Playhouses go green

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Storybook Village's Secret Garden house during construction.

Green-leaning builders, architects and designers are strutting their stuff in miniature this summer, showcased in children's playhouses for the first annual Storybook Playhouse Project.

The project is located through Aug. 14 at Bridgeport Village in Tigard and is a benefit for Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. Through it, participating companies have built five quirky — and eco-friendly — playhouses based on popular children’s books.

The playhouses are hosting a series of events for kids, such as daily story readings, a Storybook Ball and a Ramona and Beezus Movie Celebration. A raffle of two of them benefits the hospital, while the other three will be sited for use by patients.

The child-sized dream homes include a Three Bears Cottage, a Secret Garden Tudor, Risby’s Doghouse, a Magic Tree House, a Fancy Nancy Victorian and an Enchanted Castle Theater.

They were created and built by volunteer companies including architect Peter Stark, Nathan Young Construction, Olson and Jones Construction, Chic-Sheds.com, Introspecs LLC, Zink Design Services, Advanced Construction & Repair, Goodnight Room, Metke Construction, AK Builders, the Art Institute of Portland, Interiors by Suzanne, Dobro Designs, Wellness Associates and Building Blocks, Inc. The companies donated their time, talent and materials to the effort.

“I would do it again as the opportunity arises. It was fun and very different and certainly a worthwhile cause,” said Ryan Zink, who typically designs home remodels, additions and new houses.

Responsible for at least three of the designs, Zink said the biggest challenge was tweaking his software to build so small.

Aside from being fun, the project also provided participating companies a chance to showcase their green-building skills.

Guidelines called for salvaged supplies in every design and for materials procured from local or regional providers. They also called for natural light, a water feature or rainwater collection system, and for landscaping and/or eco-roofs with few irrigation and fertilizer needs.

Toxic materials harmful to young visitors were to be avoided: glues, solvents, adhesives and high VOC emissions. Products containing PVC were also set aside, along with tropical and other non-domestic species of wood.

Lee van der Voo, lvdvoo*at*gmail.com, is a freelance writer for Sustainable Business Oregon.