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Thomas Robinson, founding principal of LEVER Architecture, has long had a love of lumber.

鈥淢y interest in architecture started relatively young,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s a child I would go to my great-grandfather’s house in Cape Cod. The house happened to be made completely out of wood.鈥�

Those were crucial formative trips for Robinson, 48, who grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.

鈥淚 remember, as a kid, waking up and being amazed by the character and quality of being in the space that was so much about the character of the material,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat material created this really rich experience.鈥�

The influence led to Robinson eventually becoming interested in making wood once again a major structural element in large structures. Enter cross-laminated timber (CLT). Robinson’s use of CLT was a big reason why he was named among the 2017 Emerging Voices in Architecture by the Architectural League of New York.

鈥淭homas came to our attention when he contacted us and showed us some of his work,鈥� said Anne Rieselbach, the group’s program director. 鈥淲e found the work interesting enough (that) we asked him to send in an entry.鈥�

The Architectural League receives roughly 40 to 50 entries per year from across the country and Mexico. This year a jury selected about a dozen honorees. The idea is to spotlight individuals and firms with a distinct design voice potentially able to influence the discipline of architecture, landscape architecture and urban design.

Robinson’s work stood out to the nine-person jury, Rieselbach said.

鈥淲hen the final decision is made, the technological and geographic diversity is taken into consideration,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here aren’t that many people that are making what he is making. His work is pretty singular.鈥�

LEVER Architecture in 2015 won the Tall Wood Building prize for its design of the Framework tower in the Pearl District; construction is on tap to start later this year. LEVER and developer Project^ used a $1.8 million federal grant to implement a performance-based design process. Tests and processes used to show that traditional building materials meet building codes don’t work on CLT. Performance-based testing helps show that lumber is viable.

鈥淲hat we have to do is, through performance-based design, is demonstrate that we are meeting the intent of code,鈥� Robinson said.

Finding LEVER’s niche has been a journey on a long and twisting road. Robinson studied architecture at the University of California-Berkeley. He began his career with聽Joseph Esherick, an architect best known for designing the Hedgerow Houses in Sea Ranch, California.

鈥淚 went to Berkeley and that was a really amazing experience,鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淭hen I was really fortunate to work for this firm led by Joe Esherick, and he was the head of the architecture school at Berkeley.鈥�

Esherick’s influence brought a sense of practicality to Robinson’s designs.

鈥淗e would always say, 鈥楬ow would a farmer do it?’ 鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淭hat was sort of his mantra. I think that sort of simplicity was also tied to a sophistication of doing things really simply but beautifully.鈥�

Robinson received a master’s degree in architecture from Harvard, and then began focusing his attention on institutional and cultural projects. While working with Herzog & de Meuron in Switzerland, he made some key personal and professional decisions.

鈥淚 really loved working in Switzerland,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 really wanted to live in a place where I could feel like I was part of that community and be contributing to that community as an architect and a citizen.

鈥淪witzerland is an amazing place. (But) you’re never really truly part of the community as a foreigner.鈥�

That desire powered Robinson’s move to Allied Works Architecture in 2003 and the decision to settle with his wife and two children in the Hawthorne neighborhood.

鈥淧ortland is open to the value of design,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was also not as expensive as moving back to San Francisco.鈥�

While with Allied Works Architecture, Robinson spent much of his time working on the University of Michigan’s Museum of Art. The project required nearly five years, during which he spent much of his time working away from Portland.

鈥淚 was very interested in working in the city I lived in,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here was a motivation for me to be more involved locally.鈥�

Robinson was prompted him to strike out on his own in 2009 and create LEVER Architecture. The Great Recession was already making a dent in the industry.

鈥淚n a way it was the best,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou find yourself in a situation that you have to figure out what you are going to do. It was an opportunity to look at going in a new direction.鈥�

He teamed up with Project^, working with its team on a variety of projects.

鈥淥ur companies have grown together,鈥� said Tom Cody, managing partner at Project^. 鈥淥ur practices relate well because of a shared set of values.鈥�

Those values helped the companies grow even during one of the nation’s worst recessions.

鈥淚 remember pretty distinctly hiring our first employee, and I remember just being terrified about hiring the second one,鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淚 remember my wife and I talking about this momentous hire of our second employee.鈥�

Now LEVER has a staff of 18. The firm operates in a North Albina Avenue building that it designed, using mass timber. The business is established enough now to be able to take risks such as use of CLT in tall buildings.

鈥淗e has a deep sense of regionalism,鈥� Cody said of Robinson. 鈥淵ou build with what you have. With CLT, there is a linkage to the outdoors and to the peacefulness. LEVER is a good firm to lead that conversation.鈥�

The two companies’ Framework tower, when completed, will be the tallest mass-timber building in North America. It’s designed to stand 148 feet 鈥� 11 stories of offices, residential units and retail space.

鈥淲hat we are really interested in on many levels is challenging conventional ways of building,鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淲e want to bring rich architectural experience to the everyday.鈥�