The site for this home is a steep, south-facing hillside with panoramic views overlooking Puget Sound, the city of Tacoma, and Mount Rainier.  To either side are neighboring houses looking directly across the site, diminishing privacy and affecting the pristine 180’ sweep of dramatic distant views.  To accomplish the clients’ objective of maximum privacy and at the same time to open the house with an uninterrupted glass wall, a semi-circular plan was settled upon.  This half-donut shape with a solid wall to the outside and a glass wall on the inside creates privacy for the house and deck and, due to the structural advantages of this shape, transfers all lateral loads through the roof to the solid outer shear wall allowing the inner wall to be uninterrupted glass.

The structure takes on a crescent shape through the offset radii of two intersecting arcs which form the structure and enclosure of the building.  This offset is born of the practical requirements of the plan that required a larger space at the main living area of the home in the center and smaller space requirements at either end of the circle where a bedroom and a music room are located.  While the plan was best accommodated with a crescent shape, the roof structure was far more economical as a simple, semi-circular structure of identical, equal bays.  Thus, the rational structural arc of the roof structure supported on thin steel columns and an arcing glu-lam beam is separated from and pierces through the non-structural arc of the window wall.  All the shear forces in the front of the building are then transferred through a stress-skin sandwich panel roofing system to the solid back wall of the building.

The differential arcs of the roof and the enclosing wall below are also situated for optimal sunshading.  The two arcs are most nearly tangent at due south where the incoming sunlight is most vertical.  The arcs diverge creating deep overhangs towards the ends of the crescent creating greater shading for more horizontal sunlight in morning and evening.

A service wing extending back into the hillside serves to structurally and visually tie the building to the site and allows the main crescent shape to remain as one continuous open space subdivided and defined only by freestanding sculptural/functional elements such as the kitchen and the stone fireplace.  At the intersection of the main crescent with the service wing stands a four story tower serving as the main entry and twin studies capturing spectacular marine and mountain views.

Designed and built for clients retiring from careers in the wood products industry, the structure and finishes of this house serve to showcase the technological and creative possibilities of the use of wood on a dramatic and challenging cliff-side site.  The crescent form was chosen to simultaneously maximize views and privacy for the main living spaces and the courtyard deck, drawing on the inherent strength of its curved back shear wall to permit a completely open floor plan and uninterrupted glass curtain wall.