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The Portland City Council on Wednesday sided with an architecture firm in its appeal to use asphalt shingles as siding for a hotel expansion project.

The council on Wednesday voted unanimously to approve Works Partnership Architecture‘s request to use a type of asphalt shingle manufactured by Portland-based Malarkey Roofing Products on 60 percent of the sides of a planned 73-foot hotel tower in the Buckman neighborhood. The Central City Fundamental Design Guidelines forbid use of the asphalt composition shingle that the project owner, Jupiter Hotel, had hoped to use as exterior cladding.

If Malarkey’s laminated architectural shingle doesn’t work out, the council can 鈥渁ddress the consequences,鈥� Commissioner Nick Fish said.

鈥淚 fear that in some of these cases we’re getting too prescriptive at the administrative level, and in some instances, it feels like we’re just substituting personal preference,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think this is an instance where we should reward innovation and creativity and give them flexibility.鈥�

In March, the Portland Design Commission and city staff expressed concern with the project team’s plan to use the asphalt shingle, and recommended use of a metal shingle, which was said to be more permanent and of higher quality. The project team came back the next month with two options, one employing a metal shingle and one employing its preferred asphalt shingle. The commission in May approved the project with the condition that the metal shingle be used.

The rule excluding the shingle as siding is intended to promote 鈥渜uality and permanence鈥� to improve the central city’s urban atmosphere. Design commission members also expressed concern with long-term maintenance, the potential of moss and the shedding of asphalt above sidewalks.

A notable and notorious remnant of the motor inn era, the old Jupiter Hotel is an Eastside landmark. The project team is proposing construction of a six-story hotel across the street from the original hotel. It would contain 67 hotel rooms, retail space, restaurant space and event space, one large loading space and no parking.

Carrie Strickland, a Works Partnership Architecture principal, said that using the shingle is not a small matter for the owner.

鈥淚t is in fact a primary detail that will make the difference between a mediocre building and an iconic building,鈥� she told the council. 鈥淲e feel very strongly that the asphalt shingle is this detail. We are asking for your approval to create a beautiful building that we can be proud of and will help further their business.鈥�

Malarkey consultants testified on behalf of the quality of their material and spoke in support of the asphalt shingle. The council returned this week with positive comments on the design.

鈥淚’m worried about a different kind of precedent,鈥� Fish said. 鈥淲here we’re telling our design community that we’re not open to innovation, and I want Portland to be known as a place of innovation across the board, including in architecture.鈥�

Malarkey, founded in Portland in 1956, has production facilities in California and Oklahoma. There are fewer than 10 shingle manufacturers in the U.S., according to Traci Shaw, communications coordinator for Malarkey.

The company is said to be the first to use polymer-modified asphalt in shingles in the 1980s. Shaw said the company expects the product to perform well in this unique application. For one thing, it is algae resistant, she said.

鈥淭his is a little bit different, because when you’re installing on a roof, most of the weight is going to be on that roof deck, and this is going to be a vertical installation,鈥� Shaw said. 鈥淪o we’re going to be working really closely to make sure all our clients’ needs are met.鈥�