Project name: Timberline Lodge Pool Replacement

Location: Government Camp

Completion: March 2024

Size: 4,900 square feet

Owner/Developer: RLK & Company

Architect: Soderstrom Architects

Interior Designer: Soderstrom Architects

Engineers: Interface Engineering, Counsilman-Hunsaker (pool consultant)

General Contractor: Bremik Construction

Submitting Company: Bremik Construction

Other Key Participants: U.S. Forest Service, Oregon Health Authority, Environmental Protection Agency, Friends of Timberline, State Historic Preservation Office, Hoodland Fire District, Clackamas County

Subcontractors: Airx, American Welding and Iron, Anderson Poolworks, Arrow Timber Framing, B&B Tile and Masonry, Bell Hardware of Portland, Christenson Electric, CMC Rebar, Culver Glass, Don Rhyne Painting, Dynalectric, Elite Steel Products, Hanset Stainless, Harlen’s Drywall, JW Underground, LaRusso Concrete, Northwest Masonry Restoration, Piper Mechanical, Sign Wizards, Skyline Sheet Metal, Versatile Wood Products, Western States Fire Protection, WH Cress

Perched at 6,000 feet on the south slope of Mt. Hood, Timberline Lodge has completed an ambitious renovation project, replacing its 1958-era pool with a modern facility that honors the historic property’s architectural heritage.

The project, which began after the original pool was decommissioned in fall 2022, features a heated year-round pool with depths ranging from 3 to 8 feet and a new hot tub with massage jets. At this elevation, it becomes the highest pool in the Pacific Northwest.

“Recreating the Timberline pool experience for our guests while preserving the historic value of the Lodge is what makes Timberline a very special and unique place,” Jeff Kohnstamm, Timberline’s president and area operator, noted in the project submission form. “I could not be more excited about this new page in Timberline’s story.”

The 4,900-square-foot elevated design includes a bird-friendly 75 percent glass enclosure that frames views of Mt. Hood and surrounding mountains. A new skybridge connects the spa deck to the west side hotel vestibule, providing seamless access for guests. The upgrade also included a new mechanical and storage room, as well as two public restrooms designed for both pool guests and skiers/snowboarders.

Construction teams faced considerable challenges building at such high elevation. The final concrete pour was completed in November 2023, requiring a specially designed mix suitable for freezing conditions after a 1.5-hour drive from the batch plant. To complete pool plastering and tiling during winter, crews constructed a 53-foot-long temporary heated enclosure that withstood multiple snowstorms while maintaining 70-degree interior temperatures.

The renovation also corrected architectural compromises made when the original pool was installed in 1958. Working from 1930s-era drawings, Soderstrom Architects and Bremik Construction restored historic windows, lower walls and rock buttresses that had been concealed for more than six decades.

Special attention to detail included rough-sawn cedar board-formed concrete finishes and pre-weathered materials to match the lodge’s aged aesthetic. New railing balusters match the Lodge’s iconic heavy timber construction, and the pool incorporates Timberline’s signature “snow goose” motif.

For visitor comfort, the pool deck features a radiant floor heating system that prevents ice buildup, while a new fire pit creates a gathering spot for evening relaxation.

Originally constructed in 1937 with funding from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, Timberline Lodge now welcomes approximately 2 million visitors annually, with the new pool enhancing its appeal as a year-round destination.

The post Timberline Lodge Pool Replacement appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

A weekly compilation of the largest winning bids in the Pacific Northwest, according to the Daily Journal of Commerce Project Center.

1.

Winner (intent to award): Kerr Contractors Oregon LLC of Woodburn

Amount: $5,171,925

Project: US 30: Kittridge Avenue (Multnomah County)

Owner: ODOT – Agency – Transportation Commission ODOT Procurement Office MS#2-2

Cost estimate: not available

Project team: not available

��2.

Winner (intent to award): Suulutaaq Inc. of Eugene

Amount: $4,176,081.70

Project: OR 99: Urban Upgrade (Cottage Grove)

Owner: ODOT Procurement Office – Construction Contracts Unit, MS# 2-2

Cost estimate: not available

Project team: not available

3.

Winner (intent to award): Legacy Contracting Inc. of Stayton

Amount: $3,979,376

Project: OR 47: West Fork Dairy Creek Bridge Sec. (Washington County)

Owner: ODOT Procurement Office – Construction Contracts Unit, MS# 2-2

Cost estimate: not available

Project team: not available

4.

Winner (contract awarded): Preferred Construction Inc. of Springfield

Amount: $2,740,685

Project: Knight Library Exterior Restoration Phase A (Eugene)

Owner: University of Oregon-Campus Planning, Design & Construction

Cost estimate: not available

Project team: Soderstrom Architects

5.

Winner (intent to award): Emery & Sons Construction Group LLC of Salem

Amount: $1,962,504.58

Project: US 20: 53^rd Avenue – East of 60^th Avenue (Linn County)

Owner: ODOT Procurement Office – Construction Contracts Unit, MS# 2-2

Cost estimate: not available

Project team: not available

Do you want to be the winner of an upcoming Top Bidders project? Then join the 91��Ƶ Project Center to find, track and bid on your next project. For a free tour, or more information on monthly and annual rates, contact Sharlene Richard at 503-802-7252 or srichard@djcOregon.com.

The post A roundup of top bidders for Feb. 18, 2022 appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The main high school in St. Helens, around 35 miles northwest of Portland, consists of four separate buildings built in the 1950s and ’80s – but not for much longer. A large-scale renovation is planned to connect three of the buildings and modernize all four.

Soderstrom Architects is designing the school improvements, which are being paid for with money from a $55 million bond approved by voters last year. Hoffman Construction is the general contractor for the project.

Roughly 12,000 square feet will be added to fill in gaps between three of the school buildings. That new space will hold additional classrooms and administrative offices, and allow enrollment to increase from 850 students to around 1,300.

St. Helens High School sits along Gable Road in a linear arrangement, with covered exterior walkways. The design calls for a single, loaded corridor to run through the buildings in order to unite them. Usually when people think of corridors, they’re not a special place, Soderstrom Architects Associate Andy Bonesz said. But this one will be twice the size of an ordinary one, he added, and become the backbone of the whole school.

One difficulty, Soderstrom Associate Meagan Baker said, is the site’s slope. From Building A to Building B, for example, there is a 12-foot height difference. The challenge, she explained, is ensuring there is a flat surface for doors to open onto. Ramps are being incorporated for areas where there are significant changes in elevation.

“We didn’t want it to make it feel like this narrow passageway and wanted it to make it feel like a big room, Bonesz said.

The corridor, he added, will not only be a way of passage but also a place for students to hang out.

The school’s interior will also be modernized. The three connected buildings, Baker said, will be divided into three different sections based on the surrounding natural resources: water, forest and basalt.

Building A, which houses most of the public spaces – the cafeteria, gyms and auditorium – will have a water theme. The cafeteria’s ceiling, for instance, will feature shades of blues on the acoustic baffles to resemble water flowing.

Then in Building B the theme will transition into a clean, crisp landscape representing a rock quarry. The neutral landscape and color palette will be used for computer science and art classrooms.

Building C holds most of the classrooms and the media center. Its “tree of knowledge” is meant to indicate where the school is rooted. Most of the material in the space will either be wood or look like it. The focal point will be a 16-column circular array with skylights – a design intended to resemble a tree canopy.

Building D, where shop classes take place, will remain separate so students and teachers have more room outside to work on projects. But that building will be updated as well.

The design team is weighing options for ceiling heights in some spaces, including the media center, Bonesz said, to potentially create a warmer and more intimate feel.

“Tall ceilings are good for feeling grand, but you can get lost in them,” he said.

For the interior, Baker and Bonesz said they’re looking to use materials that are durable, require low maintenance and are cost-effective.

The additional sections’ exteriors will have a brick skin that matches the existing buildings.

The team is about 75 percent done with design development, according to Baker. The plan is for builders to break ground in late summer or early fall, she said.

Construction is expected to require approximately two years. At this point, work will take place even if students and staffers occupy the building this fall.

The post Connecting the past to the present appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Oregon State University in recent years has played a major role in promoting the growth of mass timber in the Pacific Northwest. Now the university is doing so via its own 22,000-square-foot facility in Oregon City.

Designed by Soderstrom Architects, the new Extension Service Education Center will feature an array of mass-timber elements.

“It all comes from them,” said Michael Shea, a Soderstrom Architects principal. “They wanted a Cascadian sort of Northwest design … like Timberline Lodge, so it’s very reminiscent of Timberline. Years ago we did some remodeling there, so we do have some expertise. The idea is that it’s a wood-framed, heavy-timber building with glulam columns and beams; they wanted to highlight wood products of the region.”

Clackamas County commissioners approved project plans in October 2019. The new building will be located on the southeast corner of the intersection of Beavercreek Road and Warner Milne Road – about two blocks east of OSU‘s existing Extension Service office on Clackamas County’s Red Soils campus.

Both cross-laminated timber and mass plywood manufactured by Freres Lumber Co. of Mill City will be used. The building will include a 150-seat meeting and training room, multiple smaller meeting rooms and even a kitchen to accommodate cooking and nutrition education.

“The second floor is all office space, like a big day-lit bar,” Shea said. “It’s a big hall with cubicles and little boxes, and everyone will get to see the nice-looking CLT up at the roof. The daylight is really quite spectacular too. There are large windows and some hidden clerestories that you can’t see from the street.”

Plus, the building is designed to achieve net-zero energy use by producing more energy than it consumes.

“The roof uses insulated metal panels to get the high R (insulation) value, and that’s mostly tempered with (photovoltaic) panels,” Shea said. “And then the mechanical systems are pretty much state of the art, while the PVs make up the difference.”

Instead of exposed mechanical systems typical of recent CLT designs, the new building will have an 18-inch-tall access space between the first and second stories. This will hide HVAC, electrical, plumbing, data and other systems.

“It’s nice to see the wood, but it would be great to see the wood without all that stuff in the way,” Shea said. “It should work out well visually and acoustically.”

Heating, cooling and ventilation are separated. Heated and chilled water will come from Clackamas County’s central plant serving its Red Soils campus.

“We’re supplying 100 percent fresh, outdoor air,” Shea said. “There’s no recycled air. On the design side we know the dedicated outdoor air systems are healthier, and that’s part of the whole sustainability story of the building. It’s not something the Extension service was particularly interested in but I’m sure they appreciate it now.”

Also, the building will be constructed to Level 4 seismic resiliency so that it can serve Clackamas County officials as an emergency operations center.

Gardening education will take place within the building. A “Master Gardener Clinic” will be open to the public.

“The ground floor is where the Extension Service has its public service counter and suite for master gardeners,” Shea said. “It was interesting designing for them. They said ‘Our finishes have to be sturdy; people are going to be bringing in muddy, wet plants.’ They also have a lot of programs for the public and school kids, and they have a suite of offices there for that.”

Construction is expected to begin in June, Shea said. P&C Construction is set to serve as the general contractor.

The post A university structure with Northwest flair appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Soderstrom Architects didn’t plan for its latest leadership transition to take place during a global pandemic; it just happened.

“We’ve been working on this for almost 10 years,” said Marlene Gillis, the Portland firm’s new president. “You never know with the timing – for 10 years straight the principals had planned to retire. But they would say that every year.”

Gillis took the reins from Dan Danielson, who now is serving as president emeritus. She joined Soderstrom in 2000, left for a few years, and then returned in 2009. Gillis then was groomed for a leadership role.

Dan Van Calcar is Soderstrom’s managing principal, and Michael Shea also is a key principal. The firm has always approached transitions proactively, Shea said.

“It’s why we’ve been around for 36 years,” he said. “We’re actually the third group to transition up. Dave Soderstrom started it off by himself and he got a bunch of partners who shifted it off to us. We’re number three in the chain.”

Long-term planning has served the firm well, said Gillis, its first woman president.

“When I came back there was a plan already,” she said. “Eight years ago we had a strategy to pair people by sector. We have K-12, higher ed and commercial, and we created a tag-team structure for the handoff, which has worked out really well. We’ve tried to be strategic about it, and the exciting part for me is I still feel like I’m learning the job. But we also need to start looking at who’s going to replace us too.”

Gillis, a graduate of Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland, took a slightly roundabout route to an architecture career.

“You had to pick a major, and the only two for college-bound students were nursing or drafting,” she said. “I didn’t like blood, so I defaulted to drafting. But after high school I was burned out, took a break and discovered (at the University of Oregon) how different it was.”

Now, Gillis has moved into a leadership role – one she recognizes has substantial influence over company culture.

“I do have a responsibility to set the tone for the office,” she said.

Until recently Gillis was also in charge of human resources for the firm, which prizes multilevel talent because of its relatively small size.

“We had a fair amount of transition with lots of hiring, and we had an opportunity to emphasize diversity in those hires,” she said. “We’ve had maybe more than a third of our office hired in that time … and I think it’s been a significant positive change in the office overall; it represents a new direction.”

Shea agreed.

“I think she’s able to express what we believe as a firm very well in public and to client groups as well as employee groups,” he said, adding with a laugh that “she’s a better speaker than we are.”

Gillis’ focus on K-12 design places her in contact with the public a great deal. She has had to meld the desires of multiple shareholders into a single project. It’s not much different than running a firm, in some respects.

“That type of work is much more collaborative,” Shea said. “She spends a lot of time with groups of citizens working with their schools and she’s really good at that, running meetings and getting those things organized. That’s a big component for our firm and she’s good at that.”

The different experiences and perspectives – both technical and personal – of newer staff members always influence projects positively, Gillis added.

“It feels cliché, but it is an important cultural component,” she said. “So my goal as president, I was goofing about it, but it’s hire good people, get out of the way, let them do what they do best, and enjoy it. It should be hard and challenging but respectful, and my goal is to continue to encourage respect and inclusion and humor in the design process.”

The post Portland firm’s leadership change finally takes place appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

At first glance, a new $34 million building at the University of Portland doesn’t stand out from nearby structures that are well over a century old.��School officials and the building’s architects consider that a success.

Dundon-Berchtold Hall, the first new academic building to open on the North Portland campus in over two decades, was designed to be aesthetically similar to historic buildings in the vicinity.

“When driving up our main drive and seeing the building for the first time, we wanted it to seem like it had always been here,” said Jim Ravelli, the school’s vice president for university operations. “We wanted to have a classic, traditional look, yet have the features of a modern building.”

University leaders and the buildings’ donors were looking to echo design elements of older buildings across campus built in the Collegiate Gothic style, which is more typical of East Coast universities and less common of those west of the Rockies.

To achieve that goal, the university hired the design team of Robert A.M. Stern Architects, a New York-based firm with a portfolio including buildings at Harvard, Princeton and Notre Dame, and Soderstrom Architects, a Portland-based firm that has designed multiple buildings on the campus and has experience with education and faith-based design.

The building is clad in distressed brick and variegated Indiana limestone, while large oak doors in arched, recessed entries as well as a 58-foot clock tower and copper downspouts contribute to the classic look. Inside, a cathedral-like entrance, extensive use of wood molding and wainscoting, classic light fixtures and other details contribute to the sophisticated academic feel.

“This is something you would see at Yale or Harvard,” said Dan Danielson, president of Soderstrom Architects. “This is a very unique piece of architecture for Oregon.”

The L-shaped building footprint creates a large, open quad between Dundon-Berchtold Hall and Waldschmidt Hall, a 128-year-old administrative building. In order to create a cohesive aesthetic between the structures, the architects used tumbled brick on the new building for a more rustic, warm feel.

A classic appearance belies what is a thoroughly modern building equipped with high-tech features. Its 17 classrooms are equipped with drop-down projection screens and true-color laser projection, touch screen controls, digital white boards, and options for recording lectures. An 80-inch high-definition planar touch screen display is mounted in the lobby, and a student lounge has four collaboration areas with digital displays for presentations and content sharing. High-speed internet connectivity is delivered by 60 interior and six exterior wireless access points.

Green features include LED lighting, occupancy sensors to ensure lighting and air conditioning are on only in rooms that are in use, automatic window shades, and roofing materials designed to reflect sunlight and reduce the heat island effect. The university is targeting a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold rating.

The 65,616-square-foot building contains two stories of above-grade steel-framed space over one below-grade level. Each classroom has a capacity ranging from 40 students to over 90; some have tiered arrangements and installed furniture, and others have podiums, desks and chairs that can easily be moved and rearranged to facilitate collaboration and discussion. The building also has a 146-seat multipurpose auditorium, faculty offices, a large study lounge with a red marble fireplace, 12 formal and informal gathering areas, and the Dundon-Berchtold Institute for Moral Formation & Applied Ethics.

Dundon-Berchtold Hall opened to students in late August after 17 months of construction by contractor Fortis Construction; a formal blessing and dedication took place Sept. 26. The site formerly held Howard Hall, a gymnasium that was built in 1927 and then demolished following completion of a new recreation center in 2015.

The building’s design was formulated in part through a lengthy due diligence and study process. A steering committee co-led by the design team spent about 18 months engaging with faculty and students to discuss programming needs. Soderstrom Architects served as the prime architect, and Robert A.M. Stern was the project’s design architect.

The project team also included KPFF Consulting Engineers (structural and civil engineering), Interface Engineering (mechanical/electrical/plumbing engineering) and PLACE Studio (landscape architecture).

Ravelli offered high praise for the architects, Fortis Construction, and the subcontractors and skilled tradespeople who collaborated on the building.

“They took immense pride in this project,” he said, “and many of them have described it as a once-in-a-career opportunity.”

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These days, public education projects are helping drive the regional construction market. Hillsboro School District, for instance, is moving forward with a rash of projects via money from a $408 million bond approved by voters in 2017. Two new elementary schools are being built, another is being replaced, and a middle school and a high school are being expanded.

2019 is likely to be the busiest summer of the entire bond cycle, district bond marketing specialist Jane Siguenza said. One of this year’s projects is the expansion and refurbishment of Evergreen Middle School.

“It’s getting a media center addition with classrooms,” Siguenza said. “And there are interior classrooms also. The old library is being converted into six classrooms, and the cafeteria and commons area are getting changed also. The reason why we’re doing this project is because of the growth in this attendance area, so it’s going to accommodate 200 more students.”

Evergreen was built in 1981. Despite several expansions, the school has never stayed ahead of steady population growth in Washington County. So, in addition to a new, 18,000-square-foot addition housing a media center and library, classrooms will be added in a new wing on the school’s south side.

Also, the school is gaining new roofing, HVAC equipment, security equipment and furniture. Seismic upgrades will be carried out as well. P&C Construction is serving as the general contractor for the project, which was designed by Soderstrom Architects.

Ground was broken this past spring, and demolition started around that time. But large-scale work – including excavation and site work for the expansion – really only began in mid-June, after the school year ended.

Completion is anticipated for approximately Spring Break 2020.

“Teachers were still here Monday, so our first day of hitting it hard and heavy was Tuesday,” site superintendent Michael Fry said. “We actually did an early start on Saturday, came in and demoed all the ceilings while the teachers weren’t here. The staff and admin here have been amazing, though; they’ve been great to work with.”

The addition will be constructed using primarily concrete tilt panels, Fry said. On the interior, however, a structural composite lumber product, laminated veneer lumber (LVL), will be used around the building perimeter as a means of increasing shear wall strength and seismic support for the building’s structural steel and glulam framework.

“It’s a fairly standard tilt-up addition,” Fry said. “It’s always interesting tying a tilt-up into an existing building, but everything’s pretty standard. It’s structural steel with glulams holding up the roof.”

LVL beams are used for a number of applications, but in this case in combination with glulams as an outer tension lam to increase the overall strength of the glulam beam.

To accommodate the expansion, some classrooms will be removed from the existing building and replaced by new glulams and structural steel. Engineers even managed to simplify the usual methods of tying new expansions into existing structures, Fry added.

“Where the tilt-ups come in, shoring up this end of the roof here, there are no expansion joints,” he said. “They actually tied the buildings in together structurally.”

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The Eastside Timbers youth soccer club is seeking to build a new 43,500-square-foot futsal center in Gresham’s Rockwood neighborhood.

As described in a project information form filed Wednesday with the Gresham Urban Design and Planning Department, the new facility would be constructed on a 10.35-acre site on Southeast 174th Avenue, slightly south of Powell Boulevard. This is the same property upon which general contractor P&C Construction completed the Eastside Timbers & Thorns Sports Complex under a design-build contract in April 2018.

According to public documents, the new building would be the second phase of development of that complex and have 43,500 square feet of space dominated by three new futsal courts. The building would also have office and tenant space, a retail shop, a concession area, team meeting space and a gymnasium. A mezzanine level would overlook the futsal courts.

Soderstrom Architects is the applicant and designer for the new facility, while P&C Construction is set to serve as the general contractor.

“It’s going to have three futsal courts, and then it will have TI space for a restaurant and physical therapy,” said Dan Van Calcar, a Soderstrom Architects principal. “It will also have a clinic and concessions; it’s going to have a strong connection with the (three existing) soccer fields outside.”

Ryan Kelley, project manager for P&C Construction, said many changes have already been made to the phase two project – and more are likely.

“This started off as an athletic field, and that was completed,” he said. “And we’ve been back and forth on multiple revisions on the phase 2 futsal courts. We wanted to utilize (cross-laminated timber), but costs of the structure were not where the client needed it to be, so we’re exploring a metal structure right now.”

Project valuation is estimated at $5 million to $6 million, Kelley said. Ground is expected to be broken in March 2020.

“We actually put this project on hold for about a year,” he said. “Not only have things developed slowly behind the scenes, we’re picking this up and figuring out where we’re at now.”

A number of procedural hurdles must be cleared before development may take place. These include design review, a modification of a future street plan and a conditional plan map amendment to allow a commercial building to be built on property zoned for industrial use. The street plan modification will require a comprehensive traffic study of both 174th Avenue and its intersection with Southeast Powell Boulevard.

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Larry Ferar was beginning to consider retiring from the Portland design firm he founded that focuses on wineries and distilleries. He needed a landing spot for his longtime employees.

Principals at Soderstrom Architects, who have known Ferar for more than 30 years, saw an opportunity to bring in work that would diversify their firm’s portfolio. They began talking, and let the idea ferment. As of Jan. 2, a blend was made.

Laurence Ferar and Associates is no more, but Soderstrom agreed to take on five employees, including three architects. The practice is now known as Ferar Studio.

“They’ve been financially a very viable company over the last decades that they’ve been in business, and they bring to our market-sector mix a whole different clientele, which I think adds stability to both companies as the economy ebbs and flows,” said Dan Van Calcar, managing principal at Soderstrom.

“They also have a very similar design approach to us,” Van Calcar added.

With the addition of Ferar’s people, Soderstrom now has 44 employees.

Larry Ferar first worked with Cameron Hyde, a founding partner of Soderstrom Architects, in the early 1980s while designing Beaumont Middle School. Ferar went on to start his own firm, and shifted focus to wineries beginning with a project for Adelsheim Vineyard in Newberg. Ferar met the Adelsheims when his wife taught their daughter.

Ferar & Associates ended up designing six phases of various expansions as Adelsheim Vineyard grew along with the popularity of Oregon pinot noir. Ferar and Associates went on to design numerous other wineries and tasting rooms, including Alexana and Van Duzer. Also, the firm was responsible for a master plan and conceptual design for Résonance Vineyard.

The work has expanded beyond Oregon’s wine country to Canada and New Zealand, and consulting on winery designs in China and England. Larry Ferar has also worked as a consultant with Olson Kundig of Seattle.

For its Oregon projects, Ferar Studio often works with Andrew Scott Construction in McMinnville.

Ferar Studio also designs distilleries, an area where Reed Lewis, an architect who became Ferar’s first employee in 1988, has expertise. The firm designed Clear Creek Distillery in Portland, among others. Those projects have become a larger portion of the studio’s portfolio.

“Clearly there’s a growing interest in distilleries and distilled products,” Lewis said.

Distilleries must be designed according to strict building codes because of high-proof alcohol’s volatility.

Ferar and Associates’ first winery projects were for production facilities only. That meant an industrial feel, with space for barrels and crush pads. But in recent years, wineries have placed more emphasis on tasting rooms and special events spaces. Vintners and distillers typically clear a higher profit on wine and spirits sold in-house rather than in off-site stores or bars.

For wineries, the emphasis on tasting rooms contributes to a growing desire to connect visitors with the agricultural environment. Larry Ferar believes his firm has designed more wineries than any other local firm, but competition in the market may be growing.

Waechter Architecture was hired by Furioso Vineyards in Dundee to design a tasting room and winery. It opened last summer, and received two American Institute of Architects awards – one from the Portland chapter and one from the Northwest and Pacific Region.

“We like that project in the sense that to do a successful winery project, you don’t have to have done an enormous amount of these projects before,” said Ben Waechter, principal architect. “You just have to be a good architect.”

The Furioso design used a concrete base and a fully transparent glass tasting room.

“We view our jobs as architects to distill information and to come up with a clear and concise design,” Waechter said. “We rely on experts to tell us what makes a good winery or what makes a good production facility, and we use that criteria to come up with a good design.”

Fieldwork Design and Architecture was also honored in 2018 by AIA Portland for the design of Day Wines in Dundee.

Development of new wineries tends to be countercyclical to economic trends, Ferar said. In downturns, wealthy individuals look for hard assets like real estate and can get more for their money in design and construction.

Soderstrom’s new winery studio adds to its legacy that began in 1984. The firm’s principals were involved in the creation of Pioneer Courthouse Square. Subsequently, the firm has focused on work for schools, local government buildings and health care providers. Soderstrom has a long relationship with the University of Portland, and has designed several buildings on the North Portland campus.

Larry Ferar, who started with a studio in his garage on Corbett Avenue, said he plans to retire within the next several years. Ferar Studio is currently working on designs for Abbott Claim Vineyard near Carlton, Portland Wine Co. – known for its Love & Squalor brand – and a winery in Kentucky.

The post Two design firms produce a fruitful blend appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

2019 is expected to be the busiest year for construction in the five-year life of a $408 million Hillsboro School District capital bond measure passed by voters in 2017.

One of the key projects is a $25.1 million renovation and expansion of Evergreen Middle School, which is located in the city’s northwest corner. Enrollment has increased steadily in recent years as newcomers have flocked to the North Plains and Cornelius areas. Improvements will allow the school to increase capacity by 200 students.

The expansion will add over 18,000 square feet of educational space, including classrooms, a library/media center and a plaza. The renovation will provide a secure main entrance as one of several safety and security measures, roofing and HVAC upgrades, and an expansion of the commons area.

General contractor P&C Construction is seeking sub-bids for a number of scopes of work. This will include earthwork and utilities as part of work package No. 3; plumbing as part of work package No. 4; heating, ventilation and cooling as part of work package No. 5; and electrical as part of work package No. 6.

Soderstrom Architects designed the project, which is being managed by the Cornerstone Management Group. Construction is set to start by April and finish by January 2020.

The total project budget is estimated at $25.1 million, according to district documents.

A nonmandatory pre-bid meeting is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. on Jan. 10, at the job site at 456 N.W. Evergreen Road. Bids are due by 2 p.m. on Jan. 18. Prospective bidders can obtain plans or other reference documents by emailing Alex Helm at ahelm@builtbypandc.com.

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