Iolair / GO'C

Architects: GO’C
Area: 1,600 ft²
Year: 2025
Photography: Kevin Scott
Contractor: Bluebird Builders
Structural Engineering: Swenson Say Fagét
Client: iolair
Location: Eastsound, Orcas Island, Washington
Country: United States

iolair is a compact, multi-functional arts facility located in Eastsound on Orcas Island, conceived as a hybrid space combining artist residency, studio, gallery, and administrative functions. Developed alongside the formation of its namesake foundation, the project supports an international artist-in-residence program while fostering engagement with the local community. The building occupies a former orchard site and introduces a new typology to the town, balancing private creative workspaces with publicly accessible exhibition areas. Materially defined by ebony-stained cedar and carefully articulated openings, the structure organizes its program around a central courtyard designed for installations and gatherings. Integrated artworks by local makers reinforce the project’s connection to place, while spatial qualities such as daylight modulation and framed views contribute to an environment that actively supports artistic production.

As architects, we often strive for control, ensuring projects are successful while managing risk. But if we eliminate all opportunities for chance and happenstance, materials—and entire spaces—can become sterile and predictable. A deep beauty often lies in these spontaneous moments of discovery, and we embrace them in our work and in life.
Interview with Jon Gentry and Aimée O’Carroll of GO’C

The project emerges not simply as a building, but as a generative framework through which an institution takes shape, with architecture functioning as both container and catalyst. Conceived before the formal establishment of the foundation it now houses, iolair reflects a condition in which spatial design precedes and informs organizational identity, allowing programmatic ambitions to evolve in direct dialogue with built form.

Situated within the village fabric of Eastsound, the building occupies a transitional site between residential and commercial zones, mediating these contexts through scale, massing, and permeability. Its infill condition, layered with traces of a former orchard, informs a design approach that is both restrained and expressive. The structure introduces a hybrid typology uncommon in the area, accommodating living, working, and exhibition functions within a compact footprint while anticipating future expansion through a second building planned for the site.

The architecture is organized around a courtyard that acts as both spatial and conceptual core. Equal in scale to the building itself, this open space establishes a framework for interaction, exhibition, and future artistic interventions. The L-shaped plan carefully balances enclosure and openness, allowing the resident artist to retreat into private areas while maintaining a continuous relationship with shared spaces.

Material articulation reinforces this duality. The exterior reads as a carved volume, its dark cedar cladding lending a sense of solidity, while selective white-stained surfaces signal moments of entry and transition. Internally, the program unfolds across varied spatial conditions, including a gallery with a lofted workspace, a compact kitchen supporting both daily use and public events, and a secluded sleeping area. The shifting roofline mirrors the gradient from public to private zones, registering programmatic hierarchy through form.

Embedded within the architecture is a layer of crafted interventions by local artists, integrating art directly into the building’s fabric. Elements such as sculptural metalwork, custom details, and stone installations establish a tactile connection to the island’s creative community. Light plays a defining role, most notably through a circular aperture at the north end of the gallery that draws daylight deep into the interior while framing views toward the adjacent park, reinforcing the project’s conceptual grounding in observation, context, and creative exchange.