91视频

Gerding Edlen‘s Eleven West project largely earned praise before a packed hearing at the Portland Design Commission聽on Thursday. While commissioners liked the overall concept, they did feel it needed some fine touches before it would meet design guidelines.

鈥淚 think your analysis and presentation on context and how you drew from that is exemplary,鈥� said Commissioner David Wark.

The main problems commissioners had with the design were with what they considered an overuse of features — balconies, a swimming pool and decks 鈥� that extended from the facade of the 24-story building.

鈥淭he building has so much positive going on with it,鈥� said Commissioner Don Vallaster. 鈥淭he only issues I would have are some of the articulation needs to be clearer, simpler and stronger.鈥�

When completed, the building at聽the corner of Southwest Washington Street and Southwest 11^th Avenue will stand 291 feet tall. It will have 7,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space, and 110,000 feet of office space on the second through seventh floors.

The design by ZGF Architects also includes 222 market-rate apartments along with a roof deck and an outdoor pool.

鈥淭his is an important building for us as a firm because it’s next door to us,鈥� said Gene Sandoval, a partner at ZGF Architects.

Sandoval said Eleven West was designed to complement Twelve West, which sits across the street. The latter building was designed by ZGF Architects and houses the firm’s offices.

For Eleven West, ZGF designers used a combination of refinished aluminum plate panels, a board-form concrete base and insulated windows to create a bronze facade to distinguish the project and compliment the Portland skyline.

The building owner, Downtown Development Group, also wanted a variety of balconies and an outdoor swimming pool to extend from聽the building’s eighth level, 150 feet in the air.

The high number of features extending from the building didn’t sit well with several of members of the Design Commission, however.

鈥�(Twelve West) is a really clear building,鈥� Vallaster said. 鈥淚 think everybody has admired the simplicity and clarity of it. (Eleven West) could take up a little more of that.鈥�

Another sticking point, in Wark’s opinion, was a lack of canopies. The city’s design guidelines encourage the use of canopies to enhance the pedestrian experience. However, Commissioners Vallaster and Andrew Clarke had few problems with the lack of canopies.

鈥淎dding canopies would hurt the clarity of the first floor,鈥� Clarke said.

While members of the Design Commission focused on the building materials and amenities, public testimony focused on a call for more trees and the fact that the views of murals on two neighboring buildings would be obscured or covered. Eleven West will cover up a horizontal mural of a woman’s face near Southwest 12th Avenue. Designers did leave a small cutout so that the Capax Infiniti mural on Southwest 11th Avenue is still visible, but neighbors weren’t appeased.

鈥淭he mural is beautiful, but it is designed to be seen from a distance,鈥� said Lindsay Armstrong, who lives in the neighboring Carlyle Building on Southwest 11th. 鈥淚 feel cutting a little notch for it, (which) may only encourage loitering, is the equivalent of viewing the Sistine Chapel in a closet.鈥�

Although the Design Commission sent the project back for revisions, the consensus from members was that the building could pass at its next appearance before the group on Oct. 19 with fairly minor adjustments.

鈥淚t’s an excellent project at this point, but it does need some editing and simplification,鈥� Wark said. 鈥淪ome of the greatest strengths of the (Twelve West) are the restraint(s).鈥�

In other Design Commission hearing decisions on Thursday:

鈥� Commissioners sent the proposed five-story, 86 residential-unit Glisan Street Apartments project back to C2K Architecture for further revisions. The project will also include 750 square feet of ground-floor retail and 22 parking spaces. Commissioners said the project, which is owned by Second City Real Estate, needed changes to the bay articulation, the base of the building and the garage area. The project will return to the Design Commission on Oct. 19.

鈥� Commissioners sent 11^th & Clay, a SERA Architects project at the corner of Southwest Clay Street and Southwest 11^th Avenue, back for further revisions. 聽The Housing Northwest development at 1110 S.W. Clay St. will stand 16 stories and will include a retail unit and a 259-unit student housing group. The project will return to the Design Commission