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The design of four predominantly residential buildings planned for the Lloyd District must relate to the architecture of surrounding office towers, according to the Portland Design Commission.

鈥淲hen it starts to get weak is when it loses the character of the office buildings,鈥� Commissioner David Keltner told the GBD Architects team designing Oregon Square 鈥� the second phase of a massive development expected to draw thousands of new residents to the Lloyd District. 鈥淲hat is it that links it to the office buildings? What is the most you can take from that and have it be great housing?鈥�

The Design Commission on Thursday provided design advice for the second time for the mixed-use development that will encompass four city blocks. Portland-based GBD Architects also designed the first phase of the American Assets Trust superblock project. Construction of the $192 million Hassalo on Eighth, across Northeast Holladay Street from the planned Oregon Square, is scheduled to finish this summer.

During a hearing last month to discuss schematic designs for Oregon Square, bound by Northeast Seventh and Ninth avenues and Northeast Holladay and Oregon streets, commissioners focused on the central plaza expected to be larger than 100,000 square feet. On Thursday, the GBD Architects team asked for the commission’s feedback on the design of the four L-shaped buildings that will surround the plaza.

Combined, the new buildings will hold more than 900 apartments above approximately 55,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 745 below-grade parking spaces. Two buildings will be 11 stories, one will be 21 stories and one will be 29 stories.

The development will be discussed further at a third design advice hearing scheduled for March 16. The GBD team then plans to seek the commission’s approval for the project that aims to reshape a part of the city notoriously harsh for pedestrians and populated by anonymous office towers.

鈥淭his is really not a revitalization project,鈥� GBD principal Kyle Andersen told the commission on Thursday. 鈥淚t’s a vitalization project. It’s about creating a new neighborhood 鈥� where people live, work and play. Today, they mostly just work.鈥�

GBD staffers designing the Oregon Square project have been heavily influenced by the simple geometry of the surrounding architecture, he said. The challenge has been finding a way to take the uniform structure that works well for office buildings and translate that into a residential development, Andersen said.

鈥淭hose are things we struggle with,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he residential is a completely different scale.鈥�

Andersen described the basic concept for the design for each of the four buildings as a series of interlocking forms. The tallest building, Block 103, was inspired by a stack of blocks that’s been slightly twisted, he said. Andersen called another building, Block 90, the 鈥渟pooning building鈥� because it appears as though it was first broken in two and then the pieces snuggled back together.

Commissioners suggested limiting efforts to break down the massing of the buildings and instead drawing more inspiration from the pure form of the nearby office towers, mostly dating from the 1950s through the 1970s.

鈥淚n your wish to create reduced mass you’re actually creating a complexity that kills itself,鈥� Commissioner Tad Savinar said. 鈥淭hey don’t stand proud. The buildings don’t establish themselves as a single form.鈥�

The design would benefit from more restraint, Commission Vice-Chairman Ben Kaiser said.

鈥淚t almost feels like all the (design) teams want to get the attention of the person in the courtyard, including the landscape architect,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think it’s going to turn into a cacophony.鈥�

Commissioners also expressed lingering reservations that plans to locate such a large plaza in the center of the development may be inappropriate. Several commissioners reiterated concerns brought up at the previous hearing that a central plaza wouldn’t succeed as well in the U.S. as in Europe.

鈥淲e’re kind of unconvinced that this is the right solution,鈥� Commission Chairman David Wark said. 鈥淭he idea of an inward-facing block may not be the right model.鈥�