Lyons Rock
Oregon Coast
The clients’ request was a unique proposition: design a home on a tiny rock outcrop 140 feet above the Pacific Ocean with only a narrow driveway for access to the building site. The buildable area had an existing grade-beam foundation in a trapezoid layout. This substantial footing features twelve 24” diameter concrete pylons which extend nearly 80 feet down into the basalt outcrop.
Given the unique shape of the existing foundation and the spectacularly dramatic location and views, we recognized early that the new home would benefit from a simple, clarified design.
The objectives included managing a multitude of weather conditions; maximizing views; providing privacy from home sites inland to the east; and expanding the usable footprint of the existing foundation without additional excavation or concrete, due to the challenging site access and extremely small site size. More importantly, given the prominent location, the structure must remain modestly sized and not visually intrusive on the vista, while still achieving the usability goals of the owners.
The project begins with a steel frame diaphragm placed on the existing foundation, cantilevering 12’ on three sides. This not only gives an evocative floating gesture to the structure, but also increases the floor area to allow for a single-story home which simplifies the overall build and minimizes the overall mass. For the occupant and the observer, the horizontality of the ocean is reflected, and the overall building geometry is more easily blended into the cliff side.
A glass curtain wall dresses three sides of the structure creating an unobstructed view of the ocean and coastline. The street-side façade is screened with a warped wood trellis, blending with the tangled Gorse bush covering the rock. The south façade features two layers of sliding glass doors that create a variety of indoor/outdoor living configurations, manage solar exposure, and provide double protection from the occasional violent ocean storms.
A building mass in the center of the home anchors this floating building to its rock. This solid building element houses the utility room, bathrooms and hallway. Angled light scoops drive natural light into the hallway in a dramatic fashion and at the end of this path, chiseled basalt steps lead to a rooftop observation deck.
Within the considerable parameters of this project, we envisioned a home that will organize the expansiveness, accentuate the nuance of the place and act as an active participant in this theater with the fewest architectural gestures.
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