91视频

At Portland Community College’s Sylvania campus, in Southwest Portland, an aging concrete building will soon be transformed into a vibrant education hub.

The Health Technology building, constructed in the 1960s, is the third-oldest building on the Sylvania campus. The three-story concrete structure has a partial basement; currently, classrooms can be accessed only from the outside via covered walkways. Inside, low levels of light create a dark, contrasting environment making it difficult to perceive space.

A renovation of the Health Technology building is the largest project to come out of the 2017 bond measure in terms of scale, complexity and cost. The 100,000-square-foot renovation, covering the complex’s entire east side, will cost approximately $75 million.

Portland Community College is working with Hacker on the design. Lease Crutcher Lewis will serve as the contractor.

PCC’s managing architect, Krista Phillips, said the existing building was designed much like a strip mall 鈥� great when the weather is nice, but much less so when it’s not.

鈥�(As) it exists today, its material (is) unwelcoming,鈥� she said.

Because of the heavy-duty concrete, major framework adjustments or a rebuild would’ve been too tricky, Phillips said. All of the large concrete columns, low roofs, and overhanging walkways have to stay.

Instead, the design team devised a plan to open and warm up the interior spaces with wood features.

Currently, the atrium is one giant pathway with an oversize staircase, which takes up the entire space; the only thing students can do is pass through. Nick Hodges, a Hacker principal, said the new design opens the area up and shifts the stairs to create multiple platforms where students can stop and linger.

All of the building’s circulation also currently happens on the exterior walkways 鈥� creating a disconnection to the space.

Hodges said that around the 1960s, buildings were designed defensively as a response to unrest. This building was intended to allow occupants to park their motor vehicles, walk up and enter a classroom, and then leave without much interaction.

Today, there’s a shift toward collaborative spaces within academic buildings. Hodges said the team wanted the new design to address this idea. The building’s east wing will shift from a transitional zone into a collaborative one. All of the interior spaces and circulation will lead to the atrium; Hodges said this will allow students, faculty and staff to interact and connect better.

鈥淭he moves we’re doing are incredibly important and incredibly simple,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he bones of the building are so prominent that it drives so much of the response.鈥�

All of the other design moves aim to create more visual connections to people and nature within the space, Hodges said. Nature helps ground people in their surroundings, he added, and that will be critical in this space.

Wood elements are being added throughout the building to create visual cues toward nature. Inside the atrium, Douglas fir panels are being added to the wall next to the staircase.

Expanding the views out of the building to nature is one simple move, Hodges said. The existing windows in the classrooms have dark-tinted glass. Instead of making a 鈥渂ig, bold, dramatic鈥� move to a large window, glass is being replaced and a wood frame is being added.

鈥淲e knew that we needed to start fresh, with the exception of the structure,鈥� Hodges said.

PCC’s students also requested that all bathrooms be made gender-free and an outdoor courtyard be created.

Trees and nature surround the campus, but there isn’t a place for students to congregate outside of classrooms. Hodges said the lawn is a really simple but important space.

For this whole renovation to occur, the building will need to be clear of all students, faculty and staff and stay unoccupied until spring 2023. The logistics of clearing the building had been one giant puzzle that took more than a year to complete, Phillips said. There are approximately seven programs that had to be transplanted throughout the campus or put into swing spaces. Fifteen additional projects emerged from this one project, she said.

Renovations are set to begin early this summer, after spring classes finish.