A Portland architecture firm is looking to turn a Hillsboro house into a transitional family shelter.

SO25 Architecture is embarking on the adaptive reuse project on behalf of Family Promise of Greater Washington County.

The planned facility is seen as a midpoint for housing insecure families supported by Family Promise, some of whom are living in hotels and motels. Prospective residents will be prescreened, and facility personnel won’t accept walk-ins.

“This is a transitional stop helping folks that are in need, (to) get them back on their feet so that another batch of folks could come through,” said Bob Smith, principal and co-founder of SO25 Architecture.

The two-story house at 183 S.E. Sixth Ave. is on the edge of a residential neighborhood adjacent to downtown Hillsboro. SO25 will endeavor to reformat the house’s interior while leaving the exterior unchanged, Smith said.

“The inside of the building is going to need a pretty significant transformation,” he said. “Within the historic envelope, we’re going to modernize it as much as we can.”

The project is being paid for in large part by a $500,000 grant via federal coronavirus recovery funds. The project budget is about $650,000 at present, but Family Promise is seeking additional funding, Smith said.

The structure, known as the Barrett House, was built by William Nathaniel Barrett in 1912, according to the Hillsboro Historical Society. Barrett was a lawyer who served in the Oregon Senate and as Hillsboro mayor. The house is listed as a local cultural resource but is not on the National Register of Historic Places.

SO25 plans to transform the interior into three suites able to host about 12 people. One suite would be Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant. An office would have space for Family Promise workers, and private spaces where clients could meet with social workers are also planned.

The building offers about 1,600 square feet on the ground floor and 850 square feet on the second floor.

“The project will respond to an urgent need – accessible, transitional housing for homeless families, and afford Family Promise a more humane and dignified approach, providing greater stability, safety and wellness for children and time (and) space for parents to navigate housing, employment and resources,” stated Brian Schimmel, president of the Family Promise of Greater Washington County board of directors.

Accessibility and energy efficiency improvements will improve living conditions for vulnerable persons with special needs, Schimmel added.

Neighbors have not objected to the project, Smith said, noting that the site is near downtown Hillsboro.

“I see that as an advantage,” he said. “You have transportation that’s really close by, a hospital close by. Having that connection to be able to get to the places you need. You don’t want to tuck these places too far away … because you don’t want folks having a problem getting what they need to unless you offer it all there.”

SO25 became involved in the project when Family Promise was referred to the small firm by Scott | Edwards Architecture, where both Smith and S025 principal and co-founder Chris Olenyik previously worked. Smith and Olenyik launched SO25 Architecture in fall 2020.

The modest scale of the project better fit SO25’s portfolio, Smith said.

“Nonprofit projects can really be labors of love,” he said.

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Every recession entails what economists call creative destruction – the disruption of old ways of doing things and the creation of new ones.

That process can often be painful for workers, as new jobs may not arise immediately to replace old ones.

For Bob Smith and Chris Olenyik, economic disruption meant starting their own architecture firm. The two friends incorporated SO25 Architecture on Halloween last year after Smith lost his job in a layoff, and both architects reconsidered their futures.

“COVID was a real leveling of firms alike, large and small,” Smith said. “To some degree, Chris and I have been able to leverage that to our advantage. While other firms were initially trying to shift gears and try to stay viable, we had the opposite side of the coin and were able to grow ourselves. We recognized this as the downtime it was.”

Smith and Olenyik met at Scott | Edwards Architecture. Olenyik worked there for almost 10 years, and Smith for about eight years. They quickly became friends and bonded over going to rock shows and hanging out with each other’s families while residing in Southeast Portland.

Olenyik left Scott | Edwards for a job at Triplett Wellman Contractors, and Smith moved on to Jones Architecture. But when Smith was laid off only a few months after joining that firm, the friends started to intensify long-simmering conversations about starting their own.

“It was a big shock,” Smith said of the layoff. “One day I had a job, and the next day, oh my God. I’m sure a lot of folks were dealing with the same thing, too.”

Olenyik decided he was willing to leave his job at Triplett Wellman.

“We would talk about what’s going on at work – what our struggles are, what we’re enjoying,” he said. “We kind of had itchy feet to spread our wings for a bit.”

The talk grew serious in June 2020, when the two architects began working with lawyers and accountants to formally establish the firm. SO25 Inc. was registered with the Oregon Secretary of State’s office in October. “SO” stands for Smith and Olenyik, and the 25 is a nod to Scott | Edwards’ address on East Burnside Street.

Smith and Olenyik were part of a boom of entrepreneurs forming businesses in the past year. Business formations have been at “historically high levels,” ECONorthwest economist Robert Whalen stated in an email. For the 52-week period that ended March 25, high-propensity formations – those businesses most likely to hire workers – tallied 16,810 in Oregon. In total, 44,520 new businesses were formed in Oregon. Both were at or near all-time highs, he added.

A spike in business formations is typical during recessions, according to Whalen.

“In any recession where people lose their jobs, we look for other ways to make some money – consulting, dog walking, tutoring, doing work on the side for past customers – whatever it takes to bring in some money,” he stated.

Smith and Olenyik have backgrounds in retail, commercial, institutional and multifamily architecture. SO25 has started with small projects, including residential and light commercial design.

“We both share a desire to do architecture that’s well-crafted and well-developed,” Olenyik said. “You know, we see a lot of projects where they’re not thinking through all of the details. We’re just hoping to get into the details and do well-crafted projects.”

Smith, 48, has been practicing architecture for more than 20 years. A native of Philadelphia, he studied architecture at Drexel University and worked on projects at Philadelphia’s airport, zoo and art museum.

Olenyik, 37, earned a master’s of architecture degree at the University of Idaho. He moved to Portland after his wife landed a job here, and then he went to a marketing firm before joining Scott | Edwards.

The friends play different and complementary roles at SO25. Smith is more experienced and has deeper connections in the local industry. He’s the details guy.

“Bob is very detail-oriented,” Olenyik said. “Bob’s definitely great at quality control, and he’s very thoughtful and very thorough. Bob really helps to ground me. We balance each other out.”

Olenyik, meanwhile, is a natural networker, Smith said.

“The thing about Chris that’s really great is he’s a people person,” Smith said. “He’s agreeable and easy to get along with. I tend to think of myself as more of a technical person.”

SO25 is off to a good start, Olenyik said.

“We both feel like there’s momentum and we’re gaining traction,” he said. “So that’s exciting.”

The co-principals have not yet hired any additional employees. Smith said they want to be careful to build something that lasts, rather than hire and fire employees as work ebbs and flows.

“We have full intentions of building this up and getting more employees as we gain more work,” Smith said.

For now, they’re getting used to being their own bosses, and managing their relationship as friends and co-workers – this time, outside of the music venues.

“It’s a relationship we’re developing – a new method of working together,” Olenyik said. “But it’s been good. We’re still friends, and that’s the most important thing.”

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