NOA: The courtyard house

NOA completes The Courtyard House in Aurora, OR. Located on a hillside overlooking protected wetlands, this 2,981 ft²
(277 m²) residence cantilevers towards views of the Pudding River on one end, while burrowing into the landscape on the
other. Entered through an underground entrance court, the living spaces flow in a continuous loop around a faceted glass
courtyard and two L-shaped cores.

The glass courtyard optimizes passive solar gain and brings light and air into the subterranean interiors. The two Lshaped cores also define interior circulation and contain all requirements for daily living, such as bathrooms, showers,
closets, kitchen and mechanicals. In contrast to a conventional house with a series of unused bedrooms, during the day
the Courtyard House is experienced as a single loft with every room becoming living, while at night every room becoming
sleeping.

NOA Founder Andrew Heid commented: “By downsizing the conventional house by one-third, the Courtyard House
sponsors more collective and resilient forms of life without sacrificing the necessary privacy of daily living. This new
organization extends the exterior environment inside and expands it socially. There, co-habitational activities may be
forged between inter-generational family and friends, while fulfilling the new demands of a dispersed aging population.”
The Courtyard House is the first free-standing building completed by NOA.

The Courtyard House
Aurora, Oregon
Architect: NOA, Andrew Heid
Team: Christopher Purpura, Jack Hogan, Noa Peer, Christopher Purpura
Client: private
Contructor: WBS Construction Inc.
Structural engineering: Madden & Baughman Engineering, Inc.
Area: 277 m² (2,981 ft²)
Completion: 2013
Cost: $585,000