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A property devastated by a fire nearly seven years ago soon could rise from the ashes.

Vancouver, Wash.-based Killian Pacific is planning to construct a five-story, 60,000-square-foot office building on the site of the former Rexel/Taylor Electric Supply Co. warehouse at Southeast Third Avenue and Clay Street. The structure went up in flames late one night in 2006, and the hollowed-out walls left behind have since attracted graffiti artists and photographers.

For the project, Killian Pacific is looking to the past for architectural styles, but also to the future as it considers technological needs.

“Basically, we are reinventing the wheel,” said Noel Johnson, vice president of Killian Pacific. “We are figuring out how to build this building like they did 100 years ago. It turns out it’s really tough because no one has built that (way) in 100 years.”

Johnson said the plan is to construct a timber-framed structure, like a warehouse from the early 1900s. Planned accoutrements include light-colored brick, concrete floors, lofty ceilings and big timber beams. But the building also will be modern, and therein lies the challenge.

Anticipating technological advances can be difficult. Nevertheless, the building must be “future ready,” according to Johnson.

“A lot of times when you build a building, the key plumbing areas and key service areas are so buried that you can’t get access to them to upgrade in the future,” he said. “If we can’t make a living building now, we can preserve the ability to do that in the future.”

The idea is to create simple, straightforward designs. Plumbing pipes will be accessible so that when technologies like gray water treatment systems become more readily available, they can be installed easily. Similarly, Killian Pacific is building space for solar technology in anticipation of it becoming more affordable.

Fitting Internet wires, telephone lines and HVAC into an architectural space that values simplicity can be difficult too. So instead of cramming those systems behind an acoustic ceiling, the team will run them beneath the floors.

The building also will have large, operable windows and a skinny footprint so that natural light reaches every square foot. Jeff Hamilton, a principal at Ankrom Moisan Architects, the project’s designer, said those aren’t new ideas; they’re just “a lot of things that people stopped doing a long time ago.”

“People want things simple,” he said. “They want open space (and) natural light. They don’t want to be stuck at their desk all day long.”

To that end, the building will have communal work spaces. A rooftop unit will provide a kitchen and meeting space for all tenants, as well as a deck lounge that overlooks the city.

The building will come with parking for about 90 cars, hidden behind the remaining walls of the burned building. Hamilton said the team has designed an arcade feature to mirror some of the area’s older industrial warehouses, as well as a ground-floor retail space that could suit a coffee shop.

A big challenge in designing office buildings is anticipating the need for air conditioning. A system too big can be costly and inefficient. A system too small can hurt tenant comfort.

Killian Pacific is incorporating a hybrid system that supplements air conditioning with chilled water lines that circulate through the building. Johnson said the concept is similar to what the government does on a national level, in which coal and nuclear power are supplemented with wind, hydro and solar.

Pairing superior insulation with the brick and wood bones of yesteryear will help. Johnson said many old warehouse buildings can outperform newer, glass skyscrapers in terms of energy efficiency.

“The only reason some of these old warehouses are poor in efficiency is they don’t have proper insulation,” he said. “But on a fundamental level, they’re actually pretty decent.”

The site has been in limbo the last several years because of environmental concerns over hazardous materials that were released during the fire. Killian Pacific, working with the Department of Environmental Quality and the previous property owner, has patiently waded through the mess; crews will have to remove some contaminated soils.

According to PortlandMaps, Killian Pacific purchased the property in December for $1.23 million, but Johnson said the company has been working on the project for the past year. He hopes to begin construction by the end of 2013.