LEVER Architecture

TreeHouse

TREEHOUSE

Lever Architecture

TreeHouse
© Lara Swimmer

PHOTOGRAPHS
Lara Swimmer

AREA
45000 FT²

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Thomas Robinson, Jonathan Heppner, Doug Sheets

MANUFACTURERS
Oregon Lumber Company, Skyline Sheet Metal, Techlighting

YEAR
2015

LOCATION
Portland, United States

CATEGORY
Apartments

TreeHouse
© Lara Swimmer

Text description provided by architect.

Treehouse is a 7-story, 69-unit, multi-family apartment building located on a steeply forested site on the Marquam Hill campus of the Oregon Health & Science University (OSHU) in Portland.

The project program provides housing for OHSU staff, students, and affiliates who are interested in a live/work/no-commute lifestyle, as well as a new retail destination on the ground floor.

TreeHouse
© Lara Swimmer
TreeHouse
© Lara Swimmer
TreeHouse
© Lara Swimmer

The design bridges the urban and topographical qualities of the campus by placing the building as an “in the round” object in the forest.

Instead of cutting into the hill, the building form is carved to follow the landscape. From the interior entry lobby, the experience of the forested landscape is framed. F

rom the exterior, the building connects the upper-level bridge entry to the lower level retail and rain garden landscape and deck that mitigates all stormwater runoff.

TreeHouse
© Lara Swimmer
TreeHouse
© Lara Swimmer

The units are designed as a series of interlocking volumes arranged around a compact central core.

The irregular octagonal plan was driven by mandated setback points required to allow for glazing on every face of the building.

TreeHouse
© Lara Swimmer
TreeHouse
© Lara Swimmer

Windows have been carefully placed to maximize daylight and spaciousness in the studio and one bedroom flats.

The façade of the building is inspired by the textures and light of the forest. A continuous carved building skin is achieved by eliminating the expression of floor levels by incorporating all expansion joints into the custom window surrounds.

TreeHouse
© Lara Swimmer
TreeHouse
© Lara Swimmer

Special attention was paid to the framing to allow for the precise placement of the windows at the corners, as well as the detailing of thru façade venting.

The skin has a consistent texture and pattern but intentional variety that gives the façade a dynamic quality that changes as you move along and around it and with the time of day.

TreeHouse
© Lara Swimmer


TreeHouse
© Lara Swimmer
TreeHouse
© Lara Swimmer


TreeHouse
Floor Plan
TreeHouse
Facade Detail
TreeHouse
Elevation

LEVER Architecture
T +1 503 9286040
LEVER Architecture
4713 N Albina Ave FOURTH FLOOR, Portland, OR 97217, United States