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After Kevin Cavenaugh, managing member of Portland-based Guerrilla Development, purchased a century-old former horse barn in Southeast Portland, he decided to convert the industrial-style building with no windows and 24-foot-tall ceilings into four residential lofts.

The challenge included peeling away a portion of the roof to create a central courtyard that lets light inside.

鈥淚t’s fun because it’s an experiment,鈥� said Cavenaugh, a designer. 鈥淚t was more about: Can anybody live in here? Can I make this thing habitable?鈥�

Now the building, called Dr. Jim’s Lofts, is where Cavenaugh and his family call home.

Dr. Jim’s Lofts is one of eight urban infill developments that will be featured Oct. 11 on a hosted by the American Institute of Architects’ Portland chapter.

鈥淔or the most part, they’re really creative uses of old lots,鈥� said Dave Otte, president-elect of the AIA Portland board, said of the structures included on the 鈥溾�� tour.

A committee of AIA members selected the homes 鈥� all completed either this year or last year 鈥� as prime examples of custom urban infill projects designed in harmony with inner Portland neighborhoods. Several of the homes strive to bridge the gap between residential and commercial areas. Others balance out contemporary designs by taking cues from nearby structures.

Designs by Portland-based Works Partnership Architecture for the Bowstring Truss House and Overton 19, adjacent developments in Northwest Portland on the tour, fit their surroundings, Works Partnership principal Carrie Strickland said. The live-work lofts blur the line between industrial buildings across the street and townhomes to the west, she said.

鈥淚 think it works really well in that neighborhood because it’s sort of a transition neighborhood,鈥� Strickland said. 鈥淵ou set up a project scale that helps blend that transition line.鈥�

When Portland architect Rick Potestio was tasked with helping turn a Southeast Portland parking lot into a contemporary three-story apartment building, he took a close look at the neighborhood first. His design for the Gragg Apartments, including the home of University of Oregon John Yeon Center for Architectural Studies Director Randy Gragg, will be featured on the AIA Portland tour.

The concrete base of the apartment building uses materials that are common in the neighborhood and colors that are compatible with nearby structures.

鈥淚 designed the base of it to reflect the rest of the buildings on the block,鈥� Potestio said. 鈥淭hat’s actually my philosophy is work with your context.鈥�

Like the Bowstring Truss House and Overton 19 projects, the Gragg Apartments sits between industrial and residential areas. It’s one reason why Potestio said he decided to incorporate a large covered porch into the top-floor unit.

鈥淭he porch is a homage to the big covered porches on the residential side,鈥� he said.

Another home on the tour, the Pavilion House in Northeast Portland, matches the setbacks, massing and scale of neighboring single-family homes, said Portland architect Ben Waechter, who designed the project. Yet it’s distinctly contemporary.

The design features an open central room on the first floor with a second-story 鈥減avilion鈥� supported by pillars around it.

鈥淭he house could be described as having a second-story body that’s supported by four legs kind of like a table,鈥� Waechter said. 鈥淭he idea was to place these legs strategically in places where they create privacy within the room that aside from these legs is all glass.鈥�

Along with taking cues from surroundings, designs for Dr. Jim’s Lofts and the Bowstring Truss House take advantage of the context within the existing industrial buildings.

Preserving the open warehouse feel of the Bowstring Truss House was important, Strickland said.

鈥淲e didn’t want to interrupt that visual continuity across the space,鈥� she said. 鈥淣one of those walls go all the way to the ceiling, so you can always see over them.鈥�

When Cavenaugh opened some of the roof of Dr. Jim’s Lofts, he left the truss system in place. This created a dynamic setting, he said.

鈥淚t’s take-your-breath-away space, and I have nothing to do with that,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he building, I just let it go.鈥�

If you go 鈥�

What: American Institute of Architects Portland Homes Tour: Crafted + Creative Urban Infill

When: Oct. 11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Where: Eight contemporary Portland homes. Participants in the self-guided tour will receive a printed booklet with maps and descriptions of each home.

Cost: Tickets are $40

More information: aiaportland.org/aia-portland-homes-tour-2014