The Shift House demonstrates a radical departure from the way we approach energy efficiency and sustainability in new home construction.Through the innovative use of materials and intimate understanding of site conditions, the architects at Root Design Build are striving to build one of the only true passive houses in the United States.
In approaching the landscape design for the Shift House, Stemmler Design also looks to demonstrate a "shift" from the status quo - departing from the template of typical suburban development to reveal a landscape that blurs the boundary between domestic life and the natural surroundings. In doing so, the landscape unveils the beauty and intrinsic value of local ecology within the context of our every day lives.Situated atop the Columbia River Basin, the site is considered part of the Oak/Conifer Eastern Cascades Columbia Foothills ecoregion - an ecoregion defined by its tremendous diversity and broad mosaic of vegetation types.
Stemmler Design looked to the meadows of this particular ecoregion as the major unifying design theme for the entire site. Working with native plant specialists at Milestone Nursery, such plant species as Penstemon Richardsonii, Coreopsis atkinsoniana, Koeleria cristata compose a meadow that is woven throughout the site. Nuances in this meadow change in response to microclimate considerations and demands.
Together with recycled, eco-friendly materials, the landscape provides all the opportunities associated with typical domestic life (barbeques, get-togethers, gardening, miscellaneous outdoor activities) while also providing important ecological function, including habitat for a spectrum of birds, butterflies, and various other local flora and fauna.
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