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Portland’s 937 Condominiums is perhaps best known for its exterior form, an organic, rooted-in-nature design based on fractals whereby none of the tower’s windows lines up.

But tucked inside the 16-story Pearl District structure is another design and construction story. It’s a less visible but no less compelling tale, one grounded in the design-build process for mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire suppression work, a high level of project team collaboration and ever-escalating sustainability goals that have set the stage for an anticipated platinum rating from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design system.

Those involved with the project describe the design-build approach on the MEP and fire suppression systems as highly coordinated and effective, blunting what some say is an industry perception that the approach cannot be used for such work and achieve a high level of innovation and sustainability.

The project’s tight mechanical spaces 鈥� dictated by the thin design of the tower itself, which stands on a half block 鈥� demanded extreme efficiency, said Mack Selberg, project manager with Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects, the project’s executive architect. Holst Architecture designed the structure’s exterior.

鈥淭he mandate to the MEP and sprinkler (contractors) was extreme in its efficiency, especially vertically,鈥� Selberg said. 鈥淚f anyone wants to challenge the design-build philosophy in terms of not being able to coordinate or to (pursue) platinum LEED, 937 would destroy those notions.

鈥淯nless you can do sustainability with extreme efficiency, it doesn’t happen,鈥� Selberg added. 鈥淲hat the MEP people were able to do is figure out how to get these concepts done most efficiently.鈥�

Selberg said no single stroke of design genius drove the project’s achievements in sustainability. Rather, it was more of an overriding attitude.

鈥淓veryone came together 鈥� the entire A/E/C team and ownership 鈥� and was on the same page 鈥� going over every little thing 鈥� constantly going back and re-examining (the plans). The willingness to re-examine was pretty phenomenal and pretty unique,鈥� Selberg said

A case in point: the project’s fire suppression system routes water used for regular sprinkler testing to a required tank in the below-grade parking area, a strategy that conserves water and keeps thousands of gallons from entering the city’s system, said Jared Hill, fire protection engineer with contractor Western States Fire Protection Co.

Western States also found efficiencies that resulted in the sprinkler and electrical systems occupying a mere 5 inches of space above ceilings instead of 8 inches. That achievement alone maintained the housing units’ 9-foot ceiling heights and helped the developer, W&K Development, add another floor to the project, creating eight additional condo units.

An additional floor of housing can have a huge impact on the bottom line, said Geoff Wenker, a developer with W&K, noting the higher asking prices for top-level units.

The high level of what Selberg called 鈥渋ntellectual sweat equity鈥� was demonstrated during regular coordination meetings focused on the MEP and sprinkler system work, when team members poured over color-coated overlay drawings subcontractors produced. Separately, three-dimensional computer models were examined to ensure systems were coordinated.

Wenker, whose background is in both commercial construction project management and development, said he has seen MEP systems implemented using the traditional process as well as the design-build approach, and he likes what he called the 鈥渋n-between鈥� method used on the 937 Condominiums.

鈥淵ou put out a performance spec and leave it to the subs to flush out the design,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he emphasis was on cooperation and team meetings we had with the design-build subs, the general contractor (Andersen Construction), the architect and us. That is really where the work got done as far as looking at different equipment, systems and different ways you could (approach) it.鈥�

The 937 Condominiums also saw the use of ducts to bring fresh air into several housing units being placed inside the building’s post-tension concrete slabs. A total of 56 in-slab ducts were snaked through slabs in a highly coordinated endeavor between the HVAC contractors, the concrete contractors and the structural engineers. While such ducts are often used in British Columbia, the 937 Condominiums project reportedly marked only the second time they were used on a Portland project. And it was the first project using ecoduct designed in Oregon, said Bill Fink, project engineer with Hunter-Davisson Inc., the HVAC contractor on the 937 Condominiums.

With such a 鈥渢ight鈥� building, the in-slab ducts were the optimum solution to draw fresh air and provide a direct connection between outside air and HVAC units, Selberg said.

Fink is blunt about the challenges the project posed 鈥� 鈥�937 is the most tight building I’ve been involved with as far as ceiling space and everything else,鈥� he said 鈥� but noted that the key benefit of the design-build process is that, three years removed from developing the initial cost estimate, the HVAC system cost roughly what Hunter-Davisson estimated it would.

鈥淚f we are given a budget, we can design the best system within an owners’ budget,鈥� Fink said.
Selberg said the hidden gem with respect to the 937 Condominiums is efficient execution of its electrical, plumbing, HVAC and fire protection systems.

鈥淪o many innovative buildings like 937 have been left on the architectural drawing board because nobody can figure out how to do them efficiently,鈥� Selberg said. 鈥淭he whole back story of the building is what you can’t see. Beauty is not only skin deep; it goes a lot deeper in this building. The beauty of the systems design in this building really shines.鈥�