Waechter Architecture

Pickathon is a music festival set within the forests of Happy Valley, Oregon, where music, art, and architecture come together to create an immersive experience. Each year, site-specific installations become part of the landscape, shaping the way people gather, explore, and experience the festival.

For this year's festival, we designed the Windmill gathering spaces as places for both connection and retreat. A simple timber module becomes a forest room, a gateway, and a DJ stage, creating spaces to socialize, pause, and look up through the canopy before returning to the music. Built in collaboration with Pete Rust of the Port Townsend Shipwrights for Pickathon 2026.

Outdoor living is shaped by the site as much as the building. We consider it from the earliest stages of every project. The goal is to create spaces that feel natural to use in every season.

Photography in order:
Meadow House -
Trilogy House - .enriquez
Autocamp Sequoia -
Mississippi Workshop -
Society Hotel -

The edge of a building is more than a boundary. It's where architecture begins a conversation with its surroundings.

Sometimes that means meeting a forest floor. Sometimes it's a sidewalk, a courtyard, or an alley. In every context, these moments shape how we arrive, move through, and experience a place.

We think of these edges not as lines of separation, but as opportunities for connection.

Photography in order:

Trilogy House - .enriquez
Autocamp Sequoia -
Tower House -
Society hotel -
Furioso Vineyards -
Corollary Wines - .enriquez

the organization of the Mississippi project creates distinct zones for programs and services. The building is comprised of six equal rooms, stacked in three tiers on each side of a shared courtyard. These clear span volumes are proportioned to accommodate a range of uses and may be outfitted for autonomous use, or as an ensemble with other units.

Contractor:
Owen Gabbert LLC -
Cistus Nursery -
Structural Engineer:
Photography:

Indoor and outdoor living shouldn't feel like two separate experiences. Across our work, from the outdoor rooms at the Society Hotel to the alleyway at Milwaukie Way, we design with that connection in mind: a door opening a kitchen to a garden, a porch blurring where the building ends and the landscape begins.

It's a value we keep returning to: architecture that doesn't simply frame a view, but invites you to live within it.

Photos in order:
Society hotel - Photo by
Trilogy House - Photo by .enriquez
Mississippi Office - Photo by
Dune House - Photo by .enriquez
Meadow House - Photo by
Milwaukie Way - Photo by

A bold silhouette on the horizon. draws inspiration from the rugged, functional structures of agricultural landscapes while creating an immersive setting dedicated exclusively to sparkling wine.

Interiors:
Builder: .construct
Photos: .enriquez

In our Mississippi office, work unfolds within the structure itself. Morning light moves across the CLT surfaces. Conversations gather around shared tables. Materials age, collect traces, and become part of the story.

We spend a significant part of our lives at work. The spaces we occupy each day should support focus, collaboration, and moments of pause. They should feel grounded, generous, and connected to the people who use them.

Good workplaces are not just efficient. They are places people want to return to.

Photos by

In our Mississippi office, work unfolds within the structure itself. Morning light moves across the CLT surfaces. Conversations gather around shared tables. Materials age, collect traces, and become part of the story.

We spend a significant part of our lives at work. The spaces we occupy each day should support focus, collaboration, and moments of pause. They should feel grounded, generous, and connected to the people who use them.

Good workplaces are not just efficient. They are places people want to return to.

Photos by: