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photo of The Pierre
Photo: Dwight Eschliman

The Pierre

San Juan Islands, Washington

The Pierre

San Juan Islands, Washington

  • Design Principal

    Tom Kundig

The owner’s affection for a stone outcropping on her property inspired the design of this house. Conceived as a retreat nestled into the rock, the Pierre (the French word for stone) celebrates the materiality of the site. From certain angles, the house—with its rough materials, encompassing stone, green roof, and surrounding foliage—almost disappears into nature.

To set the house deep into the site, portions of the rock outcropping were excavated through machine work and handwork. Excavated rock was re-used as crushed aggregate in the concrete flooring. Excavation marks were left exposed on all the stonework, a reminder of the building process.

Throughout the house, the rock extrudes into the space, contrasting with the luxurious textures of the furnishings. Interior and exterior fireplace hearths are carved out of existing stone; leveled on top, they are otherwise left raw. The master bathroom’s sink is composed of water cascading through three polished pools in the existing stone. Both the entry sequence and a powder room are fully carved out of the rock.

The Pierre is a modern house exploring traditional site and building strategies. In the spirit of using available on‑site materials, we took a natural object from the site – the rock – and repurposed it in the building of this home. It’s both a quarry and a structure. Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA

Team

Awards

2014

AIA National Honor Awards, Architecture Award

AIA National Honor Awards, Interior Architecture Award

2013

Architizer A+ Popular Choice Awards, Finalist, Residential Single Family Home

2012

AIA National Housing Awards, Housing Award

AIA Northwest and Pacific Region Honor Awards, Honor Award

AIA Seattle Honor Awards, Honor Award

Builder’s Choice Design & Planning Awards, Builder’s Choice Grand Award

Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Awards, American Architecture Award

IIDA Interior Design Awards, Interior Design Award, Best of Competition

2011

Northwest Design Awards, First Place: Exotic Retreats

Washington Aggregates & Concrete Association, Excellence in Concrete Construction

2010

World Architecture News House of the Year Awards, House of the Year

Publications

2020

Bradbury, Dominic and Richard Powers. The Iconic American House: Architectural Masterworks Since 1900. London: Thames & Hudson, 2020, 302-307. Book.

Lasky, Julie. “Custom, Not Customary.” The New York Times, 15 Mar. 2020, F12-F13. Print.

Lasky, Julie. “These Custom Designs Are Anything but Customary.” The New York Times, 11 Mar. 2020. Web.

Thakrar, Tina. “In Conversation with Olson Kundig.” Good Homes India, 20 Jul. 2020. Web.

Waldek, Stefanie. “Take a Spin Through a Century of Iconic American Houses.” Architectural Digest Online, 12 Oct. 2020. Web.

2019

Baldwin, Eric. “18 Reasons Why the Pacific Northwest Is a Mecca for Architects.” Architizer, 27 Feb. 2019. Web.

Kundig, Tom. “Inspiration: Tom Kundig on Two Houses that Shaped His Architecture.” Architecture&: the Royal Academy of Arts Magazine, Winter 2019, 10-11. Print.

Rollo, Joe. Concrete Houses: The Poetics of Form, Port Melbourne: Thames & Hudson, Oct. 2019, 116-125. Book.

2014

Rolls Royce: A Legacy of Driving Excellence, London: Regal Press, 2014. 7, 240-241, 269. Book.