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It’s been planned for years, but the proposed Knight Cancer Center at the Oregon Health and Science University was not approved at its first design review hearing before the Portland Design Commission last week.

City planner Tim Heron outlined several problem areas: the width of the parking garage entrance, the depth and location of the loading dock, design of the penthouse and the exterior color palette and materials.

At the end of the two-hour meeting, Heron said he hoped the applicants understood that the members of the design commission had the same concerns. The project, at 2730 S.W. Moody Ave., is slated to return for a second review on May 12.

鈥淚 had six hours of meetings and got push-back on all of these issues because you said you wanted to hear it from the commission,鈥� Heron said to the cancer center team.

The new cancer research center is just one phase of a major development OHSU has undertaken for its south waterfront property 鈥� and it won’t be the last.

Once complete, the $160 million Knight Cancer Center will be followed in five to seven years by an adjacent building, said Brian Newman, OHSU’s associate vice president for campus planning, development and real estate.

The cancer research center plans call for a seven-story, 332,000-square-foot building with two levels of below-grade parking. The building will include a conference center, research laboratory space, employee lounge and kitchen, research support functions, administrative offices, ground-level retail and a plaza area on its east side.

One hitch to approval of the center’s design, as noted by city planning staff, is that greenway development standards apply because a portion of the parcel includes river frontage. Heron said this appears to be a technicality that can be resolved by formal agreements.

鈥淒evelopment on the site triggers a Greenway Loop review,鈥� Heron said. 鈥淭hey need (memorandums of understanding) with the different entities, and we’ll need that paperwork in place before approval (is granted).鈥�

Other staff concerns were the configuration and fa莽ade of the rooftop penthouse and parking garage access.

鈥淪taff was concerned that while the majority of active ground-floor use was met along Southwest Meade (Street), the design of the parking garage access was lacking and needing a much more urban response,鈥� Heron said.

Loading access on Meade Street presented a similar challenge, Heron said, and he questioned whether placing the loading dock mid-block was a good idea because it was at a curb extension and a pedestrian crossing.

鈥淵ou could replace it with additional active storefront and redesign the loading bay frontage and door to better integrate with the glass storefront design along Southwest Meade Street,鈥� he said.

Design advice led to changes in original designs

Eric Wilson, principal at SRG Partnership, told the commissioners that as a result of two design advice hearings for the project, held June and September of last year, original designs for the center were changed to simplify and improve the exterior, including adding extra balconies.

SRG senior associate Phil Lopez said the current design of the building’s penthouse moved all the mechanical equipment to the center of the building to allow open views for the surrounding offices. In addition, the height was reduced slightly, and a roof terrace was added for the sixth floor.

Lopez said the revised original design was intended to enhance the pedestrian experience on Southwest Meade Street. Carol Mayer-Reed of Mayer/Reed Landscape Architects told commissioners the intent of the design is to focus on the pedestrians using Moody Avenue and Southwest Meade Street.

鈥淲e recognize this as an important link to the waterfront, so we are taking the plaza 42 feet around the corner on Meade,鈥� Mayer-Reed said. She added that sidewalks will also be 16 feet wide along Southwest Meade Street, with views of Tilikum Crossing.

Lopez told commissioners revisions to the original design included having a recessed parking entry and perforated metal garage doors to cut down on the number of ventilation louvers.

Lopez said the ground-floor columns would be of precast concrete and the balconies will have cable railings and a floor-to-ceiling curtain wall. He added that the current design featured increased glazing throughout the building from 44 percent to 57 percent.

Less glazing will be used on the north elevation of the building because it could eventually connect to another building, Lopez said.

鈥淲e also doubled the height in the social club and have a kitchen for the scientists,鈥� he said.

Commissioner Julie Livingston and Commission Chair David Wark led a discussion about the location of a loading dock.

鈥淲hy is the loading dock where it is?鈥� Livingston asked, and Wark questioned whether the loading dock was needed at all.

Wilson explained that moving the loading dock to either the east or west could create other problems with retail and pedestrian flows.

鈥淚t is a private and secure dock strictly to support lab functions, and we are trying to balance pedestrian needs,鈥� he said.

Wilson said the entry for the loading dock had been reduced from the earlier designs from a 35-foot entry to a 32-foot one, but that a wide entrance was needed for the loading dock to give truck drivers 鈥渂etter sight lines.鈥�

Wark disagreed.

鈥淚’m not aware of many people getting run over downtown with much smaller widths,鈥� he said.

Wark also commented that the revised plans for the penthouse made it look 鈥渁 little tacked on.鈥�

鈥淲hy not have it subtle and set back?鈥� Wark said. 鈥淎nd why did you go to such a dark material?鈥�

Commissioner Don Vallaster also said the penthouse was not integrated into the building and Livingston said she preferred the designs for the penthouse the commissioners had seen during the two previous advice sessions.

After the meeting, Newman said he appreciated the commissioners’ feedback and defended some of the design issues.

Newman said the challenge is that Meade Street is the only street where access and services can be located because the streetcar line restricts access on Moody Avenue to the west and the OHSU pedestrian promenade is to the east. To the north is an undeveloped site.

鈥淥ur challenge is we have only one option of getting services and access and are trying to do that in a sensitive way and balancing the needs of pedestrians and making it a great street,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e thought our application achieved that, but the commission disagreed.鈥�

Newman said less than 15 percent of the frontage on Meade Street is devoted to curb cuts for the loading dock and garage entrance, but commissioners want the design to reduce that number even more.

Newman said the design team will also look at different exterior materials as suggested by the commission, refine the color palette and reconsider the design of the penthouse.

Although he had hoped the design for the cancer research center would be approved at its first review, Newman said he is looking forward to the next design hearing.

鈥淚’m satisfied that most of the feedback (issues) are things we can work on and that keeps me positive,鈥� he said.