Fennell Residence

Portland, Oregon-based organic architect Robert Oshatzcreated created the Fennell Floating House for his clients who purchased a mooring on the east side of the Willamette River, an active commercial and recreational body of water. They turned to Oshatz, known for his curvaceous, swooping architecture, to create a floating house as their weekend and summer retreat. The 2,364 sq. ft.-home features a passive approach to site, daylighting and ventilation.

The Fennell residence, as a floating house, presented a unique opportunity for design. The imaginative use of curved glue lam beams evoke the poetry of the ripples and contours of a river.

The expansive glass facade embraces the river and frames the sunset, and one accesses the deck via an expansive sliding glass door. A master bedroom sits over a study and looks out over the living dining area and out to the river beyond. The curvilinear forms create spacial differentiation that enhance the experience of time as light plays through the daily and seasonal changes.