by Darren Chang

In June of last year, I attended a captivating presentation by Todd Saunders, the distinguished Norwegian-Canadian architect, at the Seattle Housing Forum. Intrigued by his work, I delved further by reading his book, “Todd Saunders: New Northern Houses” (1), and have been meaning to share my key takeaways ever since. Finally, I've found the time to compile them in this post, which will serve as a helpful reminder for myself and hopefully help others who come across it.

New Northern House (Credit: https://www.saunders.no)

The book is structured by projects, as is typical of books about individual architects. However, as I flipped through the pages, two recurring themes emerged: Saunders’ form-making strategies that answer to the contemporary era and the novel housing typology he developed, which I've coined the term "vertical courtyard." Both themes are uniquely tailored to the regional characteristics of Scandinavia, which include breathtaking natural landscapes and long, rainy winters. Remarkably, the Pacific Northwest (PNW) shares these same regional characteristics. Hence, I'll commence this discussion with the strongest effect the weather has on the local architecture – the sloping roof.

The Sloping Roof, Eave, and Form-Making

In the Pacific Northwest, the preferred roof design for a house is sloped, whether in the form of a shed or gable. This design serves a dual purpose, efficiently washing away foliage and debris carried by rain or wind while preventing water from puddling on a flat roof. It's a foolproof system, but a sloped roof can still be sculpted to contribute to the overall building form. Rather than a detached roof, I prefer a roof that is integrated with the rest of the building's design. The language of stratifying the roof plane and separating it from the rest of the building, once popularized by firms like Olson Kundig, now feels like belonging to the previous generation.

The Dragonfly by Olson Kundig. (Credit: https://olsonkundig.com)

Designers in the PNW region understand the importance of eave overhangs in protecting a building's facade from rain. However, traditional overhangs are contradictory with contemporary sculptural form-making. The question then becomes: how can we incorporate an overhang without it feeling traditional?

The Art of Making an Overhang without Making It Look like an Overhang?

I would say there are at least four strategies in integrating the overhang into the overall building language:

1. Peeling the exterior wall inwardly away from the roof and floor lines to create a pocket of covered space on the exterior. Take Todd Saunders’ Villa AT, for instance, where the glass wall gracefully peels off from the boundary lines that define the roof and floor, thereby creating an overhang. While Villa AT has a flat roof, this strategy can also work if the house has a sloped roof. Alternatively, the fascia of the roof plane can peel away outwardly from the exterior wall, creating an overhang while still keeping it as part of the overall language. A more dynamic gesture of the house can be created by having the inward and outward peelings alternatively.

Villa AT by Todd Saunders. (Credit: https://www.saunders.no)

2. Folding or bending the roof smoothly into the exterior wall so that the resulting curvature becomes the focal point of the building form. Saunders’ earlier realized project, Hardanger Retreat, is a great example of this approach.

Hardanger Retreat by Todd Saunders. (Credit: https://www.saunders.no)

3. Carving out a negative space in a massing block. Rather than having a protruding overhang, this strategy creates a covered outdoor space by pressing into the building’s massing. Saunders’ Fogo Island Shed is one such example.

Fogo Island Shed by Todd Saunders. (Credit: https://www.saunders.no)

4. Creating a triangular negative space instead of a rectilinear one is a variation of Strategy 3. This can also be considered a variation of Strategy 1. In either case, the result is a more dynamic and sculptural-looking exterior space. Villa Tyssøy, another of Saunders' projects, is a perfect example of this approach.

Villa Tyssøy by Todd Saunders. (Credit: https://www.saunders.no)

By implementing one or more of these strategies, it's possible to create a modern, aesthetically pleasing overhang that not only protects the building façade from the rain but also contributes to the overall sculptural form of the building.

Four strategies in integrating the overhang into the overall building language.

The “Vertical Courtyard House”

The typical overhang, extending only 4 to 6 feet from the house's exterior wall, fails to offer adequate shelter for outdoor activities. As such, most homeowners settle for covered patios. But there is a more innovative solution: to use the house itself as a protective "umbrella," raising it partially or entirely off the ground. This dual-purpose strategy not only enhances the main living space's visual connection with the surrounding scenery, but also provides ample covered outdoor space. Moreover, lifting the building off the ground minimizes its impact on the landscape, allowing plants to flourish underneath and people to move freely. And where there is visual interest at the ground level, the elevated structure fosters unobstructed visual connections, rather than blocking them.

Saunders' Villa Grieg and Villa S showcase this strategy. Villa Grieg sits on a hill, overlooking a large lake in the distance. The house, sitting on pilotis, provides a lake view not only to the main living space but also to anyone approaching the house from the far side. This is a remarkable move that maximizes the house's visual connection to the surroundings while minimizing its impact on the landscape. See below the project photo and the diagram I have drawn for it.

Villa Grieg by Todd Saunders. (Credit: https://www.saunders.no)

Villa S is an archetype of the house acting as an “umbrella.” The massing of the house is almost simplified to a cruciform, with the main living space in the horizontal bar. Outdoor activities happen below that horizontal bar. If the familiar horizontal courtyard provides privacy to its inhabitants by shielding them from the surroundings, this new “vertical courtyard” typology provides year-round outdoor space by shielding the inhabitants from the long and harsh Scandinavian winters.

Villa S by Todd Saunders. (Credit: https://www.saunders.no)

Summary

To summarize, a truly contemporary house design that has successfully adapted to the particular climate of the Pacific Northwest should have the following features:

Adequate overhangs to protect exterior doors and major windows from the rain. The overhangs should be integrated into the overall form making of the building.
A sloped roof, either as a gable or shed, to efficiently guide rainwater away from the roof.
The main body of the building should be lifted off the ground to enhance visual connections along the ground plane, offer better vistas for the upper level, and reduce the building's impact on the landscape. Additionally, raising the building off the ground can provide ample covered outdoor space and create a more dynamic and sculptural-looking building form.

By incorporating these design elements, a house can not only perform well in the unique climate of the Pacific Northwest but also achieve a truly contemporary and innovative aesthetic. In my next blog I will showcase how the aforementioned strategies are applied to a villa design in Duvall, WA.

reference

Dominic Bradbury (2021). Todd Saunders: New Northern Houses. London: Thames & Hudson.