A new building for intensive psychiatric support of children is in the works. The single-story, 10,375-square-foot building will be located on Trillium Family Services‘ 13-acre Southeast Portland campus, at 3415 S.E. Powell Blvd.

The Whole Person Psychiatric Residential Treatment Building will be the campus’ first addition constructed from the ground up since the early 1990s. The building will hold 12 inpatient treatment beds for children, allowing Trillium Family Services to expand its care. It will be located between Trillium’s academic building and its healing garden.

The building will be a wood-framed structure with fiber cement siding and a metal roof.

TVA Architects designed the project for Trillium Family Services. The project team also includes civil engineer KPFF, structural engineer Catena Consulting Engineers, landscape architect Ground Workshop, mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineer Interface Engineering, and general contractor Fortis Construction.

TVA Architects previously designed for Trillium two inpatient buildings at the Children’s Farm Home campus in Corvallis. Tim Wybenga, a TVA principal, said staffers spoke with some of the kids who have stayed in these facilities to learn which elements were important to them. Ample access to daylight was a high priority.

“A lot of times, the solution to prevent breakage of windows is to minimize or remove windows,” Wybenga said. “We’ve found access to views to nature and daylight being so important, so we’ve been more strategic in how we’ve configured the windows.”

Trauma-informed design principles were used to ensure access to nature. All bedrooms will face existing trees and overlook the healing garden. Plus, a greenhouse and a rock maze at the back edge of the property are in a buffer area between the campus and a residential neighborhood. The palette for materials will include earth tones, greens and blues.

“There’s this beautiful garden space where kids are working in the dirt and growing things,” Trillium Family Services CEO Jamie Vandergon said, adding that the kids host a small farmer’s market every year.

The building will serve the entire campus and include therapy rooms for individuals, groups, and families; collaborative staff work areas; and play-based therapeutic amenities such as a sensory playroom, secure outdoor areas, and a gross motor kitchen for children to practice making meals.

There will also be spaces for partner agencies’ physicians and occupational or physical therapists. One partner, Neurotherapeutic Pediatric Therapies, weighed in on the design of an occupational therapy space that will include yoga balls and mats as well as aerial silk swings that provide compression. There will also be a primary care suite, which will likely be staffed by Trillium’s partners.

A large multipurpose room will accommodate indoor play, special programs, movie nights or different therapeutic activities in a group setting, Wybenga said.

“Your environment has so much to do with your healing,” Vandergon said. “Creating a brand-new trauma-informed healing environment for kids in crisis is such a tremendous benefit to the care we provide and to the kids.”

The intent of the design is to provide life enrichment for kids and visiting families, Wybenga said. Each of the 12 treatment spaces will have an adjacent room for family members to visit children in safe spaces.

Staff will have their own spaces to meet or decompress both inside the building and around the campus to either meet or decompress from challenging situations.

Trillium does a lot for kids throughout Oregon, Wybenga said, adding that it is meaningful to be a part of this project.

The total project cost is $15.1 million, which includes finishes and furniture. The project is fully funded and includes $13.1 million from Oregon’s Coordinated Care Organizations and an additional $2 million from one of those CCOs – CareOregon.

Construction of the new building is expected to start early next year and finish in late spring 2027.

On the Boards is a 91��Ƶ feature offering a look at projects in Oregon and Southwest Washington being tackled by local architecture firms. To have your firm’s projects considered, contact 91��Ƶ reporter Hilary Dorsey at hdorsey@djcOregon.com.

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