AIA · Portland, Oregon
Rowan Vale designs houses, small civic work and adaptive reuse across Oregon and southwest Washington.
See selected workA retired couple wanted one level, no thresholds, and a view of the Sandy River gorge that did not cook the room in August. We buried the house half a story into the slope, put the glazing high and north, and used the roof overhang as the only shading device. Passive House certified, and heated by a single mini-split.
A 1912 brick kiln building that the city had listed and nobody could figure out how to occupy. We inserted eleven independent steel-framed workspaces that touch the historic masonry in only fourteen places, so the whole intervention is reversible. Full occupancy within four months of completion.
Our first public commission, won in open competition. Mass timber structure, a deep porch that doubles the usable program in summer, and a children’s room sized around the way kids actually sit on the floor. Delivered $180,000 under a $4.1m budget.
The studio
Rowan Vale was founded in 2014 and has stayed deliberately at ten people. A principal is on every project from the first site walk to the last punch item — we do not hand work down to a production team once the pretty drawings are done. We build physical models for every project, including the small ones, because clients read them and renderings flatter everything equally. Roughly a third of our work is residential, a third adaptive reuse, and a third small civic and cultural buildings won in competition.
Projects completed
People in the studio
Passive House certifications
Delivered on or under budget
Columbia Branch Library, Vancouver, Washington.
Alder House, Corbett.
Kilnworks adaptive reuse.
Hood Cabin.
Ravenscourt ADU.
“They talked us out of the third bedroom we thought we wanted and spent the money on the roof instead. Two winters in, that was obviously the right call.”
“We interviewed five firms about the kiln. Rowan Vale was the only one who came back and said the building should be touched as little as possible.”
“Under budget, on schedule, and our circulation is up thirty percent. The porch is where half the town now waits for the bus.”
We take on roughly eight new projects a year and typically book six to nine months ahead. Tell us what you are thinking about.