Michael Green Architecture Designs a Mass-Timber Research Complex
The Oregon Forest Science Complex is a proving ground for mass timber’s sustainable, seismic, and even psychological benefits.
The new Peavy Hall is a stout structure composed of two intersecting volumes that partially enclose a new arboretum at its rear. Michael Green Architecture (MGA), which has designed several mass-timber buildings, inserted an amphitheaterlike staircase into the atrium, made of recycled glulam beams from Peavy’s demolished predecessor. It’s topped by a third-story “treehouse.” Courtesy Josh Partee
Today a new generation of mass-timber buildings has become the talk of world architecture. Thanks to products like cross-laminated timber, with its increased structural strength, surprising fire resistance, and reduced construction timelines, not to mention wood’s natural ability to sequester carbon, this ancient material has become a 21st-century alternative to concrete and steel. Ye
Building Blocks: Skanska USA Building’s Portland office
Skanska USA Building’s office in Portland offers flexibility so that workstations can be safe distances from each other. (Josh Partee, courtesy of Skanska)
PROJECT: Skanska USA Building Inc. interior design
LOCATION: 1010 Flanders Building (1010 N.W. Flanders St., Portland)
SIZE: 17,243 square feet (fourth and fifth floors)
COST: $6,360,000
CONSTRUCTION END DATE: April 2020
BUILDING OWNER: Specht Development Inc.
ARCHITECT: RDC
MECHANICAL: Alliant Systems
LIGHTING CONSULTANT: Oculus Light Studio
SIGNIFICANCE OF PROJECT: This 100-year-old building’s interior now has comprehensive features to promote environmental health. These include: flexibility for workstation distancing, natural daylighting, dual entry alternates, reverse osmosis water filtration, and variable air volume systems. RDC designed full workplace tenant improvements on the fourth and fifth floors with a connective, open staircase. The space serves