house, almost like a cinema screen projecting the outside in,” he notes. This play of contrasts between light and dark, inside and out, extends to the home’s mix of materials and textures. The concrete walls throughout the main residence and laneway house are embossed with a wood-grain pattern imprinted by charred fir planks used as formwork for the concrete pour. The blackened wood was then salvaged and used as soffits and interior wall cladding. Exposed beams of yellow cedar rib the ceilings and add warmth. Finally, the architects brightened the walls with white oak panels and linen-hued Venetian plaster sections that can be removed to access the mechanical elements of the home. Interior color choices exaggerate the natural colors seen outside: The green trees, blue water, and sunny days are artfully echoed by a lime-green backsplash, dusty-blue kitchen cabinets, and tangerine-hued rusted steel elements. “We wanted to embrace the artificiality of the neon colors,” says Cuddington. “They create a bridge between the unaltered natural materials and the inevitable mosaic of colors introduced by the client— vivid tones in particular are dear to her.” In a gesture that’s an exclamation point in a home full of strong statements, slides resembling cement chutes plunge down alongside the staircases on each floor. They echo the »
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THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Disbrow designed the naturally rusted mild-steel cover that partially obscures the ladder leading to the roof. Broad concrete stairs and landscaping connect the laneway house to the main home, but its windows overlook the back alley to ensure privacy. A steel cowling surrounds the window of the second-story laundry room at the front of the main house.
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“We called it Cloister House, using the religious connotations to spark the idea that quiet and controlled containment can lead to heightened experiences, even in a secular realm.” —Clinton Cuddington, architect
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Masonry contractor Tamatsu Tongu shaped granite boulders into wavelike forms to anchor a playspace for the homeowner’s grandchildren. Landscape contractor Aloe Designs then used the stone chippings on the rooftop. The front door of the laneway house faces the rear yard and patio. The rock wall separating the smaller house from the garage (which the artist currently uses as a studio) mirrors the rock walls at the front and rear of the main home. 
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home’s concrete element while charmingly transforming it into a playful invitation to the client’s visiting grandchildren. They’re also placeholders for any future mobility needs, ensuring that the homeowner is able to age in place. Privacy was a central concern, so Measured created a 100square-foot pocket garden within the main home’s U-shaped front section and oriented the living room, kitchen, and studio views inward and toward it rather than outward to neighboring houses. And the exterior window louvers of carbonized fir work “much like a peephole in a door,” Cuddington notes,
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allowing the homeowner to glimpse the surrounding neighborhood without others glimpsing her. Similarly, when designing the laneway house, Measured made sure its views are directed away from the main house. The structure’s planted roof tips toward the main house, and its green top blends into the natural setting. “As an artist, our client wished to stay engaged with the ever-present outdoors without having to leave the home,” says Cuddington. At Cloister House, creations from an inner world travel outward—and the outside world is welcomed within. h
OPPOSITE: The laneway guesthouse is sunk 10 feet underground, allowing the architects to “place the bedroom, bathroom, and laundry in the basement and leave the main level solely for kitchen and living,” notes Cuddington. Concrete and plaster, accented with color, find expressive form in the smaller structure. THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE: Low-slung windows at the rear of the laneway house admit light. A close-up of the industrial lighting and spigot in the garage–art studio. Bright kitchen cabinets in the laneway house reflect the colorblock motifs in the main house.
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A Little Off beat An adventurous Portland couple and the enigmatic Osmose Design bring a flair for the dramatic to an art-filled cottage. Written by BRIAN LIBBY : Photographed by BRUCE WOLF
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To soften the living room of a 1920s Portland cottage, interior designer Andee Hess hung wispy, net-like custom drapery that extends past the bank of windows and around the corner of a wall. “We researched historical drapery applications to swathe the room but not make it too heavy or overbearing,” Hess explains. The midcentury General Dynamics promotional posters inspired the room’s color scheme, including the blue Cassina sofa. The marble coffee tables are custom.
DESIGN TEAM
interiors: Osmose Design cabinetry: Chamblin Furniture custom mirrors: Jason Rens GRAY ISSUE No. TWENTY-ONE
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TOP LEFT: In the dining room, a custom mirror by Jason Rens hangs over the fireplace. The walls are painted in Armagnac from Sherwin-Williams—a “moody and appetizing” hue, according to Hess. The light over the dining table is from Spanish manufacturer Marset. LEFT: The family room includes a Raleigh sofa from Design Within Reach, a Noir coffee table from Bedford Brown, and a Shipley lounge chair from McGuire Furniture. ABOVE: In the living room, Osmose collaborated with Danny Seim to design a trio of modern stained-glass pieces above a custom bookshelf. The chairs are Okumi by Ligne Roset, with a Blu Dot wood table between them.
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o
ver the past decade, interior designer Andee Hess and her firm, Osmose Design, have received widespread acclaim for a host of eye-catching retail, dining, and hospitality projects, such as Ava Gene’s restaurant in Portland, Stumptown Coffee’s Manhattan outpost, and Astoria’s Commodore Hotel. When a Portland couple interviewed the local designer about reimagining the inside of their historic 1920s English-style cottage, Hess thought that her relative lack of residential experience (a few condo commissions notwithstanding) might lead them to
choose another collaborator. “But they came back to me and said, ‘We’d like to hire you because we want something unusual and artistic,’” Hess remembers. “I thought, ‘That’s all I need to hear.’” Indeed, while Hess has a talent for juxtaposing historic and modern styles—often incorporating bold patterns and unexpected materials to create sexy yet restrained interiors— it may be her flair for collaboration with artists and artisans that makes each Osmose project stand out. The concept for the living room began with the clients’ favorite artwork: a trio of the large-scale “Atoms for Peace” » GRAY ISSUE No. TWENTY-ONE
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“Because of our concept and process-based design approach, Osmose draws a unique clientele that is looking for something a little unusual. It takes a decisive and adventurous client to make that decision!” —Andee hess, Designer
A classic Tudor arch gives way to an entry foyer anchored by a glass JSPR vivarium and a custom screen by Osmose. The ceiling is covered in Lincrusta, a washable relief wallpaper made of flax in a technique that dates from the late 1870s. It “adds another layer of depth to the foyer and reinforces the modern/traditional juxtaposition,” says Hess. The runner on the stairs is from Interface.
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posters created by defense contractor General Dynamics in the 1950s to highlight the peaceful use of atomic power. “We were attracted to the underlying unironic, optimistic message of the art as well as its aesthetic: modern without being severe or unemotional,” says one of the homeowners. Hess commissioned Portland’s Danny Seim (who’s not only a member of the rock group Menomena, but also a talented multidisciplinary artist) to create a trio of illuminated stained-glass pieces installed across the room from the posters. Seim designed the works to fit within existing arches and to echo an original beveled-glass window in the entry hall. To place above the fireplaces in the living and dining rooms, Hess had local artist-designer Jason Rens craft custom mirrors whose geometric shapes reference the home’s architectural language of lines and curves. In the foyer, Hess forwent a traditional table in favor of an interlocking cube-shaped Dutch glass vivarium filled with plants. Behind it, she designed a checkerboard-shaped screen that’s illuminated from below. Halfway up the stairway, an enormous paper art piece by Ali Gradischer is wedged into an upper corner like an alien creature. Here, as in much of the house, Hess softens the space with touches of nature; the stairway carpet is in a green tone one could almost mistake for moss, and a downstairs powder room’s walls and ceiling are festooned in a floral-patterned wallpaper. “There’s quite an eclectic mix in the house,” Hess says, “which reflects what the homeowners are drawn to. We wanted the interiors to say, ‘This is their story,’ and to tell that story with a dramatic kick.” h
TOP RIGHT: The faceted drops on the Osmose-designed chandelier are a play on the home’s historical detailing. BOTTOM RIGHT: Ali Gradischer’s paper sculpture clings to an upper corner of the stairway. “This piece breaks and grows from the ceiling and wall planes,” says Hess. “It’s rigid and organic at the same time.”
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Loose Tension
A Vancouver residence revives the art of sculptural landscape with both razor-sharp precision and artistic flair. Written by DEBRA PRINZING
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Tim Swanky (this page and opposite)
landscape
The tension conveyed through Critical Mass, David Robinson’s bronze-and-Cor-Ten work, gives a Vancouver landscape a dynamic quality. Opposite: A bank planted with one dozen paper bark maple trees screens the home and garden. The trees’ cinnamon-hued trunks, which peel like sheets of paper, interact with the weathered patina of the sculpture, subtly connecting the work with Paul Sangha’s landscape design. »
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landscape
“Landscape as sculpture,” a notion rooted in the 18th-century earth-shaping style of English garden designer Capability Brown, is updated in a thoroughly modern way in a garden in Vancouver’s Point Grey neighborhood. Here landscape architect Paul Sangha utilized specimen trees, pools of water, and basalt to reflect the natural world and shape a steep, narrow 66-by-168-foot city lot into a work of art. The client tapped project designer Chris Doray to design the home, which has ample glass yet plenty of privacy. Sangha and his team worked closely with Doray to plan a landscape around the rectilinear limestone-clad structure, contrasting its crisp lines with an organic yet restrained natural setting. “I wanted a loose, wild quality,” Sangha explains. The house seems to hover on its podium-like footings above an 18-inch-deep pool, lined with dark basalt to enhance the water’s reflective qualities. “It creates a sense of expanse, drawing in the landscape and the house as well as the sky,” Sangha says. A curved steel arc cuts across the northwest side of the garden, containing an infinity-edge plunge pool and defining the edge of an entertainment terrace outfitted with a fire pit and bar. The curving line creates “necessary tension,” according
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to Sangha. “The arc allows movement. I took it through the water and up onto the bank—it is the shape that most powerfully relieves the tension of the home’s cubist forms.” On the southwest side of the property, Sangha wanted to commission a site-specific sculpture to integrate a larger water feature with the landscape. When the homeowner suggested Vancouver-based artist David Robinson, Sangha was delighted. “I’d wanted to work with David for a long time. Sculpture adds a wonderful layer to our projects; it becomes a story and incorporates someone else’s aesthetic and intuitions.” Critical Mass, Robinson’s dynamic bronze and Cor-Ten installation, holds its own against the volumes of water and architecture. The piece is 30 feet long and portrays a largerthan-life human figure resisting a falling row of 43 Cor-Ten “fins.” The tilting steel slabs are frozen in mid-tumble yet feel kinetic. The sculpture is carefully aligned with the home’s windows, so from the inside, they seem to frame the center of the arc and the figure. The weathered pieces interact with Sangha’s planting scheme of textured bark, lacy foliage, and evergreen boughs, creating a layered, ever-changing effect that’s compelling from any angle. »
Paul Sangha Landscape Architecture
Two additional pieces by David Robinson are mounted on the vertical retaining wall that contains the infinity pool, depicting male and female rowers in sculls.
Seattle | Bellingham 518.955.5200
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landscape The limestone-clad house, by project designer Chris Doray, appears to float above a series of reflecting pools, an effect that is especially arresting at dusk. h
landscape architecture: Paul Sangha Landscape Architecture project designer: Chris Doray Studio sculptor: David Robinson Studio landscape construction: Sterling Landscaping pool construction: Alka Pools metalwork: Metal and Wood Products
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Michael Elkan
DESIGN TEAM
the new west coast
sculptural forms that are at once urban and rural
info@autonomousfurniture.com www.autonomousfurniture.com
TOLOMEO MEGA
design M. De Lucchi & G.Fassina
1-877-382-9450 • Info@Lmatters.com • www.Lmatters.com
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architecture
think piece
Burnkit’s new office employs minimalist sophistication to inspire its creative inhabitants, not modern workspace gimmicks. Written by Lindsey M. Roberts : Photographed by Lucas Finlay
“We’re not minimalists, but we do strive for expressive economy. We work within the bounds of a project, and we look for potential in the ordinary and moments when practicality and poetry coincide. The stairs are the perfect example.”—David Battersby, architect
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DESIGN TEAM
architecture: BattersbyHowat Architects construction: Powers Construction millwork: Nico Spacecraft metalwork: Metalmart
Tight budgets can yield the most original outcomes.
BattersbyHowat installed a large skylight to bring light into the formerly oppressive entry area. Now, clients step in off the street into an illuminated foyer, with porcelain-and-glass Bocci pendants and the “floating” steel staircase as the artistic centerpieces. TOP: In its new office, Burnkit forwent an open layout and instead groups teams into smaller modules. The firm also added a small private office and a boardroom— features its previous space lacked.
Take the office of Vancouver design agency Burnkit, a firm that does interactive, packaging, print, brand, and graphic work for a coterie of the city’s design elite, including Bing Thom Architects, Wings + Horns, and Bensen. In 2012, the firm bought a neglected 3,000-squarefoot Railtown building that was being used as a Chinese dry food warehouse. The architecture firm picked to execute the building’s radical transformation—from eyesore to architectural gem—was award-winning Vancouver firm BattersbyHowat, collaborating closely with Josh Dunford, Burnkit’s founder and partner. In a resourceful move, Burnkit looked to its professional network— brands it already had relationships with—to trade time and products. The firm worked out a deal with Bocci, for example, to exchange design services (the creation of a Web app that allows users to “drag, drop, and configure chandeliers of different colors,” Dunford says) for a custom version of its colorful 28 Series chandelier. Burnkit also arranged trades with Eos Lightmedia for workstation light fixtures and with Bensen for upholstered goods. » GRAY ISSUE No. TWENTY-ONE
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architecture
“They wanted a simple, clean space, not an ostentatious one—they’re a young and fun but serious design company.” —David Battersby, architect
Turning a run-down 1950s-era warehouse (above) into a classy office space was a fun challenge for BattersbyHowat, whose commercial side of the business is growing. Today the white walls sport colorful iterations of Burnkit’s projects. Miura stools by Konstantin Grcic flank a plywood table built by Nico Spacecraft; a Linear T5 pendant by Sistemalux hangs overhead.
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Key to keeping the project on track was Burnkit’s close partnership with BattersbyHowat, a firm best known for sleek yet self-effacing residential work but expanding its portfolio of commercial projects. The firms’ shared design philosophy calls for quality over flamboyance— and that made them ideal partners to codesign a website for the architecture firm in 2009, a monograph three years later, and office space for the design agency in 2013. “We’re not minimalists,” says principal architect David Battersby, “but we do strive for expressive economy. We work within the bounds of a project, and we look for potential in the ordinary and moments when practicality and poetry coincide.” Burnkit’s vision was a simple, clean, timeless design— much like the work it produces for its clients. To deliver the desired effect, the firm gutted the space, then installed white walls, whitewashed the ceiling, and poured a new slab of light-colored concrete over the old one. Now the office is “just concrete, white, and wood,” says Dunford. The single head-swiveling architectural moment is the baby-blue steel staircase at the entry. “It serves a real practical purpose, but it is also a sophisticated yet playful piece of functional sculpture,” Battersby explains. Stairs are usually a big-ticket item, but to keep the project in the black, BattersbyHowat pulled off a trompe l’oeil: Though the staircase looks like a single piece of bent steel, it’s actually composed of multiple overlapping metal pieces, site-welded and resting on beams that cantilever out of the wall. Dunford was so intent on the office becoming a neutral backdrop for creativity that he initially lobbied for the staircase to be gray, but “our staff revolted,” Battersby says. Explains Dunford: “In the end, they were right. That color is a nice introduction to the space. Clients always stare up to take it in when they come in off the street.” And the rest of the office, he says, “is a clean, open space that gives you room to think and dream.” h
Smart living begins here.
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architecture
GIMME SHELTER
Written by COURTNEY FERRIS : Photographed by COLTON STIFFLER
Designed by MFGR Designs and architect Richard Charlesworth and built by CookStar Productions, a 576-square-foot garage in southwestern Montana makes a striking architectural statement thanks to detailing and materials that honor the local agricultural vernacular—elevating what could have been a mundane outbuilding to a thing of beauty.
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t
he Bridger Mountains region of Montana, where wildlife, ranches, and unpredictable weather patterns reign supreme, is one of the last places you’d expect to find edgy contemporary architecture. Yet Peter Costanti, of Bozeman, Montana–based firm MFGR Designs, in collaboration with architect Richard Charlesworth, bucked the trend with what may be Montana’s most handsome garage. Set on a large cattle ranch, this small-scale, small-budget project proves that even the most mundane of programmatic elements, a detached garage, can be transformed with thoughtful detailing. Designed to shelter both cars and dry firewood, the 576-square-foot structure packs outsize visual punch. Inspired by the metal agricultural sheds and outbuildings that are common on the ranches surrounding this remote site, the building is clad in dark gray–painted bonderized metal and polycarbonate greenhouse glazing and accented by a concrete retaining wall nestled into the slope. Beneath the overhanging roof, an 8-foot-tall redwood slat wall softens the entry experience, “giving a more tactile feel as you’re walking past and a more appealing approach as a pedestrian than metal would,” says Charlesworth. The slats overlap each other where they meet at the corner, a construction detail that salutes the log cabins prevalent in the area. Six fluorescent tube lights glow behind the polycarbonate wall, so at night the garage acts as a soft, hazily lit beacon—“a beautiful experience that welcomes the residents home,” says Costanti. h
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resources
23. NEWS Address Vancouver whatsyouraddress.ca
Metropolitan Hardwood Floors Kent, WA metrofloors.com
Bellevue Arts Museum Bellevue, WA bellevuearts.org
Okanagan Block Co. Summerland, B.C. okanaganblock.co
Daltile Seattle daltile.com
Ben Bridge Jeweler Seattle and Portland benbridge.com
One Under Golf Vancouver oneunder.ca
The Demolition Depot demolitiondepot.com
Brian Paquette Interiors Seattle brianpaquetteinteriors.com
Turner Taps Vancouver turnertaps.com
FUEL Vancouver Vancouver fuelvancouver.com
Seaforth Construction Burnaby, B.C. seaforthconstruction.com
Hammer & Hand Seattle, Portland hammerandhand.com LAMP Vancouver welovelamp.ca Lightform Vancouver lightform.ca Modern Home Tours modernhometours.com Portland Art Museum Portland portlandartmuseum.org Seattle Architecture Foundation Seattle seattlearchitecture.org The Sorrento Hotel Seattle hotelsorrento.com
38. MADE HERE Boone Speed Portland boonespeed.com Flavor Paper Brooklyn, NY flavorpaper.com
40. TRENDS Davis Studio Architecture + Design Bainbridge Island, WA davisstudioad.com
Restoration Hardware restorationhardware.com Seattle Interiors Seattle seattleinteriors.com Thomas O’Brien aerostudios.com
58. RENOVATION Design Harmony Kirkland, WA designharmonyinfo.com Albert Lee Appliance Multiple locations albertleeappliance.com
Forestpryde Poulsbo, WA forestpryde.com
Second Use Seattle seconduse.com
University of Washington Seattle arch.be.washington.edu
68. SOURCED Arteriors arteriorshome.com Bocci Vancouver bocci.ca EWF Modern Portland ewfmodern.com Ferguson Multiple locations ferguson.com
West Elm Multiple locations westelm.com
Lambert et Fils lambertetfils.com LightForm Vancouver lightform.ca Ligne Roset Seattle, Vancouver ligne-roset.com Maison Inc. maisoninc.com Pablo pablodesigns.com Roll & Hill rollandhill.com Stylegarage Vancouver stylegarage.com
73. PLOT TWIST Brian Paquette Interiors Seattle brianpaquetteinteriors.com
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Restoration Hardware restorationhardware.com
Juniper Design juniperdesign.com
Blu Dot bludot.com
Schoolhouse Electric Portland schoolhouseelectric.com
Pindler pindler.com
Totokaelo Art + Object Seattle totokaelo.com
pieceHomes.com piecehomes.com
Ken Lais Construction Canby, OR (503) 266-3942
Lawson-Fenning lawsonfenning.com
Inform Interiors Seattle informseattle.com
PHC Construction Bainbridge Island, WA phc-construction.com
42. PROFILE Allison Ullmer Portland allisonullmer.com
Kerry Joyce Textiles kerryjoycetextiles.com
Room & Board Seattle roomandboard.com
Trammell-GagnĂŠ Seattle tgshowroom.com
Herman Miller hermanmiller.com
Jayson Home jaysonhome.com
Fuse Lighting fuselighting.com
62. RENOVATION Beebe Skidmore Architects Portland beebeskidmore.com
HD Golf Vaughan, ON hdgolf.com
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Rejuvenation Seattle, Portland rejuvenation.com
Pental Granite & Marble Multiple locations pentalonline.com
Grow Community Bainbridge Island, WA growbainbridge.com
Also Known As Vancouver alsoknownas.ca
Fine Paints of Europe finepaintsofeurope.com
Asani Bainbridge Island, WA asanillc.com
Studio Four NYC studiofournyc.com
32. INTERIORS Occupy Design Vancouver occupydesign.com
49. RENOVATION Mallet Incorporated Seattle malletinc.com
Apparatus apparatusstudio.com Design Within Reach Seattle, Portland dwr.com Garza Marfa garzamarfa.com
Workstead workstead.com Zak + Fox zakandfox.com
80. OPEN SECRET Measured Architects Vancouver measured.ca Aloe Designs Vancouver aloedesigns.com CX Contracting & Construction Management cxcontracting.ca Fast + Epp Vancouver fastepp.com Nico Spacecraft Roberts Creek, B.C. nicospacecraft.com Toko Garden Design Coquitlam, B.C. tokogarden.ca
90. A LITTLE OFFBEAT Osmose Design Portland osmosedesign.com Ali Gradischer Portland behance.net/aligradischer
market The ultimate buyer’s guide. Your resource for everything from design studios and artisans to trades- and craftspeople.
Sin In Linen Celebrity artist invites you to bed ... the Atomic Dreams Collection by famed artist Ragnar, is designed for the most stylish home. The ultra-luxury midcentury modern collection gives any room an immediate facelift. Choose from bedding, bath, and kitchen linens. GRAY readers enjoy 10% off order using SINGRAY at checkout. sininlinen.com
Archilume Archilume’s unassuming simplicity masks a visionary design that transforms energy-efficient LED lighting into beautiful accent luminaires. The clear cylindrical lens features a conical diffuser that emits an elegant glow without the glare of a visible light source. Suited for ultra-modern to heritage-style interiors, the transparency of this design is its trademark aesthetic feature. Available in two gentle light effects: one evokes ripples on water, the other provides diffuse, even illumination. These dimmable luminaires are intended for illumination at counter and bar areas, in clustered formations as chandeliers in entrances, lounges and dining areas, or anywhere people want beautiful lighting accents. www.archilume.com (604) 710-2576
not2big® React. Reduce. Rethink. Recycle. Relax. At not2big, we build modern artisan furniture one piece at a time. Handcrafted and individually numbered, no two pieces are exactly alike. Our designs combine the warmth of wood with a creative mix of other materials to produce timeless furniture that is functional and beautiful. Whether you choose an in-house design or a custom piece, it will be a true original. Our goal is to inspire, delight, and surprise, bringing our clients a personalized experience and providing them with a unique product not available anywhere else. Rethinking how furniture is made. We are not2big! www.not2big.com (425) 503-0710
Reed LaPlant Studio From a small shop in Northeast Portland, Reed LaPlant combines a modern aesthetic, classic sensibility, and traditional craftsmanship to produce hand-made, heirloom-quality furniture. Drawing from a background in architecture and art history, Reed designs and builds each piece to transcend styles and eras, and to endure decades and generations. Choose from a previously designed and built line of work, request a custom piece, or collaborate ... your choice, your needs, your space, your lifestyle. reedlaplant.com (503) 505-2543
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resources
Bedford Brown Portland bedfordbrown.com
Bocci Vancouver bocci.ca
Blu Dot bludot.com
Burnkit Vancouver burnkit.com
Cassina cassina.com Chamblin Furniture Portland chamblinfurniture.com Design Within Reach Seattle, Portland dwr.com GKA Lighting Portland gkalighting.com Interface interface.com Jason Rens Portland rasonjens.com Ligne Roset Seattle, Vancouver ligne-roset.com Lincrusta lincrusta.com Marset marset.com McGuire Furniture mcguirefurniture.com Sherwin-Williams sherwin-williams.com
96. LANDSCAPE Paul Sangha Vancouver paulsangha.com Robinson Studio Vancouver robinsonstudio.com
102. ARCHITECTURE BattersbyHowat Architects Vancouver battersbyhowat.com
Eos Lightmedia Vancouver eoslightmedia.com Inform Interiors Vancouver informinteriors.com Interface Interface.com Metal Mart Langley, B.C. metalmart.ca Nico Spacecraft Roberts Creek, B.C. nicospacecraft.com Powers Construction Vancouver powersconstruction.com Sistemalux sistemalux.com
41. Anderson Poolworks Portland andersonpoolworks.com 101. Autonomous Furniture Collective Victoria autonomousfurniture.com 9. B & B Italia Seattle bebitalia.com divafurniture.com 16. Bellevue Arts Museum bellevuearts.org 65. Ben Trogdon Architects Seattle bentrogdonarchitects.com 51. Best Plumbing Seattle bestplumbing.com
Steelcase steelcase.com
57. BLANCO blancocanada.com blancoamerica.com
106. ARCHITECTURE MFGR Designs Bozeman, MT mfgrdesigns.com
47. Boen boen.com Available through: Europlex International Vancouver europlex.ca
114. MY NORTHWEST Seattle International Film Festival Seattle siff.net Vito’s Seattle vitosseattle.com Warren Dykeman Seattle warrendykeman.com
Bensen Vancouver bensen.ca
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AD INDEX 6. Alchemy Collections Seattle alchemycollections.com camerichseattle.com
GRAY ISSUE No. TWENTY-ONE
8. Bradlee Distributors, Inc. Multiple locations bradlee.net 14. Chown Hardware Portland and Bellevue, WA chown.com 29. The Cloud Room Seattle cloudroomseattle.com 61. Collins collinswood.com 105. Colorhouse Portland colorhousepaint.com 67. Design Stage Seattle design-stage.com
61. Dovetail General Contractors Seattle dovetailgc.com 4. Dwell on Design dwellondesign.com/gray 65. EWF Modern Portland ewfmodern.com
22. Maison Inc. Portland maisoninc.com 15. The Modern Fan Co. modernfan.com 28. Modern Home Tours Seattle, Portland modernhometours.com
105. FabCab fabcab.com
105. NICHEoutside Seattle nicheoutside.com
115. The Fixture Gallery Multiple locations thefixturegallery.com
37. OPUS Vancouver Vancouver vancouver.opushotel.com
39. Hammer & Hand Seattle and Portland hammerandhand.com
72. Ragen & Associates Seattle ragenassociates.com
2. Hive Portland hivemodern.com
48. Resource Furniture Vancouver resourcefurniture.com
5. hip Portland ubhip.com
17. Roche Bobois Seattle, Portland roche-bobois.com
99. InHaus Development Ltd. Vancouver inhaus.ca
13. Room & Board Seattle roomandboard.com
27. Interior Design Show West Vancouver idswest.com 35. Interlam interlam-design.com 107. K & L Interiors Seattle kandlinteriors.com 101. Light Matters Seattle lightmattersonline.com 99. Lisa Staton Design Seattle, Bellingham, WA lisastaton.com 18. Loewen loewen.com Available through: Sound Glass Tacoma soundglass.com Windows Doors & More Seattle windowshowroom.com 116. Lounge22 Los Angeles lounge22.com
7. Schuchart Dow Seattle schuchartdow.com 67. Scot Eckley Inc Seattle scoteckley.com 53. SPARK Modern Fires sparkfires.com 107. Timothy De Clue Collection Seattle timothydeclue.com 25. Tufenkian Portland tufenkianportland.com 105. Vanillawood Portland vanillawood.com 101. Vida Design Portland vida-design.net 99. Wanted Design New York wanteddesignnyc.com 72. Wood-Works Cabinetry + Design Seattle woodworkscad.com
market The ultimate buyer’s guide. Your resource for everything from design studios and artisans to trades- and craftspeople.
DEMI-LUNE Featuring new and previously employed quality home furnishings acquired through private consignment and owner, interior designer Keven Weber’s unique finds. We also create a mix that is exclusively yours through our professional interior design services. Contact us to feature your quality consignments! 2514 Fourth Ave. Seattle, WA 98121 lademi-lune.com (206) 728-5600
Jamieson Furniture Gallery For the past 25 years, designer Richard Jamieson has been recognized as a leader in the modern urban plank movement. Jamieson Furniture’s large Bellevue showroom artfully blends handcrafted live-edged tables with unique and custom-designed hardwood furniture for all the rooms in your home. 10217 Main Street, Bellevue, WA 98004 www.jamiesonfurniture.com (425) 577-8627
Pot Incorporated Providing the highest-quality custom commercial and residential planters. Using heavy gauge aluminum and steel, Pot Inc. produces both rectilinear and bowl planter forms. Choose from their premium in-house designs or work with their designers to create individual custom designs. Gray readers receive 10% off their popular Hover Dish hanging planters. Use promo code “GRAY” when purchasing online. www.potinc.ca
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my northwest
WHO:
carl spence
Artistic director, Seattle International Film Festival WHERE: Vito’s, Seattle
Photographed by Nate Watters
Carl Spence is used to spending a lot of time in dark rooms. Usually he’s seated in theaters, screening movies for the annual Seattle International Film Festival (running May 14– June 7 this year), over which he presides as artistic director. Other times, though, he’s tucked into one of the tufted burgundy booths at Vito’s, the storied Seattle lounge known for its gangster history, stuffed cougar display, old-school Italian fare, stiff drinks, and strenuously dim lighting. Spence, a Seattle native, has been coming here since he was in his 20s. Though Vito’s is under new ownership—and flaunts updated design elements such as a quasi-psychedelic 36-foot-long mural by Warren Dykeman—its midcentury style and slightly surreal mood remain intact. Spence frequently brings visiting filmmakers to the lounge late at night, after festival events, to partake of its David Lynchian atmosphere. “I can’t think of anyone who hasn’t liked it,” Spence muses. “It’s a great last stop.” h
“Vito’s feels like a movie set. A set decorator wouldn’t even have to dress it—in terms of ambiance, it’s already the perfect location.”
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Presenting an inimitable expression of true heritage, the DXV collection from American Standard captures the essence of influential design from the last 150 years. Our products evoke a strong nostalgic connection to classic design while setting the standard for modern bathrooms.
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Salem Showroom 2710 S.E. Pringle Rd., #110 503-779-2882
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Eugene Showroom 110 N. Garfield 541-688-7621
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Seattle Showroom 8221 Greenwood Ave. N. 206-632-4488
CONSOLIDATEDSUPPLY.COM
Pacific Showroom 703 Valentine Ave S.E. 253-299-7156