Claybourne Commons consists of 20 row houses (4 rows of 5) that occupy a half city block in southeast Portland.  Each dwelling has a simple, iconic form and is distinguished from its neighbor through detail and color. Each dwelling occupies its own 18’ x 33’ fee simple lot.

The challenge of this project was to create a cost effective row house that is both compact and spacious in feeling.  Several simple yet effective strategies were used to achieve this. 

To gain the maximum sense of spaciousness, the second floor living area occupies the entire building footprint with tall windows placed symmetrically on either end of the room.  The kitchen, conceived as a freestanding wooden box, is placed off center and visually floats within the room.  The stairs are discretely tucked behind this wooden box.

Each dwelling has its own sense of autonomy.  Between the units, a continuous roof and wall reveal gives the impression that each dwelling is self-contained, lightly touching but independent from its neighbor.  The dwellings alternate in color from charcoal to white providing a singularity to each unit.