Portland Housing Studies
2025
Portland, OR
In 2021, Portland, Oregon, got rid of single-family zoning. The new zoning allows for increased density to promote housing supply, affordability, and walkable, transit-oriented development. Now, single-family zone lots are allowed to be developed with up to two ADUs, duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, and cottage clusters.
For this study, we took a house for sale in the R5 zone district, with a lot size of 50’x100’, and developed options for renovating the existing house, maintaining the footprint for a new house, adding ADUs, and converting the lot to a duplex, triplex, quadplex and a cottage cluster of four homes.
Situated on NE 15th Ave in Portland’s Irvington neighborhood, the existing home was in need of a renovation and provided an ideal site to explore the new zoning code possibilities.
A two-bedroom, one-bathroom house occupies the North part of the site with a large outdoor space and a driveway to the South.
Level 1
Level 2
The first iteration of something new was to reuse the existing foundation and house footprint. The result is a comfortable four-bedroom, three-bathroom house with ample living space, while maintaining the large outdoor areas.
Level 1
Level 2
The second iteration took the existing house with an updated plan and outdoor access and added a bedroom wing. The three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom house is connected by a light-filled kitchen.
