Infill Design Handbook

The real estate market and increasing value of land have exerted significant influence on the size of houses being built today.  While compatible infill development is an important community goal, blending a new house into its context can be challenging, particularly when abutting houses are small and predate the infill site by 40 years or more.  In Lake Oswego, the result is that many new infill houses are larger and look substantially different that neighboring houses.

The Infill Design Handbook offers a starting point when thinking about a site’s context in terms of how it is sloped, how abutting homes are oriented, where existing sight lines are, and what the surrounding examples of good design are.  From there, an attractive and compatible house can be designed to blend into the existing development pattern while also meeting the building design standards for each zone. 

Whether you are a potential property owner, a developer, a designer, an architect, a general contractor, a landscaper, or a neighborhood activist, this handbook will provide guidance and talking points at all stages of the development process.  City staff is available to answers questions about the handbook or about the underlying zone standards during most hours of the weekday on the 3rd floor of City Hall.  You may also contact the staff coordinator for this project, Johanna Hastay, at 503-635-0290.