Fox House by Pique Architecture is a sustainable design project for a family home in Portland, Oregon. Situation on an elevated site, the house enjoys premium views of the surrounding landscape. The original concept was envisioned by a friend of the Fox family, as a series of three rectangular box shaped volumes which referenced the views of The Three Sisters Mountains. The architects worked around this concept and translated it into three structures, each one defined by the interiors into sleeping, living and work spaces.
The owners requested that their home should contain the highest elements of energy efficiency, which entailed the installation of photovoltaic panels in a semi-sunken garden, ensuring their concealment, as well as ground sourced heat pumps. Particular attention was paid to the insulation of the structures by taking geographical and climatic elements into consideration when positioning windows, walls and screens.
Monitored views of the surrounding area allows the ultimate in the privacy of the home, which appears to blend in with its natural environment, due to the choice of building materials. Indigenous lava rock is referenced in the black slate roof tiles, the stone cladding merges with the grey of the distant mountains and the light grey stucco with the tones of the native flora. An excellent example of a site specific, net zero home and in fact, the first of its type in the region.
