Project name: Beaverton Year-Round Shelter

Location: Beaverton

Completion: December 2024

Size: 12,000 square feet

Cost: $8.7 million

Owner/Developer: City of Beaverton

Architect: Ink Built Architecture

Interior Designer: Ink Built Architecture

Engineers: PCS Structural Solutions, Arris Consulting, Landis Consulting Engineering Services

General Contractor: P&C Construction

Submitting Company: Ink Built Architecture

Subcontractors: A Cooler Tomorrow, ABC Roofing – a Tecta America Company, Alternative Edge Concrete, Ambrose Glass, B&T Striping and Curbing, Bedrock Concrete Cutting, BEE Engineers – Portland, Bell Hardware – Portland, Best Window Coverings, Building Material Specialties, Building Specialties NW, Cash’s Drapery, Civilworks NW, Conex Depot, Curtis Restaurant Equipment – Springfield, D&R Masonry Restoration, Dero Bike Rack, Fred Shearer & Sons, Gibson Door & Millwork, Huntco Supply, HVAC Inc., Kodiak Pacific Construction, Lacey Glass, Lazer Site Surveying, MHA Resource Co., Milne Masonry, Northwest AeroBarrier, Northwest Playground Equipment, Oregon City Garage Door, Pacific Landscape Services, Performance Contracting, Pioneer Sheet Metal, Piper Mechanical, Portland Electrical Construction, QED Lab, Rich Holland Painting, Roedel Tile Contracting, Salem Wood Products II, Shiels Obletz Johnsen, Sign Wizards, Solid Form Fabrication, Spectra Contract Flooring, Studio Wild Landscape Architecture, Swift Fire Protection, Thermal Flow Technologies, Town and Country Fence Co. of Oregon, Ward-Henshaw Construction, WFJ Janitorial Services, WH Cress

In a bold reimagining of traditional homeless shelters, the city of Beaverton has converted a single-story retail building into a 60-bed facility that prioritizes dignity, autonomy and sustainability.

The Beaverton Shelter, funded through a combination of Washington County Supportive Housing Services funds and state and federal grants, represents a departure from institutional approaches to temporary housing.

“When most of us think of the quintessential ‘homeless shelter,’ some adjectives that come to mind might be institutional, impersonal, crowded, efficient,” wrote a project representative in the nomination form. “We believe in the inherent dignity of every human being, and their right to safety and comfort.”

Among the shelter’s most innovative features are individual sleeping pods instead of traditional bunk beds. This decision came after learning that 85 percent of conflicts in congregate shelters revolve around bunk assignments.

The low-barrier facility supports single adults experiencing homelessness in Beaverton and Washington County, providing meals, showers and 24-hour shelter year-round.

Development involved an advisory committee comprising experienced human services providers and individuals with lived experience of homelessness. Together with Ink Built Architecture, they established project goals and design elements through collaborative charrettes and frequent reviews.

The project team recognized that successful transitions to permanent housing require creating environments where residents feel safe, supported and respected. Design choices prioritized resident experience “through a lens of understanding,” focusing on opportunities for respite and access to nature.

The shelter also demonstrates strong environmental commitments, achieving Energy Trust of Oregon’s Path to Net Zero certification. A 20-kilowatt solar array provides 22 percent of the shelter’s energy needs. Additional sustainability features include an advanced air-tight envelope, high-efficiency dedicated outdoor air mechanical systems, heat pump hot water heating, LED lighting with daylight integration, and all-electric appliances. Except for an emergency generator, no fossil fuels are used on site.

The project team itself reflected diversity values with 80 percent of design team members coming from women-owned, minority-owned or emerging small businesses certified through Oregon’s COBID program.

In addition to the city and the design and construction teams, companies, agencies and nonprofits vital to the project included Washington County SHS, Energy Trust of Oregon, Design Advisory Team, Open Door Housing Works, Central City Concern, NARA – The Native American Rehabilitation Association, and Greater Good Northwest.

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