Designed by the talented architecture firm PIQUE, this single family residence rests on a prairie site in the high desert of Central Oregon and takes its design cues from the distant landscapes, the colors/textures/layers of the adjacent fields and the client’s demand to feel as though they live outdoors.

The Desert Pavilion is kept low to the ground and accented with strong horizontal elements to visually tie the building to the surrounding landscape. Three parallel axis walls bear the load of the structure and orient the house toward prominent views allowing the landscape to flow into the home.  The walls in turn are extended into the site creating outdoor rooms and expanding the small footprint into the surrounding prairie.  The steel-clad spine wall separates the public from private functions and the materiality is reminiscent of the deep red Oregon summer sunsets.

The structure features a large central void that further integrates the exterior and interior. This void delivers natural light to the basement rooms as well as provides a private outdoor gathering space in the center of the house.  Circulation is focused around the void, offering multiple glimpses of both the interior landscape, as well as the distant landscape of the Cascade Mountains.

PIQUE is a design studio dedicated to delivering inventive and meaningful architectural projects steeped in the specificity of the problem, program, site and ambitions of the client. Just as the word pique is to stimulate or capture one's attention, our carefully considered designs excite an awareness in the occupant of the space they are in and the people they share it with.