PROJECT: Oregon City Engineering & Operations Center

LOCATION: 13895 Fir St., Oregon City

SIZE: 26,000-square-foot office and 53,000-square-foot warehouse

COST: $12.8 million

START DATE: September 2020

COMPLETION DATE: November 2021

OWNER: city of Oregon City

OWNER’S REPRESENTATIVE: PlanB Consultancy

ARCHITECT: Scott | Edwards Architecture

ENGINEERS: WDY Inc. (structural), Harper Houf Peterson Righellis (civil, landscaping), Interface Engineering (mechanical)

GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Emerick Construction

OTHER CONSULTANTS: JLD Cost Consulting

SIGNIFICANCE OF PROJECT: Oregon City’s Engineering and Operations Center is now open to the public. The facility houses Public Works engineering, Public Works operations, geographic information systems, facility maintenance and the parks maintenance division.

The 4.7-acre property, formerly occupied by General Distributing Inc., was purchased in April 2019 for $7.1 million. Environmental, structural and mechanical inspections took place, and then crews broke ground in September 2020.

The renovation of the existing building included seismic reinforcement. The facility is considered essential because it houses emergency response personnel.

“The site is dramatically different, considering we kept the structure intact,” Scott | Edwards Architecture project manager Brandon Dole stated in a press release. “We are proud the project took the route of reusing the space with modifications to updates to fit the needs of Public Works now and in the future.”

Modifications to the office building created reception areas, a customer service counter, a training room, a conference room, enclosed offices, open workspaces, storage space, and a break room. More than 8,500 square feet is dedicated to a fleet workshop, a vehicle wash-down area, and indoor storage for materials and equipment. The lot includes fuel storage with pumps, and all existing warehouse facilities are equipped with heat and fire suppression.

“When Emerick first learned of this project, we were excited for the opportunity to be part of a project of this significance in Oregon City because of the impact it was going to have for the community,” Jordan Fell, Emerick Construction’s director of special projects, stated in the news release. “Issues are inherent to every construction project, but this one was extra challenging and unpredictable. (We) had to navigate through construction while dealing with COVID, wildfires, ice storms, and supply chain issues. Through all of this, we were still able to deliver this project on time – and that’s not a small feat.”

“Building Blocks” spotlights noteworthy projects either under construction or approaching the start of construction. To submit a project for consideration, please visit: djcoregon.com/building-blocks.

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Fewer developable properties remain in Portland’s Pearl District than can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

One of the last sizable projects under way there is at the corner of Northwest 13th Avenue and Quimby Street. Crews are making rapid vertical progression on the 16-story Holden of Pearl, a 237-unit senior living facility designed by Ankrom Moisan Architects for Alliance Residential. Ground was broken in March, and general contractor Walsh Construction is expected to finish in August 2023.

Holden of Pearl tenants will have access to a huge range of amenities as they age in place.

“There’s going to be a lot of green space and courtyard space so that residents can play at chess tables; there’s even going to be a giant chessboard,” said Laura Waddick, a Walsh Construction project engineer. “There are barbecues, water features. There’s a double-sided fireplace on the first floor. It’s going to be a good spot for people to come and visit their grandparents.”

The building will have 16 stories of post-tensioned concrete and a single level of below-grade, tandem parking. A three-story podium will support a narrower tower with the bulk of the residential units – including luxury penthouse units at the top.

The building’s ground floor will have a double-height, arched entryway off of 13th Avenue. Memory care units on that level will serve residents with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. A porte cochere (essentially a circular driveway) off of Quimby Street will be used for valet parking and access to the parking garage.

The second and third levels will feature assisted living units, while the fourth floor will host shared facilities such as a dining area, a yoga studio, a bistro, a nail salon and more. A massive rooftop patio on the fourth level will hold a barbecue area, a dog run and the aforementioned giant chess set. The remainder of the brick-clad building will host studios and one- or two-bedroom apartments.

Because of low soil quality at the site, the engineering team of Kramer Gehlen & Associates and Harper Houf Peterson Righellis chose to employ auger cast piles to shore up the foundation. Pacific Foundations used a massive drill.

“It’s bored out and they pour concrete in and pull the drill out,” Walsh Construction assistant superintendent Abigail Anderson said.

“Our deepest one was 117 feet,” Walsh Construction superintendent Mario Hernandez added.

Other work was required to allow Westech Construction crews to proceed with excavation.

“This is the lowest elevation part of the Pearl District, and we had to do some pretty extensive waterproofing,” Waddick said. “We are in the flood zone, and we had to ‘bathtub’ the entire basement.”

While many Portland project teams have had to deal with radon mitigation, the Holden of Pearl team also had to deal with methane seeping from the ground.

Though no sustainability certifications will be sought for the building, it will have a large eco-roof as well as bird-safe glass on the floors with outdoor amenities. Because birds are unable to see standard transparent glass, bird-safe glass has patterns of dots or stripes.

“It’s basically around all of the courtyard green spaces,” Anderson said. “It’s just around the fourth-floor roof and then there’s a courtyard on first, second and third where the residents can just go out there and have lots of green space, so they put bird-safe (glass) all around that – anywhere where birds land.”

Currently, crews with RDF Builders, Walsh Construction’s carpentry and concrete division, are constructing formwork and piecing together shoring for what will be the fourth-level PT deck. Other crews from Ocean Park Mechanical, Bergelectric and Patriot Fire Protection are installing mechanical, electrical and fire suppression systems, while ironworkers with Timberland Inc. are handling structural steel.

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When Scott | Edwards Architecture needed more space for its growing practice, the firm’s principals and partners doubled down in East Portland.

The firm decided to expand in place at 2525 E. Burnside St. After a renovation and expansion project, Scott | Edwards has more than doubled its space, from 8,000 square feet to 17,000 square feet.

The $4.5 million project involved adding two floors to an original single-story building with a basement. The existing structure was thoroughly renovated. Much of the new structure was built with cross-laminated timber from Oregon supplier D.R. Johnson. Board-formed concrete was used for the lateral system.

The interior centers on a staircase that showcases the lumber as users move from floor to floor. The new CLT picks up on the historic bow-truss system that supports the original structure’s roof.

Constructed in 1947, the building was originally a post office. Scott | Edwards purchased the property in 2007 after previously occupying offices in the Pearl District and in Goose Hollow.

“I wanted to be around downtown but not downtown,” said Sid Scott, principal of the firm.

The Burnside location still allows easy access to downtown, but is also convenient for employees who live on the eastside, he said.

Scott charged Eric Wenzel, an associate architect, with taking the lead in designing the project. Joseph Hughes Construction was brought in as general contractor.

One of the goals of the project was to increase space for collaboration, Scott said. The new office has indoor and outdoor meeting spaces. A basement was remade with bike parking, a bar and a social area. The rooftop has outdoor seating and an eco-roof designed by Harper Houf Peterson Righellis.

Architects were also able to incorporate evolving lessons learned during the pandemic. Measures such as bipolar ionization to purify the air were installed.

The project was completed this past summer, and the office reopened to employees on Aug. 16. (During construction, Scott | Edwards leased 7,000 square feet on Southeast Ankeny Street).

The office expansion comes as a new chapter unfolds for Scott | Edwards Architecture. Scott is inching toward retirement age, and Kelly Edwards, formerly the firm’s co-principal, retired in 2013. At that time, six staffers were promoted to partners. The firm now has 92 total employees.

Scott | Edwards works to keep an even balance of public, private and nonprofit sector work to protect against economic downturns, Scott said. Clients include Bandon Dunes Golf Resort – for which the firm is creating a master plan for future facilities at the Old Macdonald course – and Salem Health. The firm also sets a goal of doing a new project type each year; recent choices have included water management and a winery tasting room.

“I want this firm to go on forever,” Scott said.

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The proposal for Civic Northwest – a massive transit-oriented development in Gresham – has received design approval.

Gresham’s Design Commission last week voted 4-1 to approve YBA Architects‘ design for the Wood Partners project, which calls for construction of eight buildings on a 7.4-acre parcel at the southwest corner of Northwest Civic Drive and Council Drive. The property is not far from TriMet‘s Civic Drive MAX station.

“Conceived as a ‘village on a hill,’ the development is��a��keystone within the larger Civic Neighborhood District and is devised to establish an urban, pedestrian-oriented center for neighborhood residents,” YBA Architects owner and principal Matt Brown stated in an email.

The total new floor area planned in the eight buildings, Brown stated, will be��roughly 290,000 square feet. Two five-story mixed-use buildings, a four-story mixed-use building, four three-story apartment buildings and a retail pavilion will make up the development. Collectively, the structures are expected to hold at least 318 residential units and more than 12,000 square feet of retail space.

The half-acre plaza will be activated by multiuse play spaces and flexible commercial spaces on the ground floors of the five-story mixed-use buildings. The single-story, 1,200-square-foot micro-restaurant pavilion, meanwhile, will be the focal point of the entire development. The project team hopes it will become an 18-hour center of activity.

One site challenge for designers is that it features a nearly 25-degree grade change from the highest point to the lowest. To take advantage of this, Brown stated, a pair of woonerfs – spaces shared by vehicle drivers and pedestrians – will extend into the middle of the site to connect the upper and lower terraces. In addition, several open areas will be integrated.

In wider terms, the development fits within the Civic Neighborhood Vision and Design District Update approved by the city in 2017. That plan updated rules to remove obstacles for large developments of this type and also established design standards for new construction.

Civic Northwest project team members will next enter the permitting process, Brown stated. The goal at this point is to break ground this summer.

In addition to Wood Partners and YBA Architects, the team includes landscape architect Shapiro Didway Landscape Architecture and civil engineer Harper Houf Peterson Righellis Inc. The general contractor will be a firm affiliated with Wood Partners.

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Design work for a new Harry S. Truman Elementary School in Vancouver, Washington. The existing school, which opened in 1974, is one of several that Vancouver Public Schools is preparing to replace in the coming years.

Bassetti Architects has designed the new Truman Elementary School, which will have over 97,000 square feet of space and be able to serve as many as 720 students.

Renderings show the new school ranging from one story to two, with a prominent “Learning Stair” providing a substantial transition space. Also, break-out project spaces will allow students to work outside traditional classrooms, and dedicated music, art and creative movement areas will surround a secure, interior courtyard.

A dedicated fitness area, called the “fitnasium,” will be adjacent to a large commons area with access to outdoor play areas. The outdoor spaces will include a covered play area, playground equipment and nature-themed spaces.

An application for development review by Clark County planning department staff on Aug. 10. This gave district officials the green light to finalize the design and apply for building permits.

The new building will be built adjacent to the existing one, which will continue to be used until the new one is completed. It is expected to be ready for opening for the 2020-21 school year. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2019.

Other project team members include Harper Houf Peterson Righellis Inc., a Portland firm providing civil and structural engineering, landscape architecture, public involvement and more, as well as Columbia West Engineering, which is providing geotechnical services.

For more information, contact Todd Horenstein, assistant superintendent for capital facilities planning for Vancouver Public Schools, at 360-313-1040 or todd.horenstein@vansd.org. – Josh Kulla

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Adventist Health is apparently on the verge of building out its aging campus in Southeast Portland by carrying out a host of new construction projects.

Harper Houf Peterson Righellis Inc. is the applicant for the proposal, which is tentatively set to go before a Hearings Officer on Sept. 19.

According to a city sent to the Hazelwood Neighborhood Association, Gateway Area Business Association and others, Adventist Health plans to expand the Gateway campus in two phases. The owner is seeking a Conditional Use Master Plan boundary amendment that would actually reduce the size of the Master Plan area by over 85,000 square feet.

PKA Architects has produced drawings for phase one. These show a new, freestanding medical office building between 15,000 and 20,000 square feet, as well as the build-out of 47,726 square feet of existing, unfinished shell space constructed previously.

In phase two, the hospital’s nursing tower would expand by 50,000 square feet. This phase would also see the campus parking lots reconfigured with an overall reduction of two spaces.

If approved, the proposed Conditional Use Master Plan would result in 857,578 square feet of development at full build-out, representing a sizable decrease from the 1.4 million square feet approved in the original master plan.

The Conditional Use Master Plan would be in effect until Dec. 31, 2023, when all Conditional Use Master Plans for institutional campuses will expire under new regulations implemented as part of the Campus Institutional Zoning Project.

The hospital was built in 1975 and currently has slightly more than 601,000 square feet.

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Resulting from one of the largest bonds passed in Oregon’s history, Beaverton’s 334,000-square-foot Mountainside High School is the largest comprehensive high school in the state. Set on 47 acres, the school serves 2,200 students in a “loop stacking” program that houses nearly all formal and informal academic spaces.

Open-concept teacher planning and circulation from the loop’s interior allow light to spill through these areas and into the classrooms, which also benefit from natural daylight due to their position along the exterior wall. Key program pieces including the gym, theater and commons are located close to the front door, easing access to high-traffic areas and streamlining wayfinding for students and visitors.

Wood salvaged from two onsite barns that were demolished clads a central stair and the walls of the theater lobby. A second-story media center overlooks both the commons and the courtyard, and the courtyard features outdoor classroom spaces.

Mountainside also provides robust Career Technical Education components, including a culinary kitchen/classroom; robotics space; and a 3,500-square-foot, state-of-the-art woodshop. The school’s fully ducted, dust-collection system is installed with a wood-pellet maker, allowing students to sell the byproduct as a fundraiser.

Chris Linn, a principal with Bora Architects, said the school’s advanced technology sets it apart, as does its dual role as a community emergency shelter because of its ability to withstand a higher magnitude earthquake than a typical school.

“The brick façade is particularly unique. The pattern transitions in color from top to bottom and was designed using parametric software – a first for us and for the brick masons,” Linn said.

Along with some bad weather conditions and an already-tight schedule, challenges included the site’s sloped topography. A large volume of predominately clay soil needed to be moved and reused as fill. By expediting mass excavation and identifying opportunities to reuse soils from the site, the project team avoided routing hundreds of dump-truck loads through the community. In addition, unforeseen conditions that arose during excavation required Hoffman Construction as general contractor and Bora to collaborate with city staff to implement a design change to the storm drainage and sewer systems.

Mountainside’s multiple athletic fields required 10.5 acres of turf, making it the largest high school turf-installation project in the Pacific Northwest. And its auditorium was built with a “ship in a bottle” construction approach that reversed some typical sequences and utilized Building Information Modeling.

“We re-learned a key lesson – that it takes a very high level of teamwork between the owner, the general contractor and the architect to successfully complete large, complex projects,” Linn said, noting staff with the Beaverton School District were “consummate professionals” and Hoffman’s “dedication to doing the work well and doing it right the first time was something to behold.”

Submitted by: Bora Architects and Hoffman Construction Co.

��Location: Beaverton, Oregon

Project cost: $184.6 million

Start date: September 2014 (design); July 2015 (construction)

Completion: November 2017

Owner/developer: Beaverton School District

Architect: Bora Architects

Landscape architect: Walker Macy

Engineers: Harper Houf Peterson Righellis, KPFF, PAE

General contractor: Hoffman Construction Co.

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If a new elementary school under construction in Beaverton looks familiar, there’s a good reason why – it is the latest in a series of campuses Beaverton School District is building from a prototype design by DLR Group. Hazeldale Elementary School is the third of four bond-funded K-5 schools to be built from the prototype design; two were completed last fall, and construction of the fourth will begin this summer.

The new Hazeldale school is replacing an outdated campus built in 1942 that was no longer meeting the community’s needs. The structure had gained multiple additions over the years, was expensive to maintain, and lacked current technology and capacity for projected growth of the student body. As such, the school was one of three K-5 sites identified as prime candidates for replacement as part of a $680 million bond passed in 2014.

The school is being built by general contractor Kirby Nagelhout Construction, which began work last summer. The two-story concrete and steel structure, at 87,200 square feet, will be the district’s largest K-5 campus. It will feature a ground-floor commons area, a gymnasium, administrative and service spaces, and kindergarten and special education classrooms. The second floor will house classrooms for grades one through five.

In addition to 32 classrooms, the school will have nine teaching spaces, including five flexible commons areas. The 6,717-square-foot gymnasium will be dividable to support two simultaneous physical education classes. A central courtyard will provide daylight penetration in classrooms and common areas, and will feature a pair of demonstration stormwater ponds that will collect water channeled from a rooftop drain. The drain will run through a colored pipe that will be visible inside the building and then reach an exit spout in the courtyard.

Site upgrades to the campus will also include a 10,000-square-foot covered play area and a new soccer field. Vehicle entries will be separated, with accommodations for buses on one side of the building and accommodations for other vehicles on the opposite side. Whereas vehicle entries were previously on Southwest Farmington Road, they will be moved to side streets for improved safety and traffic flow.

The project team includes landscape architect Cameron McCarthy and civil engineer Harper Houf Peterson Righellis; DLR Group is performing the structural and mechanical engineering. The project will be completed this summer, and the school is scheduled for an August 27 opening.

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Lease Crutcher Lewis is nearing completion of a renovation and expansion of a building at the Salem campus of SAIF, Oregon’s not-for-profit, state-chartered workers’ compensation insurance company. The project includes construction of a new six-story wing, renovation and seismic upgrade of an existing office building, and modernization of the building’s facade.

Work on the Ankrom Moisan Architects-designed project began in early 2016 with extensive abatement at the existing 1960s-era office building. It was originally L-shaped, with five stories on one wing and one story on the other. The single-story wing has been demolished, and a six-story addition built in its place. The five-story wing was gutted down to structural concrete and rebuilt, including seismic reinforcement.

Due to the building’s location on the floodplain of Pringle Creek nearby, the first floor of the five-story wing was abandoned. Concrete walls around the old first floor were built up, essentially turning it into a crawlspace, and mechanical systems were installed to keep air flowing so it isn’t stagnant. The first floor of the new south tower is higher than the original building’s first floor and is out of the floodplain.

The building wraps around a large old oak tree that is the visual focus of two-story “collab” spaces. Large, open common areas are used by employees for breaks and meetings, and two-story curtainwalls provide a view of an outdoor courtyard. The renovated building will feature better natural light, and upgraded energy features including chilled beam cooling, vapor heating and all-LED light fixtures.

The original building, minus the former first floor, measures 95,912 square feet, and the south tower will add 83,215 square feet. Crews currently are applying final touches on the building, including refinement of the façade and installation of roof metal panels and concrete skin panels. Finish work is continuing in common areas, flooring is still being installed, and commissioning and startup have begun. The project is slated for turnover on April 20.

A second phase of the project, including renovation of an adjacent building connected by a sky bridge, will begin later this year. That work will be completed by June 2019.

Other project partners include structural engineer Kramer Gehlen & Associates Inc., civil engineer Harper Houf Peterson Righellis Inc. and mechanical engineer Glumac.

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The newest addition to the ever-growing Burnside bridgehead area is nearing completion. Yorke & Curtis is winding down work on Aura Burnside, a five-over-one mixed-use building with below-grade parking encompassing three-quarters of the block bounded by East Burnside Street and Northeast Couch Street, and Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Grand Avenue.

The building contains 157 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartment units over flex retail space along both the Burnside Street and Grand Avenue frontages. Common residential areas include a rooftop patio with a fire pit and grill, a second-floor club room with a kitchen and dining area, and a ground-floor lobby with a fireplace and seating area. A bicycle storage facility will also contain a repair stand and a wash area able to also be used for pets.

The building’s top three floors are nearly complete, the third floor is in the punch-list phase, and levels one and two are in finish stages. Crews are also finishing site work, including pouring sidewalks, patching asphalt, and installing planters and first-floor siding. A temporary certificate of occupancy is expected for the project next week, and substantial completion is expected by the end of the year.

The project was developed by the Seattle office of Dallas, Texas-based Trinsic Residential Group, and designed by Merryman Barnes Architects. DCI Engineers is handling structural engineering, and Harper Houf Peterson Righellis Inc. is performing civil and landscape engineering.

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