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POWER LIST: ARCHITECTURE

LEVER Architecture was early to the great Portland mass-timber revolution with projects such as Albina Yard and Redfox Commons.

Yet like the best architecture firms, LEVER leveraged its early innovation into a maturing excellence. Framework, a 12-story mixed-use tower envisioned for the Pearl District, was not built after the project team encountered financing difficulties, but the design showed what a domestic tall-timber building could look like 鈥� and the lessons learned in designing and engineering that building will inform future projects.

Adidas North America tapped LEVER and two outside firms to design an expansion of its North American headquarters in North Portland. Two office buildings totaling 460,000 square feet employed mass timber, situated around a central sports plaza. The buildings were completed in 2020.

LEVER has also designed thought-provoking projects with a social mission, such as local offices for Meyer Memorial Trust and The Nature Conservancy. The latter鈥檚 building, known as the Oregon Conservation Center, took conscientious timber sourcing to a new level, with selection of wood products from the conservancy group鈥檚 own West Coast properties. The Meyer Memorial Trust project similarly uses Willamette Valley white oak, among other regionally sourced materials.

鈥淲e鈥檙e always looking for ways for the building to make a positive impact, and that usually results in a building that鈥檚 more successful, both for the owner and for the community,鈥� LEVER founding principal Thomas Robinson said.

Ongoing projects including ART Tower and Dekum Court will further show what one of Portland鈥檚 most innovative architecture firms can do.