Trillium House

Location: Warrenton

Cost: Not disclosed

Completion: May 2023

Owner/Developer: Northwest Housing Alternatives

Architect: Stuart Emmons, AIA Emmons Design, KASA

Engineer: Stonewood Structural Engineers

General Contractor: Walsh Construction

Submitting Company: Walsh Construction

Subcontractors: All Purpose Drywall, Aorbis, Bayview Asphalt, Bealer Construction, Best Window Coverings, Big River Construction, Building Specialties Northwest, Castle Masonry, Contemporary Visions, Dennis’ Seven Dees, Diamond Heating, Eagle Striping Services, Environmental Works, Firwood Design Group, Firestop, GE Appliances, Inland Electric, Instafab, JB Insulation, Lanz Cabinets, NBH, Quality Cleaning Service, RDF Builders, Tapani Plumbing, TerraCalc Land Surveying, Thyssenkrupp Elevator, Topline Counters, Ultra Quiet Floors, VPI Quality Windows, Wood Mechanix

Warrenton’s Trillium House, at 42,500 square feet, offers 42 affordable units designed to bring comfort and stability to Clatsop County’s working families. It was developed through a collaborative partnership between the Northwest Oregon Housing Authority and Northwest Housing Alternatives.

The project utilized the Cost-Efficient Design and Construction methodology developed by Mike Steffen of Walsh Construction. CEDC was developed to combat escalating construction costs that have challenged affordable housing projects and aims to reduce costs by 20 percent. It standarizes 80 percent of the design elements and customizes the remaining 20 percent to meet specific needs. On this project, inner core elements are standardized, including the use of a single design for each apartment size, stacking apartments to efficiently run utilities, avoiding complicated architectural features and using highly durable materials.

Working collaboratively with Stuart Emmons, the Walsh team sought out efficiencies and cost savings for the project through design optimization and the standardization, repetition, and, in some cases, prefabrication of basic building elements such as unit plans, bathrooms, kitchens, corridors and stairways. The focus was on achieving the most efficient building layouts and optimized designs, adapted to each unique site and program.

The application of cost-efficiency principles to the overall design of Trillium House, and the building’s sub-systems, resulted in cost savings. The project earned Earth Advantage Platinum certification for its commitment to sustainability.

Walsh collaborated with new subcontractors near the coast to bring value and maintain the construction schedule during a constantly changing labor and supplier market. The contractor delivered Trillium House in 12 months despite significant supply chain and weather-related delays.

Developing Trillium House was a response to a pressing social and economic issue: the urgent need for affordable housing in Clatsop County. Affordable housing has been slow to reach the Oregon Coast and the facility serves as a model for building effectively and affordably to serve local communities.

The critical partnerships between NHA, NOHA, Emmons Design, Firwood Design Group, KASA Architects and Stonewood Structural Engineers were essential to achieving the vision of Trillium House.

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