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Thursday, February 26, 2009

City Hall / News Green Center: Architects Present Designs

Posted by Matt Davis on Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 8:15 PM

Four teams of architects and developers have been pitching tonight to design and build the Oregon Sustainability Center, which it's hoped will be built near PSU over the coming years.

Oddly, because it's his idea, Mayor Sam Adams has been absent this evening, even though city hall is packed to the rafters. Instead, Adams' chief of staff, Tom Miller, introduced the proceedings. Last month, Adams announced that the center will be a "living building," aiming beyond platinum status on the government's LEED scale. Tonight, four teams of developers and architects have been talking about their experience in developing sustainable buildings, before they go off and do any actual design work.

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SUSTAINABILITY CENTER: BEYOND PLATINUM...

This evening's hearing has been littered with other-worldly expressions. From "passive skin solutions" and "triple net zero" technology, to "triple glazing," "grey water," "substantial daylighting," "reclaiming steam," and even "reducing bird mortality," the world of sustainable architecture is clearly one pushing the boundaries of the postmodern vocabulary.

Gerding Edlen was the first group to present. They built the Casey Condominiums, the Gerding Theater in the Pearl, and many more green buildings both in Portland and across the country. Up second was Holst Architects, which is designing the city's Resource Access Center for the homeless, in Old Town. Holst is looking to collaborate with FXFowle Architects, a prestigious international firm, which designed the New York Times building in Manhattan. Third up was Ethos Project Management, teamed up with Behnisch Architects and Brightworks, which are European and Portland-based design firms, respectively. Lastly, Winkler Development—which built the Adidas Village in north Portland.

Portland Architecture blogger and architecture critic, Brian Libby has some interesting opinions on the merits of the various teams over at his site. "I'm excited to see the combination of local and national/international firms involved," he writes. Although..."I haven't personally decided which of these teams I'd like to see get the job."

The presentations were inspiring, and I was excited to think of all the possibilities that might be presented by this building. The next steps are for each team to be interviewed by an evaluation team tomorrow. Then, a decision on a team will be made as early as next Monday—the decision will be made so quickly, because the building is hoping to take advantage of potential stimulus dollars. We'll track this project as it develops.

 

Comments (5) RSS

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1
And city employees are losing their jobs because of the economy. Isn't it time to start living within our means?
Posted by Concerned Insider on February 27, 2009 at 6:17 AM · Report
2
Thanks for the roundup, Matt.

One correction: FX Fowle was not the lead designer for the New York Times building. It was designed by the great Renzo Piano, with Fowle in a supporting role.

I think it would be particularly exciting to have a prominent out-of-town architect working on this project, although lots of architects in town could use the work. One architect I talked to who was at the presentation last night made a strong case for Winkler's team with Perkins + Will, another internationally prominent firm. We'll see.
Posted by Brian Libby on February 27, 2009 at 10:09 AM · Report
3
Oh, and to 'Concerned Insider': you make a fair point, but we're talking about funds that come from different places. There is a lot of funding available for sustainable projects, but not for retaining cities' employees.
Posted by Brian Libby on February 27, 2009 at 10:10 AM · Report
4
Thanks for clearing that up, Brian. Renzo Piano. Got it.
Posted by Matt Davis on February 27, 2009 at 10:12 AM · Report
5
What exactly is other-worldly or postmodern about the words "triple glazing" (like a double-paned window but with three layers of glass) or "substantial daylighting" (when light from the sun and sky comes through the window) or "reducing bird mortality" (when your machines kill less birds)? I bet Amy Ruiz wouldn't have been confounded by architect's jargon.
Posted by john t on February 27, 2009 at 5:26 PM · Report

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