Two projects in the Portland-metro area – the proposed Willamette Falls Riverwalk and the completed Yard – received honor awards recently from the American Society of Landscape Architects as part of the .

The Willamette Falls Riverwalk in Oregon City was one of four projects to receive an honor award in the analysis and planning category. The Interstate 25 Conservation Corridor Master Plan in Douglas County, Colorado, received the category’s award of excellence.

The Riverwalk, designed by Snohetta, is the anticipated first phase of a plan to remake Oregon City’s frontage of Willamette Falls. The waterfall, blocked for decades by a paper mill, is considered a potential tourist attraction.

“Here we see the combining of public access, habitat, historic and cultural interpretation, and economic development in a project that’s very tangible in terms of its potential to being implemented,” the awards jury wrote.

Snohetta is an international design firm with headquarters in Oslo, Norway, and U.S. operations based in New York City. The design firm’s client is Metro and a coalition of government agencies. The landscape architects are Mayer/Reed and Dialog Design.

Yard, a 21-story mixed-use building with a landscaped podium at the east end of the Burnside Bridge, was one of two projects to receive an honor award in the residential design category. 2.ink Studio was the landscape architect for Yard. The Balcones Residence in Austin, Texas, received the category’s award of excellence.

Yard “sets itself apart from a competitive marketplace, and the market has responded positively to it,” the awards jury wrote.

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The annual Portland Winter Light Festival will brighten the city Feb. 1-3. While the bulk of the displays will be set up at the traditional site near the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), exhibits will be scattered among three other locations in Portland.

Local architects play a big role in creating many of the festival’s displays. This year, Fieldwork Design & Architecture, ZGF Architects, Walker Macy, Waterleaf Architecture, Interiors & Planning and the team of Holst Architecture and 2.ink Studio will be involved in a variety of exhibits. Two works are Flamethrower Chandelier by Ryan Ramage, and a 50-foot-tall steel, flame-shooting dragon by Ivan McLean.

Besides the main displays at OMSI, other works will be at the World Trade Center/PGE headquarters, Salmon Springs Fountain, North Park Blocks and Cathedral Park. Admittance is free.

Also, the Portland Spirit and Sternwheeler will provide free rides, and a variety of artists will deliver story readings and performances.

Learn more about the festival at .

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The Portland Design Commission on Thursday got its second look at a proposal for a $75 million project to build four mixed-use buildings in the Lloyd District.

Two seven-story buildings would be constructed near the northwest corner of Northeast Multnomah Street and 16th Avenue, and face the latter. An additional seven-story building and a five-story building would be constructed at the southwest corner of Multnomah Street and 16th Avenue. The development would replace the Lloyd Cinemas and a surface parking lot adjacent to the Sears building in the Lloyd Center mall.

For the most part, commissioners liked what they saw.

“I think the whole thing is moving in the right direction,” Commissioner Don Vallaster said during the design advice request (DAR) hearing.

Revised plans call for the seven-story buildings to stand 85 feet and have a 3.75:1 floor area ratio. In total, the development would hold 560 residential units (40 more than in the original design) and 26,000 square feet of retail space.

The parking ratio for the development would range from zero spaces per unit to 0.7 spaces per unit. The developers are counting on proximity to public transit and a variety of retail businesses to limit the need for residents to have automobiles.

Commission Chairwoman Julie Livingston credited the design team of Holst Architecture and landscape architect 2.ink Studio for listening to advice given during a previous hearing in March.

“You responded almost point-by-point to the issues raised in the first DAR,” she said. “It does a great job knitting these two neighborhoods together.”

That was one of the major challenges for designers as they sought to achieve developer Portland Lloyd Center Community’s vision. The structures will straddle the border of the Sullivan’s Gulch and Lloyd District neighborhoods.

The team wanted to use a combination of structures and open space to create a seamless tradition between residential and retail areas, Holst principal Dave Otte said.

“We had a residential type of articulation with deep overhangs and porches at the ground-floor residential and then a more retail articulation in the retail space,” he said.

Movement and light were key aspects taken into consideration for this phase of development, said Tommy Solomon, an associate with 2.ink Studio. Phase one was approved earlier in the year, and the team expects to begin construction early next year.

“It has, I think, a lot of fluid moments along the street edge similar to phase one where you have the ability to spill off the street and fill in,” he said. “In the lobby areas, you have the opportunity to have the more private moments.”

Weaving together various elements in the rapidly changing area led to one of the more unique ideas of the development. Currently, plans call for two stories of one of the seven-story structures being built over the top of the five-story building facing Multnomah Street. The two buildings would share a lobby and stairwell.

The designers also plan to use a series of pocket parks and water elements to balance urban and retail aspects.

While the three commissioners in attendance were highly complementary of the plans, they did warn the designers that certain areas would get special attention during a type III design review hearing. Adding balconies or juliets could help the proposal gain the full commission’s approval, Livingston said.

“Public art will also be an area that will be discussed,” she said.

The project team plans to submit its package for a full review in January 2018, Otte said. That would likely result in a hearing in March.

“I think it is right there on the right track,” Commissioner Samuel Rodriguez said. “I think it’s a matter of refinements.”

Also on Thursday:

Fremont Apartments

The Portland Design Commission heard from neighboring residents unhappy with the planned height and scale of the Fremont Apartments at 1650 N.W. Naito Parkway. The scheduled 30-minute hearing was extended to more than 75 minutes, largely to accommodate public comments.

Alterations made to the Lincoln Property Company development included removal of a protruding mass from the building’s L-shape portion and addition of a floor to the facade on Northwest Naito Parkway.

While the commission appeared ready to give TVA Architects‘ design the go-ahead with a tentative 3-1 vote, two citizens asked for the record to be held open for seven days for further testimony. The record will be held open until Dec. 15, and another hearing will take place on Dec. 21.

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Several Portland-based firms are for the GRAY Awards – a competition that honors architecture and design excellence in the Pacific Northwest.

The awards are given by GRAY Magazine, which focuses on design in the Pacific Northwest. Finalists were chosen from among 360 submissions in categories including commercial and residential architecture as well as interior and landscape design. Winners will be announced at an event Nov. 29 at the new SLS Seattle hotel.

Hacker‘s Lakeside at Black Butte Ranch, LEVER Architecture‘s L’Angolo Estate and Works Progress Architecture‘s Slate are contending in the commercial architecture category.

Skylab Architecture‘s Owl Creek residence and Yard are both finalists in the residential architecture category. Also in residential, Westlake Development Group of Clackamas (with Kengo Kuma and Associates) is a finalist for Suteki, which was part of the 2017 Street of Dreams.

Skylab also is a finalist in the commercial interior design category, for Knot Springs Spa. Osmose Design‘s A.O. Basement and Finley Grace Design‘s Cliffwood are contending for best residential interior design.

2.ink Studio‘s work on Yard is a finalist in the landscape design (civic, residential) category.

Also, SRG Partnership‘s Treeline Village is a finalist in the design for good category.

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