A curving north facade evokes a ship’s prow or a plane’s wing, while the lapped-glass curtain wall is a visible nod to construction of early ships and boats. The design of the new Port of Portland headquarters not only honors both the marine and aviation industries, it also emphasizes a corporate commitment to sustainability. See all the winners TopProjects 2011

When the port made the decision in 2008 to sell its 160,000-square-foot headquarters building in downtown Portland and relocate to the Portland International Airport, it was seeking more than a new location. The port desired a more collaborative office environment in a sustainable building, said Martha Richmond, corporate marketing and media relations manager for the port.

The new headquarters building, at 7200 N.E. Airport Way, met those goals, and perhaps exceeded them, she said.

The building features three floors of office space atop seven floors of public airport parking, though that plan required months of consideration. Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects originally presented three different schemes, said Doug Sams, ZGF project manager for the headquarters building.

After reviewing designs for a parking garage only, a parking garage with office space on top, and both freestanding, the port chose the combined option as a way to most efficiently use available space. The 10-story building also offers views from the Portland West Hills to the Cascade Mountains.

Hoffman Construction Co. completed the $241 million, 205,000-square-foot, three-year project in April 2010. HNTB Corp., PAE Consulting Engineers Inc. and KPFF Consulting Engineers contributed to project engineering.

“This was a big step for the port, and they didn’t want a corporate feel,” Sams said. To satisfy port staff input, the ZGF design team came up with an industrial aesthetic with exposed structure, piping and wiring.

Another initial factor was consolidation and the idea that everyone would be able to see and talk and interact with one other to make decisions more quickly and more efficiently, Sams said.

The new offices let the port consolidate its workforce and shift to an open office environment with few enclosed office spaces to reflect its desired “One Port” culture. Open atriums provide visual connections between the floors, and the interior floor plan produces narrow office floors so that every employee has access to natural daylight.

The building has received 1,500 visitors in the past year, but it is appreciated most by those who work in it every day.

“Employees here think it’s a wonderful environment,” Richmond said. “The collaborative work areas sprinkled throughout the three floors are great spaces to gather for meetings,” she said, explaining that staff from various areas can assemble for a brown bag lunch in the stadium-seated atrium.

But it is the Port of Portland’s commitment to sustainable practices that is best showcased by the new building and has been most recognized locally, nationally and internationally. The building is in final review for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum certification, and was listed as one of the world’s 10 most high-tech green buildings by Forbes.com.

Heating and cooling are derived from 200 closed-loop, ground-source geothermal wells drilled 300 feet deep, while radiant ceiling panels and zoned temperature controls account for heat gain that varies with the sun’s position. Solar-controlled monitors automatically adjust interior horizontal blinds and dim overhead lights.

Perhaps the most innovative environmental feature of the building, and the element that has garnered the most attention, is the living machine system. What appears as a series of decorative planter boxes in the lobby is actually an on-site ecological wastewater treatment approach by Worrell Water Technologies. The system produces quality recycled water out of both gray and black water to be reused for toilet flushing and in the HVAC cooling towers, and can treat up to 5,000 gallons of the building’s wastewater per day.

“It’s been performing really well,” Richmond said. “We’ve improved our recycling rate to 76 percent, and it’s amazing that there is no active use of fossil fuels to maintain indoor air temperature,” Richmond said.

“Really, what I’m most proud about is that it’s a design that looked at everything,” Sams said. “We didn’t just focus on energy (and) we didn’t just focus on water. It’s a holistic design for the port.”

The post TopProjects Best In Show: Port of Portland headquarters appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The Port of Portland headquarters was chosen as TopProjects Best In Show. Read more

For the Port of Portland’s new Headquarters Building, the emphasis was on unity, both within the offices and for the structure as a whole. Previously, the Port had two offices—the marine and corporate groups were downtown and the aviation department was at the airport. The goal for the new building, which consists of three floors of office space atop seven floors of public airport parking, was to create a “One Port environment,” said Doug Sams, project manager for ZGF Architects

By gathering input from the Port’s staff in both one-on-one meetings and group consultations, the design team from ZGF Architects developed an understanding of the Port’s culture, which the team then used as guidelines for their design.

The “One Port” goal led ZGF to the idea of an open office space with both formal and informal collaboration spaces, Sams said. Employees who had been working in separate offices or within cubicles are now able to see and hear each other all of the time. A universal conference room fosters communication even further, while open atriums provide visual connections between the floors.

Despite early anxieties about moving into such an open office environment, all the feedback ZGF has received from the Port staff during their first year of occupancy has been positive.

“(Because of the layout) it’s a lot easier to get decisions made, understand what others are doing and get the best work out of people,” Sams said.

The building’s design speaks to both the marine and aviation aspects of the Port’s operations. For example, the curving, canted north façade evokes the prow of a ship or the wing of a plane. The unique lapped-glass curtain wall is intended to hearken back to the construction of early ships and boats. In addition, the metal and glass exterior of the building mimics the materials common to aviation and marine vessels.

The exterior of the new parking structure is screened by vertical pieces of translucent channel glass, which maximizes daylighting of the garage while aesthetically uniting it with the office building. Automatically controlled, perforated interior blinds provide solar control on the building’s south side.

Another distinctive feature in the building is its organic wastewater treatment system, the Living Machine. The machine, which treats wastewater on-site to be reused in the building for non-potable purposes, is the first of its kind in Oregon to be incorporated into a building as large as the Port’s, which is 205,000 square feet.

Completed on time and on budget, the project is tracking LEED platinum.

The Riverdale K-8 School in southwest Portland replaces a smaller 1920s-era building designed by A.E. Doyle, who is credited with some of Portland’s most iconic buildings. Bremik Construction directed construction of the two-story, 43,400-square-foot project.

The post TopProjects: Port of Portland Headquarters submitted by ZGF Architects LLP appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Attracting new tenants was one of the primary goals in the renovation of the South Hill Business and Technology Center in Puyallup, Wash. The buildings are set far away from any main roads, so EHS Design Inc. created a modernized presence that would not be overlooked.

In addition to master planning and site planning, EHS provided interior design, architecture, project management and design services for the LEED pre-certified silver modernization project. The firm selected a strategy that focused on exterior and interior improvements to two main buildings on the 10-building, 92-acre site.

Exterior improvements included a new plaza and walkway canopies between the buildings, covered entries, signage design, and landscaping, which transformed the vacant microchip manufacturing plant into an attractive corporate campus.

“We looked at the property as a whole campus, and it was the first time the property has been looked at with those eyes,” said Mia Marshall, project manager and senior interior designer at EHS. “We scraped everything clean and tied it all together.”

The post TopProjects: South Hill Business & Technology submitted by EHS Design Inc. appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Do no harm to the programs” was the motto picked for a project to a nearly 100-year-old former high school into a state-of-the-art, LEED-platinum performance center and arts classroom building for Portland State University.

Howard S. Wright worked closely with Boora Architects, KPFF Consulting Engineers and PSU to plan a complete renovation and seismic upgrade of Lincoln Hall.

The innovative designs aimed to minimize demolition costs and reduce the building’s carbon footprint while adding functional spaces.

Existing light wells had been abandoned and filled-in during earlier renovations, but PSU wanted to open them back up to bring in natural light. The team removed the in-fills to allow access for brace frame installation. The brace frames were modified and the steel frame relocated, resulting in a cost savings that allowed for the installation of skylights over the old light wells.

“Based on where we started, it was very rewarding to see the progress toward the final project,” said Doug Greenwalt, HSW project manager.

The post TopProjects: PSU Lincoln Hall Seismic and Systems submitted by Howard S. Wright appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The top priority during the renovation of St. John’s Medical Center Tower was ensuring that construction operations did not compromise patient care. The multi-phased remodel of all patient rooms and public areas in the eight-floor tower took place one floor at a time, ensuring that the floors above and below the work remained fully operational.

Project team + Stats

Location: Longview, Washington
Cost: $40.01 million
Start Date: October 2005
Completion Date: May 2010
Owner/Developer: PeaceHealth
Architect: Petersen Kolberg & Associates
General Contractor: Howard S. Wright

The project team from Howard S. Wright was committed to minimizing facility service interruptions and ensuring the integrity of the equipment in the hospital. This was not an easy task because, as Josh Condon, project manager for HSW explained, there were patients and staff on all sides of construction for the majority of the project.

Transporting construction tools, material and debris were major challenges because workers shared elevators with patients and staff. HSW consequently made sure that everything that entered or exited the construction areas was clean or covered at all times.

The 1968 vintage concrete structure received seismic and mechanical, electrical, plumbing and life safety system upgrades, which were accomplished while phasing out or re-feeding the existing systems. The team also worked on nearly doubling the size of the emergency department, which is one of the busiest in Washington state.

HSW partnered with PeaceHealth, the architects at Petersen Kolberg & Associates, and the subcontractors in all stages of planning and execution.

“Every detail had to be ironed out well before any work began,” Condon said. “The project was a huge team effort, and we had a superior team, bar none.”

The renovation of each floor focused on increasing patient comfort and privacy. Staff and patients can now travel through the hospital privately thanks to the construction of separate elevator lobbies, which were previously shared with the public.

The Birthing Center has dropped its old shared-room concept and now offers new mothers private birthing suites with private bathrooms. The design of the psychiatric unit  also shifted from an open floor concept in favor of a more private, sectioned-off floor plan.

Condon described the turnover after the final phase of construction as one of the project’s most satisfying moments because the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Peace came through and blessed the renovated hospital.

“The Sisters did the blessing while all of the people involved in the project walked through the building,” he said. “That really just brought it all together.”

The post TopProjects: St. John Medical Center Tower submitted by Howard S. Wright appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Listed as a historic structure with the city of Beaverton, the Merle Davies School served as an annex for Beaverton High School until seismic problems, a leaky roof and poor air quality forced its closure in 2006.

Project team + Stats

Location: Beaverton, Oregon
Cost: $7.43 million
Start Date: May 2009
Completion Date: March 2010
Owner/Developer: Beaverton School District
Architect: LSW Architects
General Contractor: P&C Construction

Collaboration between LSW Architects, P&C Construction and Beaverton School District was vital in developing a structurally sound, academically inspiring interior.

In addition to the new roof and electrical upgrades, the building now offers wireless access for laptops, multi-use classrooms, and a United Nations-style room with twin projectors and screens for international studies and multimedia presentations.

One of the biggest challenges was updating the 1937 building to modern standards. The installation of steel beams and columns upgraded the building’s seismic stability and new mechanical and electrical systems created a more energy-efficient environment.

“It was one of the best collaborative processes that P&C has ever been involved with,” said Steve Anderson, project manager and co-owner of P&C. “We were truly a team, and that applied to all systems.”

The post TopProjects: Merle Davies High School submitted by P&C Construction appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Constructed in 1923 as a women’s hotel and now 108 units of affordable housing, the Martha Washington had suffered considerable deferred maintenance and needed serious repairs.

LRS Architects and R&H Construction provided design and construction services for a complete renovation of the building. As demolition progressed, the team discovered minor dimensional variations between units, which required an individual evaluation of each room to make sure they met ADA requirements and that new appliances fit correctly.

Because the Martha Washington is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the project required restoration of many of the building’s historic features. To this end, ornamental plaster in the lobby and basement were restored to their original character.  Workers from from R&H also returned 350 windows and 100 doors to their original condition.

“We set up a wood shop in the basement and had workers dedicated to go through every window to make sure they looked good when put back together,” said Brian Wing, R&H project manager.

The post TopProjects: Martha Washington submitted by R&H Construction appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The renovation of the Admiral Apartments has ensured more comfortable living for the residents of its 37 units. Walsh Construction Co. installed new flooring, cabinets, and plumbing and electrical fixtures in each unit, providing a complete cosmetic gut.

Built in 1909, the five-story brick building is owned and operated by REACH Community Development and provides low-income housing in downtown Portland. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Without compromising the historic integrity of the building, Walsh treated all 173 of the building’s windows, some of which required minor work while others were completely replaced. The project team also constructed a new HVAC shaft that runs from the ground to the roof.

Structurally, the building now benefits from a 2×6 seismic sheer wall, which is supported by 70 cubic yards of concrete in the new perimeter footing. Because the building did not have the height clearance necessary for a standard mini-excavator to dig up the new footing, a creative solution was required.

Tim Dixon Construction, a subcontractor on the project, solved the mini-excavator problem by using a remote-controlled, joystick-operated robot excavator to do the digging.

Riad Sahli, REACH’s project manager for the rehabilitation, described additional obstacles, which included working around an open Taco Del Mar restaurant on the ground floor during the first month of construction, dealing with limited staging space and trash facilities, and ensuring the safety of downtown pedestrians.

Despite the challenges, the project was completed slightly ahead of schedule and under budget, allowing some money for the project to be returned to the Portland Housing Bureau. Residents who returned to The Admiral were thrilled with the changes, Sahli said.

The post TopProjects: The Admiral Apartments submitted by Walsh Construction Co. appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built The Bonneville Lock and Dam in the 1930s, it was the largest single-lift lock in the world. Based on Nils Ambersen’s 1903 design, the original has since become a popular tourist attraction.

Project team + Stats

Location: Bonneville Lock and Dam
Cost: $2.62 million
Start Date: February 2010
Completion Date: October 2010
Owner/Developer: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Engineer: CH2M Hill
General Contractor: Wildish Standard Paving Co.

The lock recently required a seismic upgrade, which was handled by Wildish Standard Paving Co. of Eugene. Wildish filled the lower section of the lock’s hollow north wall with nearly 10,000 cubic yards of low strength concrete. This work was done in just five months.

Access to the work area was a major project challenge. Workers had to enter the work site by way of an old access road, but getting construction materials to the area requiring lifting them over the top of the old lock by crane or by pump.

By developing a close working relationship with the Corps, Wildish’s Tim Hendrix said,

the project team was able to finish the project on time.

The post TopProjects: Bonneville Ambursen Seismic Mitigation submitted by Wildish Standard Paving Co. appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Southeast Portland’s Fire Station No. 7 was built in 1927 as a neighborhood fire station, but when Venerable Development and partners acquired the building in 2009 to turn it into tenant office spaces, the building had been deteriorating for decades.

Project team + Stats

Location: Portland, Oregon
Cost: $3.8 million
Start Date: 2009
Completion Date: 2010
Owner/Developer: Fire Station No. 7 LLC/Venerable Properties
Architect: Emerick Architects
Engineer: Schutte Consulting Engineers
General Contractor: Bremik Construction

The renovation project included the two-story fire station as well as an adjacent 1930s wood handball court and an industrial maintenance garage built in the 1960s.

The addition’s plywood façade did not match the original brick building, so the team replaced the old plywood with a masonry and storefront system. The team also removed the non-original roll-up garage doors, and then referred to historic photographs to install carriage doors on the maintenance bays.

To maintain historic integrity, Venerable consulted with representatives from the local fire department. “We tried to pay homage to the Portland Fire Department with this project,” said Art DeMuro, the owner and manager of Venerable Development.

The post TopProjects: Fire Station No. 7 submitted by Bremik Construction appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.