Thirteen 10 Condominiums

Winner 2008 AIA Built Honor Award and AIA Sustainable Award

photos by Steven Miller of Ambient Light

Architects Brett Crawford and his wife Dana Ing Crawford were looking for a box in need of help. Specifically they were looking for a box that they could afford, that was in the right location and that held potential as a condominium conversion. They wanted a project of a scale that allowed them to be the developers, designers and builders. What they found was a five unit apartment building built in 1969 known as The Cedars on SE 14th and Main. If the building ever had any aesthetic appeal, it had long since disappeared. Clad in vinyl, with red brick accent elements, the building contributed nothing positive on the street of much older houses. But its' close-in location was superb and it had an underlying form that fit the architects vision.

Over the past few years there has been a fair amount of apartments converted to condominiums in the close in eastside neighborhoods. These conversions were a response to a sustained high demand for residential space in these areas and to market conditions that made purchasing property as appealing as renting. Most were conversions of modest, small apartments into modest, small condos. Some of these conversions were done with care and resulted in some affordable housing in desirable locations. Some were done with less care resulting in properties which may or may not offer value over time. But few, if any, of these conversions were done with architecture and design as the driving force of the project.

And here is where the Crawford's project leaps to the head of the class. 1310, as the project was dubbed, is one tightly wound package of design forward urban space in a "where you want to live if you like to bicycle or walk to everything" location. If you are a close in east Portland sort, location doesn't get much better than this. The completed building has an elegance resulting from its' geometry and form and a richness resulting from some very skilled layering and materials choices. The detailing and execution of the rain screen skin and also the way the stairs and the sun screen are constructed speak of an attention and pride in detail seldom found in most of the built environment . It received a 2008 AIA Built Honor award. Quoting from the AIA site: "The project clearly demonstrates the value of architecture as a transformative process. The building is strong, but also humble in its character." The AIA also awarded it this year's Honor Award for Sustainability.

Of all the things to like about the building, and there are many, what continues to impress me is the depth and sense of space that Brett achieved in a small volume of space at the front of the building. This is the result of one of the driving design notions of the redo, what Brett refers to as the "shroud". Looking at the sketch (on the left of the photo slide show) it is that concept/element consisting of the rain screen and roof that was slipped over the whole building. He extended the shroud out past the front of the building and added a sun screen element at the front edge. The stairs are placed in this space/layer and each unit now has an entry that acts as a porch which is also an outdoor room. Although this space is not large in terms of each unit, it is rich and neighborly. It combines with another layer that is made up of the walkway and landscaping all of which is the more effective by being up off of the street on a concrete plinth. This layering is also very effective from the inside out, adding a sense of 'beyond' when one is inside, making the interior feel bigger and expansive.

This enlarged feeling is important. Brett and Dana took some risks as developers. One was that consumers would put a value on architecture and quality. Another was that they would accept a relatively small space as home. The building has five units total: four one bedrooms at 590 square feet and one two bedroom at 930 square feet. There is a lot of talk of reducing one's footprint, but to do so requires a certain mindset on the consumer's part and some good use of space on the designer's part. Brett and Dana used great skill as regards the latter which will hopefully help with the former. "The interiors are all about as much open space as possible. We concerned ourselves with how to make small spaces feel bigger, how to let them breath. We needed to be efficient about utility space, closet space, laundry space." Bathrooms are tiled on all surfaces, allowing for an open shower configuration that maximizes the utility of the room's size. The wall between bedroom and living room is a cabinet which provides closet, furnace room, and a pantry for the kitchen. There are wood detailed walls, bamboo floors, a built in bench at the entry, high grade cabinetry and hardware, a european double duty washer/dryer and quality windows with skilled placement for light and view. The planning of these units is done with much thought and skill and the result is an open feeling with more amenities than one would expect in this amount of space.

Crawford likes to refer to this project as "Builderly Modern". This design philosophy is the focus of his practice, which elevates the combined elements of modern design and the craft of building. This harkens back to the arts and crafts movement where the craft of building was valued. "It is the sense of being built by hand and being built well. We wanted to combine this with the modern vocabulary. Doing it as a design build with us as the developer gave us the opportunity to raise the product to an unconventional level and to build a product of which we can be proud."