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A proposed six-story hotel showed its new face to the Portland Design Commission on Thursday.

The Choice Cambria Portland would front Northwest Park Avenue, near the historic North Park Blocks, on half of a block between Northwest Davis and Couch streets. This was the second design advice hearing for the project; the first took place in August. Commissioner Don Vallaster recused himself from the hearing due to a conflict of interest.

The latest proposal from SERA Architects is better, commissioners said, but has room for improvement in how the building would relate to its surroundings.

The design team is trying to find a balance between modern expression and the Pearl District‘s urban fabric, said Jeff Roberts of SERA Architects. That was the aim of the previous proposal, but commissioners stated that it wasn’t working.

The team changed its design concept to instead embrace the trees on the North Park Blocks.

鈥淲hat we looked at in detail was just the beauty and the structure of the changing seasons of the park,鈥� Roberts said.

The form of the structure changed to a barbell, which allowed the addition of four guest rooms. Now the hotel would be 95,000 square feet and have 178 rooms.

Also, the exterior design shifted away from a dark green and tan stucco split to a brick, sandstone stucco and multicolor metal pattern envelope to represent tree bark.

However, commissioners stated it was a 鈥渇ussy鈥� number of materials.

鈥淲e go from brick, and then we set back about two feet and go to metal panels, and then we set back 鈥� maybe 10 or 12 feet,鈥� Commissioner Brian McCarter said.

The exterior would work better with just one material, Commission Chairwoman Julie Livingston noted.

鈥淢ost of the strong context buildings are 90 percent one thing,鈥� she said.

Materials aside, the Design Commission agreed that the proposed building concept and structure layout was improved from the previous iteration.

Due to the site location on the North Park Blocks, the landscaping fronting the park was highly debated. The hotel is the first building required to respond to the new Green Loop code, which mandates a 12-foot setback along 75 percent of the property lines adjacent to it.

The purpose of the setback is to provide a greater pedestrian pathway around the Central City. However, as stated in the previous Design Commission hearing, the setback separates people from the park. A large part of the discussion on Thursday involved the kinds of trees that could go between the park and the building to enhance the environment without shadowing guest rooms.

鈥淲hat’s lacking in the park and what could these setback areas provide are truly lush landscape 鈥� a truly beautiful understory,鈥� Commissioner Zari Santner said.