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Shaped Smart

With simple design, a house stays sensitive to its place on the planet

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BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES David Goldberg's Green Lake house is two sections joined by a linking corridor, or bridge, containing an office and guest room. The house is oriented and shaped for passive-solar heating, fresh air and territorial views. BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES It's no accident that David, Lisa and Jillian Goldberg look out of windows in the bridge section that seem just the right height for them. It was planned that way, although the Goldbergs' cat claimed Jillian's portal until Jillian was old enough to look out. BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES David, Lisa and Jillian show off Jillian's bedroom loft, which she'll be old enough to enjoy on her own in a few years. The ladder is a keepsake from the original house on the lot. BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES The public part of the house has a loft living room above the kitchen, which has extensive storage in simple cabinets. A hydronic heating system warms the concrete floor. MDF wall panels and stair treads are formaldehyde-free. BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES This view looks south to the connecting bridge and the public part of the house. The couple did nearly all of the construction work themselves in five years while trying to stick to a strict budget. BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES The loft above the kitchen is private, offers a lake and mountain view and reflects the well-crafted simplicity inherent in the overall design of the house. Lisa built the steel coffee table from another project's leftovers. BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES Goldberg and his daughter, Jillian, stand in a well-lit kitchen, where daylight floods in through double-paned, low-e, wood-frame windows even on winter mornings. The steel stairway to the living-room loft was a budget-bender but helped preserve the open aspect.

ARCHITECT DAVID Goldberg's local projects include IslandWood on Bainbridge Island, Zoomazium at the Woodland Park Zoo and the current expansion of the Seattle Aquarium. It's all work that emphasizes education and the environment, key interests of his as a designer and principal at Mithun in Seattle. He joined the firm while a graduate student at the University of Washington and, at 37, is a member of its board of directors. He's also a board member of Earth Share of Washington. Goldberg, his wife, Lisa Storch Goldberg, and their daughter, Jillian, live in Seattle's Green Lake neighborhood. We talked with him recently in their newly completed house.

Q: What inspired designing this house to be in two sections?

A: By splitting the house and angling it just so, we could get cross-ventilation into more rooms. We also angled the walls to allow for a neighbor building up at some point, as well as for light and views. We built a lot of cardboard models to understand where the light would fall.

Q: What kind of house did you want?

A: At 2,000 square feet, we went below what the zoning allowed. Our goal was to use every inch of it and make it seem bigger than it is. We tried to be sensitive and break up the massing.

Having a house where there's a place to put everything, with no excess, was important. Our lives are hectic and stressful, and it's important to be able to come home where things seem calm and simple, with nothing there beyond what we need.

Also, we knew we wanted a family, so that meant we wanted our child to be able to go outside and make use of that space. So we'll have indoor space flow into outdoors and more privacy. We can look out over shrubs and still have light.

Q: This is partly a remodel. Did you keep much of the original structure?

A: We started with a boarded-up, 500-square-foot house we bought in an estate sale. There had been a fatal fire. The bridge, or link, that joins the front part of the house to the back is where the front door used to be for the old house. The house is still here, just kind of encapsulated. The original cabin's wide planks are exposed in the guest bedroom, but that's about all you can see.

Q: How did you approach the work?

A: We spent three months working on the (old) house to get it in shape to live in. We built the south section first as we lived in the old house in back. In the second phase of building, we moved into the front-section loft, jacked up the old house, added a new foundation and went from there. We started in 2001 and finished last year.

Q: Your firm is known for green design. How is this house environmentally sensitive, and did that make it more costly to build?

A: Everyone has a different value system for green building. One focuses on smart energy use, another on materials, others on water and landscaping. We tried to do everything, to some degree. Bamboo floors upstairs? Bamboo doesn't cost more than maple. Cork floors in the bedroom? Well, you don't kill the tree. Salvaged-wood stair treads? We spent more money to get a rain barrel. Certified plywood? That was more. Stone tiles and concrete elsewhere? It's beautiful and will last. We chose wood-framed windows. Again, it's a trade-off — vinyl vs. wood. You can now buy (Green Building Program) certified wood-frame windows. With vinyl, there is the manufacturing and off-gassing issue. All the paints here are low-VOC; no formaldehyde, no off-gassing. If you're going to purchase a high-quality paint, there's really no extra cost. Lisa is a Ph.D. biochemist so these are important issues for us.

Q: Were you able to stick to your budget?

A: Our goal was about $200,000. I'm guessing we went over that, but Lisa and I probably did 75 to 80 percent of the work. We laid the hydronic-heating conduit and poured the Gyp-Crete and spread it around. We framed nearly all of it ourselves. I wired and plumbed the whole house myself. The siding, the concrete surface finishing was done by others. Lisa's dad, Adam, helped during summers, and Lisa and I kept going all winter long, though we both had full-time jobs. We asked friends to help with the heavy stuff. If we hired that out, in today's prices, it would be about $300 a square foot.

Q: Did you have to omit anything?

A: Our roof surface is oriented south to use solar. Our budget didn't allow that in the first phase. We're going to be working toward that in the next few years. Because we had a budget we couldn't do too many custom things. Kitchen cabinets are from Home Depot, for example. They're simple, and it's so hard to find simplicity in buildings and materials.

Q: What makes this a good house?

A: It's open, bright, flexible. It's beautiful but not ostentatious. Even on a gloomy day, we don't need lights in the kitchen and dining area. You don't need air conditioning because of the natural airflow.

Q: What kind of house did you grow up in?

A: I think this house and my becoming an architect were to experience a different way of building and living than the way I grew up. It was a beautiful lot, close to an acre, split-level ranch. Every house on the block exactly the same, no matter how it faced, or where the trees were, or where the sun came up.

I wanted to have a place that related intentionally to the outdoors, where the house was environmentally intelligent — rooms in places to respond to its position. This house is much stronger, built to last longer. It works even better than I thought it would.

Dean Stahl is a Seattle free-lance writer. Benjamin Benschneider is a Pacific Northwest magazine staff photographer.