Mathieson Residence

Site

Located on the historic Olmstead Brothers Queen Anne Loop, the site originally housed a flower shop which, with its adjacent greenhouses, supplied flowers for the neighboring cemetery and the Pike Place Market. The owners purchased the abandoned structure – long ago converted to an apartment – from an absentee landlord. The site has significant street noise, as it is at the corner of two arterial streets that serves as the first stop/holding area of a bus route. 

Program

The owners desired an open urban loft layout with a feeling of density at the street and a tranquil interior courtyard. Driven by a modest budget and the willingness of the contractor to use the owners as his construction crew, the solution reflects decisions made based on using cost effective materials and the owners’ unskilled labor.

Solution

The existing structure was closer to the street than existing zoning regulations would allow for new construction. In order to maximize the space available for the courtyard, portions of the existing structure were retained. These portions serve as a base for the two-story open loft structure above. An existing shed served as a wood shop and metal fabrication area during construction and was then converted into storage, studio, and garage spaces once the house was completed. The two structures – along with the clad site wall – define an urban courtyard elevated above the adjacent roadway. The house faces into the courtyard, the solid walls acting as a buffer from the noisy streets and bus stop.

Recognition

Honor Award

AIA Northwest & Pacific Region

Honor Award

AIA Seattle

Architecture+Design Museum LA

"West Coast Residential" Exhibit

Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design

"West Coast Residential" Exhibit

25 Houses under 1500 Squuare Feet

by James Trulove

HGTV: If Walls Could Talk

"Naughty, Immigrant, Flowers"

Seattle Times Pacific Northwest Magazine

"Old Queen Anne Renewed"

West Coast Residential

by Greg Bellerby

Credits

General Contractor

RMG Construction + Homeowners

Structural Engineer

Jay Taylor

Photography

Jim Van Gundy

Ben Benschneider

E|FA