Portland architect Chandra Robinson, known for designing a series of equity-focused projects, has struck out on her own.

Robinson recently left LEVER Architecture to start �����dz����ٴDz���á�ھ�����. The time had come for her to start her own firm, she said.

“It just felt like I could generate more work for myself, and I could take it in a different direction and operate differently,” she said.

Robinson served for seven years at LEVER — most of that time as a principal, a promotion she earned after helping the firm gain new work as projects focused on racial and social equity proliferated in Portland.

Four projects on which Robinson led design opened last year: two Multnomah County library branches in North Portland and Albina, in the center of Portland’s Black community; and two affordable housing projects — the 94-unit Albina One project for Albina Vision Trust, and the 187-unit T. Joyce Phillips (formerly known as Dekum Court) project for Home Forward in Concordia.

“There are so many different types of projects that I’ve worked on that I’m excited about,” she said. “My favorite things are ones that actually have an impact in the place where they’re built, no matter what sort of project they are.”

Robinson said she’s interested in designing libraries, affordable housing buildings, cultural institutions and community centers.

Robinson has also worked extensively with mass timber on several projects, including the First Tech Credit Union headquarters in Hillsboro and the Meyer Memorial Trust headquarters in North Portland. Mass timber is also a focal design element in the 26,000-square-foot Williams and Russell business hub, which she’s designing in partnership with LEVER and which will offer affordable office space and retail space on the long-vacant Hill Block property.

Robinson is also designing, with LEVER, the new Jefferson High School.

Former colleagues said Robinson has pushed forward local sourcing, working with tribal and community groups, and reaching out to disadvantaged, minority-, woman-, emerging small business and service-disabled veteran owned (DMWESB) companies.

“She’s an absolutely amazing person,” said Jonathan Heppner, a LEVER principal who first worked with Robinson at the firm now known as Works Architecture and then later at LEVER. “She is extremely committed to the local community. Her perspective brings a new lens to the way architecture can be practiced in Portland.”

Michelle Vo, a Hennebery Eddy Architects principal, said Robinson excelled at considering how buildings would be used.

“In my experience with Chandra, I observed her to be very interested in understanding the needs expressed by stakeholders in her projects,” Vo stated in an email. “She demonstrated a commitment to tailoring design responses that addressed specific user requirements, whether it was through architecture or more of an artistic installation in the space.”

Robinson came somewhat late to architecture, starting at the Boston Architectural College at age 31. She later returned to the Portland area, where she had grown up in Rockwood.

Robinson’s professional experience in Portland has been peripatetic: She first joined Works Progress Architecture in 2010 before stints at Hennebery Eddy Architects and Hacker. The latter firm loaned Robinson to LEVER, with which she worked on the Meyer Memorial Trust headquarters.

It’s not unusual for architecture firms to let their employees work for other designers, Robinson said.

“We do that in Portland,” she said. “If projects are delayed or people need staff, it’s a good way to staff up your projects without having to vet and interview people, or if you are slow, not having to lose your employees.”

Robinson became invested in the Meyer Memorial Trust project and decided to stay at LEVER, where she gained experience working with mass timber and other advanced building materials.

Now, she’s starting afresh with Estudio �����dz����ٴDz���á�ھ�����, doing business as �����dz����ٴDz���á�ھ�����. The name reflects the English word “chromatography” and the Spanish translation, “cromatografía.” She retained the “h” in part because of her first name.

“I just really like the idea of having something that’s mixed up, and then being able to identify separate elements,” she said.

At �����dz����ٴDz���á�ھ�����, Robinson wants to work with interesting partners. She’s designing a farm-and-garden project in Gresham for the Feed’em Freedom Foundation with Anyeley Hallova’s development firm, �����é, that is focused on food sovereignty in the Black community. Robinson is working on the design with James Gantz, a former ZGF Architects principal who recently returned to Portland after a stint in Washington, D.C. For the new Jefferson High School, with design led by LEVER and Bora Architecture & Interiors, she is working on placemaking alongside Colloqate Design.

Robinson is pursuing another, still-confidential project with �����é, which is also the developer of the Williams and Russell business hub.

Robinson said she’s not looking for a business partner to join �����dz����ٴDz���á�ھ�����.

“I want it to be small because I want to collaborate with other small firms, right?” she said. “I want to work with other solo practitioners. I want to hire people on contracts where maybe the mix is different, the people who are working on different projects is different, and we’re not tied into a structure.”

Robinson identifies as a Black Latina. She quickly gained work as clients and developers sought to diversify their project teams in Portland. But one thing she does not want to do is be anybody’s token minority representation.

“What I’m not going to do is partner with a company that doesn’t have any diversity in their own firm — doesn’t have any Black leadership or women in leadership, and they’re trying to partner with someone who represents that so they can get a job,” she said. “I’m not doing that.”

Robinson does substantial volunteer work in the community for groups such as Architects Without Borders and Oregon Black Pioneers. She currently serves as chairwoman of the Portland Design Commission, which evaluates major building proposals.

She recently purchased a house in Netarts. She commutes into Portland for meetings and events when necessary, often using space at LEVER and staying with her mother in St. Johns.

Robinson hopes to do interesting work at �����dz����ٴDz���á�ھ�����, on her own terms.

“People are many things,” she said. “You’re not just one thing. But you also have to focus to get somewhere.”

The post Equity-focused architect launches �����dz����ٴDz���á�ھ����� appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.