Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Making a Better City: Flexhouse

Posted by Michael Annus

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Shou Sugi Ban Siding – Building Envelope – Lime and Clay Plaster

Flexhouse: Shou Sugi Ban Siding

Shou-sugi ban–also known as Yakisugi–is a traditional Japanese technique for treating siding that was used on the Flexhouse in Portland, Oregon. This video features the home’s owner Ajna Lichau and Ray Anthony Barrett talking about their decision to use and their process for implementing this technique. The house was designed by Michele Jeresek (Architect, Departure Design, www.departure-design.com) and built by JRA Greenbuilding.

Flexhouse: Building Envelope

The Flexhouse in Portland, Oregon was framed in part to reduce the quantity of lumber while maintaining building strength and allowing for high insulation levels. Triple-paned windows were installed and the building was tightly air-sealed to increase the building’s energy performance. In this video, Darrell Arnold and Geno Faes highlight some of the features of the building envelope of the Flexhouse. The house was designed by Michele Jeresek (Architect, Departure Design, www.departure-design.com) and built by JRA Greenbuilding.

Flexhouse: Lime and Clay Plaster

For thousands of years, lime and clay plaster have been used to finish walls. In the early 1800’s however, the lime in plaster was mostly replaced by Portland cement and lime plaster became much less common. The use of clay plaster is also uncommon, but both materials are experiencing something of a revival, including in the Flexhouse in Portland, Oregon.

In this video, Sukita Crimmel (Manager, Traditional Natural Plaster Company, describes the application of lime and clay plaster in the Flexhouse. The house was designed by Michele Jeresek (Architect, Departure Design, www.departure-design.com) and built by JRA Greenbuilding.

View other projects in the ‘Making a Better City’ Series:

• Overview
• Background
• The Beverly Apartments
• Cully Grove
• Eight x 17
• June Key Delta Community Center
• Kelley House
• Mint Dental
• Phelps-Montgomery House
• Stoffel House
• Trillium Public Charter School
• Whitridge Full Plane House