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For DLR Group, designing its new office space in Portland became a case study.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit three months into the design phase, the firm paused and readjusted its plans.

鈥淏ecause of COVID, the main reason people would go back (to the office) is to collaborate and socialize,鈥� said Tim Ganey, principal and lead designer of the project.

The firm is relocating from the Commonwealth Building to a two-story building (with a basement) at 110 S.W. Yamhill St. A 16,000-square-foot tenant improvement is being performed by Fortis Construction.

Collaboration became the primary focus of the design, in large part because officials noticed that something has been missing from virtual collaboration meetings, Ganey said. Staffers spent months discussing the central values they wanted the new space to reflect: a culture of sharing, a culture of making, and connection to place.

The focal point will be a three-story, daylit atrium with a roof deck and an open mezzanine. It will be a place for gathering and presenting ideas.

Acoustical fins will hang from the atrium, and echo voices while dampening background noises. The fins also will divert direct sunlight, cooling and lighting the space.

The office’s layout was chosen to represent Portland via three components: the river, neighborhoods, and the grid network.

The ground floor breaks up into 鈥渘eighborhoods,鈥� where desks and small hubs are clumped together. This consolidates resources and creates multiple connection points for collaboration. But the neighborhood approach also allows work spaces to be scaled down and avoids large groups of people in one area.

Initially, the collaboration hubs were designed to have walls around them, but the pandemic shifted the design to leave them open.

鈥淚t’s lucky,鈥� Ganey said. 鈥淗ad we designed and built before COVID, then all these enclosed spaces wouldn’t be able to be used.鈥�

The hubs are designed to be able to accommodate walls around them in the future if needed.

A main diagonal pathway representing the Willamette River runs across the office, uniting all neighborhoods and collaboration spaces. Through there, the firm will be able to display some of its work on walls.

鈥淏eing able to connect the space from front to the back was a highlight in the design process,鈥� said Abbey Cwiek-Garrett, principal and lead interior designer.

By chance, the structure is at an angle and has a natural tectonic shift to the river, Ganey said. The neighborhoods could be positioned in a grid that shifts around the main diagonal pathway.

A motive behind the river, neighborhood and grid approach is to create movement around the office and get people up and moving. In a study with the University of California, Berkeley, DLR Group found movement in an office lends to serendipitous moments where impromptu encounters can spark new ideas.

Creating a design for the space was 鈥渁 little funky,鈥� Ganey said. There were two levels, an atrium, and no ADA accessibility.

The project turned into a design laboratory of sorts, Cwiek-Garrett said. Staffers were challenged to design better features.

A universally accessible ramp was designed to curve along the back wall and around the design library to the second floor.

DLR Group’s Portland staff also has an outdoorsy culture, which designers wanted to reflect. A vertical bicycle was built into the back corner of the office because at least 25 percent of employees ride a bike to work. A spot was also created for yoga on the mezzanine.

The new location sits along the MAX light-rail line, which is one reason the building was chosen. More than 70 percent of DLR Group employees don’t drive to work.

The project team is aiming to achieve both Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold and International WELL Building Institute certification.

鈥淎nything that we can impact in this design to improve energy and impact on the environment, we did,鈥� Ganey said.

Work is expected to finish in February.