Portland, Oregon, USA
Designed by Jeff Kovel and his team at Skylab Architecture along with Solarc Architecture and Engineering, the City of Portland’s new Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant Engineering Building provides offices for the city’s Bureau of Environmental Services engineering and construction management staff for the City of Portland.
Designed to foster collaboration, the building blends open office and shared workspaces with small meeting spaces and large conference rooms, video conference areas, and a training facility.
The project accomplished three unique objectives in one single campus site: the creation of a vibrant and efficient workspace; clean on-site stormwater filtration; and a dynamic building that stimulates conversation about the health of the region’s watershed and rivers.
The building is designed to be certified at the LEED Gold level, a result in part due to the City of Portland’s Green Building Policy.
Oriented radially along the path of the sun, the building will feature a rooftop that folds up and down.
As the seven separate folds of the roof tilt, in sawtooth rhythm clerestory windows fill the void created by the upward fold, responding to the movement of natural light and airflow.
The downward fold drains the landscaped roof runoff into a berm, on the south facade, and bioswales, returning the stormwater to the Columbia Slough.
The folded roof, combined with a north-oriented, louvered, and operable glass facade, will allow daylight and natural ventilation to fill the interior during working hours and make possible night flush cooling.
The transparent north facade focuses attention on a central and partially enclosed Commons area, as well as on the habitat that surrounds the building.
The serrated curtain wall features operable air circulation vents which enables the interior spaces to be naturally ventilated.
The mirrored glass reflects and refracts light in the Commons, merging the building into the landscape.
The building’s hydronic system connects to the plant water flow, efficiently heating and cooling.
The entrance to the plant is modified to provide a native and adaptive environment and to create a public space in front of the building with views of an existing pond.
A new landscaped commons area is accessible to the plant staff as well as for educational tours to the public of plant operations.
A circular open space in the center features landscaping and interpretative features demonstrating water treatment strategies.
Project: The Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant Engineering Building
Architects: Skylab Architecture
Lead Architect: Jeff Kovel
Design Team: Brent Grubb and Susan Barnes
Partner Architects: Solarc Architecture and Engineering Inc.
General Contractor: Skanska USA Inc.
Civil Engineers: Vigil Agrimis, Inc.
Structural Engineers: Catena Consulting Engineers
Consultants: Green Building Services
Client: Bureau of Environmental Services, City of Portland
Photographer: Jeremy Bitterman
