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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LAKE OSWEGO – Like many new developments, Patrick Kessi’s 200-unit luxury apartment project started with a relationship.

Around a decade ago, Kessi served on the University of Portland board along with Gene Wizer, a local businessman who owned a keystone block in downtown Lake Oswego. Wizer had long had notions of redeveloping the block, which was home to small shops, and had discussed the possibilities with a succession of developers.

The recession scared off most firms. With few developers interested in tackling a big project, Wizer asked Kessi for his impressions.

“He had talked to multiple developers for years and years,” Kessi said of Wizer, who died in 2015. “I knew him from the board, and when the market went down, he asked me to take a look at it.”

Kessi liked what he saw. Lake Oswego’s community could support an expensive project. The city had invested in the area, and opened Millennium Plaza Park. Another developer built Lakeview Village, bringing high-end shopping to the neighborhood.

Housing could be the missing ingredient, Kessi thought.

“It was a very good time to start looking at new properties in this location,” he said.

A decade later, The Windward is opening to residents. The first tenants can begin moving in on March 15.

The opening marks a milestone for Kessi and his company, PHK Development, which has focused on developing condos and apartments in the Portland area.

PHK fought opponents of the project for years. Lake Oswego’s Development Review Commission denied the project, but Kessi successfully appealed to the City Council. The Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals and then the Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed the City Council’s decision, until finally the state Supreme Court declined to hear the case. The appeals were lodged by the Evergreen Neighborhood Association and a group called Save Our Village.

Kessi, a Portland-based developer who grew up on a dairy farm in Scappoose, was confident enough in the eventual outcome that he had his general contractor, Lease Crutcher Lewis, break ground before the Supreme Court turned down the case in November 2015, letting the favorable appeals court ruling stand.

After some community backlash, the design was reduced from five stories to four.

Kessi said he’s pleased his patience was rewarded.

“If you do the right thing, the right thing will happen,” he said.

The Windward is nearing completion, with 200 luxury apartments, more than 42,000 square feet of commercial space and 430 underground parking spaces, including 135 public spaces.

“From the outside, the building looks really good,” said Jackie Manz, a Lake Oswego city councilor. “There’s quality materials. It’s amazing how quickly it has come to fit into our downtown streetscape.”

Apartment configurations range from studios to three bedrooms, spanning 650 square feet to 2,400 square feet and renting for rates of $1,600 to approximately $6,000 a month – an eyebrow-raising rate that could pay down a hefty home mortgage.

Kessi said the initial tenants are mostly Lake Oswego residents and former residents with ties to the tony suburb southwest of Portland who are interested in the downtown lifestyle.

“It’s the person who doesn’t want the yard maintenance, the house maintenance, who wants the security,” he said.

The ability to walk to restaurants and shops nearby has also proved a popular draw. Early interest for the apartments has been strong, Kessi said.

The development is also attracting commercial operations. So far, ice cream maker Salt & Straw, pizzeria Chuckie Pies, Bamboo Sushi, fitness studio StarCycle, Richard Henry Barber Co. and clothing retailer Adorn have signed deals for space in The Windward. Some of the commercial spaces have been offered for sale.

“We have a good mix of Portland best-in-class and Lake Oswego best-in-class commercial tenants,” Kessi said.

The Windward is composed of three buildings, each of which follows a Lake Oswego design style: “Oregon Rustic,” “English Tudor” and “Arts and Crafts.”

The structures are largely concrete and steel studs, not wood-framed, opening the possibility of a later condo conversion. Kessi said any conversion to condos would not happen until years in the future. The apartment tenants are on one-year leases.

Kessi said the building will be rated Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design gold for environmental performance.

Lake Oswego’s redevelopment agency is subsidizing the development with $5.2 million for development costs and permits and $749,000 for construction. The city received from PHK Development public parking, a public easement that allows pedestrian access between First and Second streets and assurances that the commercial spaces facing First Avenue and A Street would be active-use retail, said Elaine Franklin, a spokeswoman for The Windward.

The project was designed by ZGF Architects and Ankrom Moisan Architects. A public pension fund provided financing.

PHK Development is also building a 162-unit condo project at Northeast 21st Avenue and Multnomah Street in the Lloyd District.

After that?

“And then, we’ll just keep going,” Kessi said. “It’s what we do.”

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, a new University of Portland building scheduled for completion in 2019, will be an architectural rarity in the Rose City.

“What is unusual about it is the interests of the university and the donor gravitated towards a collegiate gothic expression,” Soderstrom Architects principal Andrew Burke said.

Gothic architecture was especially popular for high school and college buildings in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is still used for schools in the Northeast, but rarely on the West Coast.

“This is not something you commonly see done in Portland, Oregon,” said Dan Danielson, managing principal at Soderstrom Architects.

The style often features ornate, recessed entries surrounded by stone moldings and niches for statues and stone carvings. Also, pointed arches stand out.

“If you go to Reed College, you will find buildings somewhat emulating the style,” Danielson said.

Dundon-Berchtold Hall will replace Howard Hall and architecturally continue themes used in Lund Family Hall, which was completed in 2014. The new building will serve as a centerpiece and be one of the most dominant ones on campus. The idea to use collegiate gothic style necessitated collaboration between Soderstrom Architects and Robert A.M. Stern Architects in New York.

“The challenge was to try to design the building in a way to make our building look good and make all the other buildings look good,” said Gary Brewer, partner at Robert A.M. Stern Architects. “A grouping of buildings is more important than one building.”

Robert A.M. Stern Architects served as the design architect while Soderstrom Architects was the executive architect and the architect of record. Soderstrom Architects also secured all of the construction documents.

When completed, the building will have 63,000 square feet, including 18 classrooms, 30 offices and a 150-seat auditorium. The estimated construction cost is $30 million. University officials selected Fortis Construction to build the new hall.

“The point we would make is that you are able to do a high-performance building with modern electrical and HVAC and state-of-the-art classrooms all within this stylistic expression,” Burke said.

It wasn’t an easy goal to accomplish, despite architects from two firms working on the project.

“Even with the design lead, with their knowledge of the language and everything, it took us several iterations to perfect the scale, the proportion of the building and the proportion of the windows to the mass of the building,” Danielson said.

The new building will provide the growing university with much needed classroom space. Some classrooms will feature movable screens and furniture. Other cluster classrooms will give students a chance to collaborate on various projects.

“The student population has grown 30 percent over the last 10 years,” said Beth Sorensen, associate director of media relations for the University of Portland. “The building will also house the Dundon-Berchtold Institute for moral formation and applied ethics and provide a home for that program.”

On the Boards is a 91��Ƶ feature offering a look at the projects in Oregon being tackled by local architecture firms. To have your firm’s projects considered, contact 91��Ƶ architecture and engineering reporter Kent Hohlfeld at 503-802-7224 or khohlfeld@djcOregon.com.

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A crew with Turner Construction found a time capsule at a University of Portland job site containing – drumroll – water-damaged paper.

Turner is demolishing the university’s , built in 1927, to make way for , which will house academic and office space.

Workers located an 8-inch-by-8-inch metal box with the date “1927” written on it, and containing paperwork that had been damaged by water intrusion. The box was taken to the school librarian to dry out and glean information.

“But looking over it, it looks more like paper mush than anything,” said Paul Luty, University of Portland director of facility planning and capital construction.

Permits will soon be sought for the $30 million project, and Turner is one of five finalists for the job. Officials also are preparing to add two soccer fields and fix several conforming uses at one of the university’s parking lots.

Howard Hall was once the university’s main athletic facility and home venue for basketball and other varsity sports.

Project manager Bruce Reid said he’s placed inside significant buildings many cornerstones containing items of the day, such as iPhones, during his career.

“We thought this time capsule might contain such items, but no,” he said.

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The University of Portland is moving ahead with plans to demolish Howard Hall, a former recreation center dating to 1928, and build a new academic building in its place.

The new building will be named for donors Amy Dundon-Berchtold and Jim Berchtold; classrooms and faculty offices are in the works.

The planned site for the academic facility is occupied by Howard Hall, which housed a basketball gym, a weight room and a swimming pool. The building also hosted graduations for many years. Students’ recreation needs are now met by the 72,000-square-foot Beauchamp Recreation & Wellness Center, which was completed in August 2015.

Some valuable Howard Hall materials, such as large wooden beams and the wooden basketball court, will be salvaged, said Paul Luty, director of facilities planning and construction. The concrete walls will likely be crushed for reuse in the new building. Howard Hall has little historical value, he added.

Soderstrom Architects is designing the new building, in partnership with a New York-based firm, Luty said. Details remain to be determined.

“We’re in the early schematic design phase,” university spokeswoman Beth Sorensen said.

The project has not yet gone to bid. The project will likely be presented to select bidders once it advances beyond the design phase, Luty said. The university in the past has worked well with contractors including Skanska, Turner Construction Co., Todd Construction Inc. and Fortis Construction Inc., he said.

Also on campus, the university recently opened Lund Family Hall, a 113-room coed residence hall. Students moved into one portion of the building last month, while completion of the other portion is expected by mid-October, Luty said.

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Skanska is building a new residence hall at the University of Portland. The Soderstrom Architects-designed project will contain three above-grade floors of student living units, a ground-floor student worship space, student lounge, and office/retail space. The 83,000-square-foot structure will also contain a partial basement with laundry facilities and student storage lockers.

The slab-on-grade building has a post-tensioned second floor, and the third floor and roof are being constructed of concrete over metal decking. Load-bearing walls made of steel stud framing and steel sheet/gypsum composite are being prefabricated by Western Partitions, Inc. in Salem and installed in-place on site. The building’s exterior will be clad in brick and architectural precast concrete.

Crews began work in earnest on the project in January and will be completed in two phases. Wing B, a fully residential portion of the building along North Willamette Boulevard, will open in August. Wing A, which borders North Portsmouth Avenue and will contain two stories of housing over ground-floor worship, office, and common space, will open in October. The building is adjacent to a campus fitness center completed by Skanska last year.

The project team also includes Interface Engineering on mechanical and electrical, KPFF on structural and civil, and landscape architects PLACE.

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Students and faculty returning to the University of Portland campus this fall will have a new facility in which to stay in shape. The Beauchamp Recreation & Wellness Center is a $23.7 million, 73,000-square-foot building that features three gymnasiums, a suspended running track, climbing and bouldering walls, cardio and strength training areas, classrooms, and administrative space.

Skanska USA Building began work on the project in the spring of 2014 and turned it over to the university earlier this month. The building was designed by the San Francisco office of 360 Architecture, which was acquired by HOK earlier this year, and Portland-based Soderstrom Architects.

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With record enrollment in recent years, the University of Portland is planning to build a 4-story, 140-room residence hall on its campus on North Willamette Boulevard.

The new 108,000-square-foot building, which will house about 270 students, will be built by Skanska, said university spokesman Joe Kuffner. Design is by Soderstrom Architects.

Kuffner said the university is still going through the building permit phase, but demolition is cleared to start soon on the site to remove six houses the university either rented out or used for office space. Completion of the new building is planned by the end of next summer.

The new dormitory will be located next to the school’s new Beauchamp Recreation and Wellness Center, which should be complete by the time school starts in September. The $25 million project will replace the school’s aging gym.

“There will be space for a workout facility for cardio training, weight lifting and strength conditioning in the gym, and also a running track and studios for yoga and other classes,” Kuffner said.

The new residence hall will have a chapel, spacious lobby and dining concessions on the first floor with resident units on the top three floors.

Kuffner said because University of Portland is a Catholic school, run by Congregation of the Holy Cross, students are encouraged to live on campus.

“One of the big missions of the university is to have students living in a community on campus,” Kuffner said. “We want that community aspect and adding resident halls is a big push.”

Last year’s freshman class was the biggest ever, so more expansion can be expected, according to Kuffner..

In the last few years, the university has completely renovated the Clark Library, built two new dormitories, remodeled and expanded the main dining facility at Bauccio Commons as well as other projects, such as the renovation of the student lounge, the Pilot House.

Kuffner said the student lounge will be complete later in the fall and will include a pub that sells beer and wine.

“The building is well-loved, and we’re also increasing food options,” he said.

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Television executive Dick Ebersol has presented the University of Portland with a $100,000 donation to be used to help finish construction of the Beauchamp Recreation and Wellness Center on the private university’s Portland campus.

HOK and Soderstrom Architects designed the two-story, 72,270-square-foot structure, which will offer students, faculty and staff with expanded fitness areas featuring cardio machines, weights and strength stations; a climbing wall; an indoor track; a gym with three courts and studios. The design features a brick and glass facade.

General contractor Skanska is almost finished with construction. The center is slated to open in the fall.

The $23.7 million building is being paid for entirely with donor-supported money.

Ebersol, who previously served as the chairman of NBC Sports and now serves as senior adviser for NBC Universal Sports & Olympics, was the keynote speaker for a 75th anniversary celebration of the University of Portland’s Pamplin School of Business Administration in 2009.

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A new student recreation center is being erected by Skanska USA Building at the University of Portland. The Beauchamp Recreation and Wellness Center was designed by the San Francisco office of 360 Architecture (acquired by HOK earlier this year) and Portland-based Soderstrom Architects.

The design of the approximately $20 million, 72,000-square-foot facility incorporates large windows and open spaces with the goal of fostering relationships between students by putting various fitness opportunities on display. Designers incorporated the use of brick on the building’s façade in order to allow the structure to blend aesthetically with the campus’ older masonry buildings.

The new facility will include three gymnasium courts, an elevated jogging track, group fitness rooms, weight and cardio areas, locker rooms, a 32-foot rock wall, and a wellness center. Work on the project began last spring; the building is slated to open to students this fall.

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