The Story
When you own a bookstore and have a growing family to care for, you don’t always have time for yard work. When we first saw the site where our clients were hoping to build a small backyard cottage, it was completely overgrown with wild shrubs and we couldn’t even tell how much space there was. We managed to clean up the yard and started to design a quiet spot for reading or entertaining guests.
One of the client’s main goals for the cottage was that it should feel like part of the backyard, so from the beginning we worked closely with a landscape architect to create an integrated design. The inspiration for the look of the shed was ‘a found object with modern updates.’ We utilized glass and geometric shapes to give the structure a modern façade, and wrapped the siding in a way that it spills into the interior, referencing the found shed inspiration. The siding also acts as a backstop for the casework, so it’s both a design element and a functional part of the structure.
Although it’s a small footprint, every inch of the cottage was given purpose. You can access the sleeping loft with a ladder that folds out of the way when not needed. The window seat has drawers underneath for storage and of course we included ample built-in bookshelves. The large window on the back wall lets in light while perfectly framing a small tree that was part of the landscape design. The underside of the loft is covered in a whimsical wallpaper, which came about because of an issue we were having with deflection, which created cracks in the drywall around the hidden speakers. The clients asked “What if we covered it with wallpaper?”
This was an incredibly satisfying project and we had a lot of fun working with collaborative and imaginative clients, an integrated team of architects, interior designers, landscape architects and a highly skilled contractor. The completed project received national attention and was honored as a Dwell Best of Design 2018 Awards Nominee and made the cover of Master Builder Fall 2018.
Project designed and completed while Ryan was an Associate at Board & Vellum.
Design Team: Ryan Adanalian, Katie Mallory, Matthew Hagen, Renee Roman, Derek Reeves
Contractor: Proform General Contractors
Structural Engineer: Bykonen Carter Quinn
Geotechnical Engineer: GeoResources
Photographer: Andrew Giammarco
Location: Seattle, WA
Environment
Climate Zone:
4C, Marine
Ecoregion (EPA):
2f Central Puget Lowland
