Accedi
Utenti registrati
The main design drivers for the new Meyer Memorial Trust headquarters were to create a welcoming campus that is a direct reflection of the Foundation's values and leadership in social/racial justice, equity, environmental sustainability, and positive community development; enables employees to do their best work; connects and gives back to the surrounding neighborhood and community in a meaningful way; and creates opportunities to engage with all Oregonians. A former industrial tow lot, the site was reimagined as a new welcoming "front porch" to the community that includes a 100-person convening space for community partners, an outdoor plaza, roof deck, and healing garden featuring Indigenous plantings from the region.
The project re-envisions and repairs a marginal landscape, a former car tow lot, into a sustainable building and garden. The building is designed as a welcoming hub in a pedestrian/bike friendly neighborhood that is highly visible and accessible at the street level. Inclusive indoor/outdoor spaces provide access to nature for staff and visitors such as the Center for Great Purposes that opens up to the Kwánsǝm Yakwá Garden on the ground level, and a green roof terrace on the second level. The landscape design acknowledges local ecology, community history, and regional identity, and serves as an educational setting for staff and visitors. Indigenous plant species were selected due to their historical significance as a primary food or resources for Columbia River tribes.
Meyer Memorial Trust is Oregon's first LEED v4 Platinum building. The design for the new headquarters employs solar PV panels, an energy efficient building enclosure and HVAC system, on-site stormwater management, regional materials, and native plantings. With the 50kW solar array, the building consumes 50 percent less energy when compared to a conventional code structure in Oregon. The building uses 35 percent less water indoors and 80 percent less water for irrigation. A dynamic filtration system and activated carbon filter media reduce air particulates, eliminate odors from entering the building, and create healthier indoor air quality.
Sustainability Awards: AIA COTE Top Ten Award, AIA Oregon 2030 Award, Metropolis Planet Positive Award, FSC Leadership Award, USGBC Leadership Award
Meyer's new campus includes an engagement center for public programs, Mission Library, cafe-style event space with a roof garden terrace, workspace for 50, meeting rooms, and collaborative workspace for partners. A focal point of the building is the Center for Great Purposes, a 100-seat convening center for collaborations with partner organizations. Made from an Oregon wood product called Mass Plywood, the Center is an indoor/outdoor event space that opens to an educational garden that celebrates Indigenous history of the region.
The building showcases equitable design thinking at every level, including a bottom-up approach to design and decision-making with participation of all Meyer staff; equitable distribution of common amenities and windows throughout; going above and beyond ADA requirements; furniture that accommodates different bodies and abilities; and artwork/signage that reflects a diversity of cultures and languages. To encourage high levels of diverse business participation - rigorous goals were developed resulting in 39 percent participation for the design team and 55 percent participation for the construction team.
In line with environmental objectives, the project achieved LEED v4 Platinum certification. The design integrates several sustainable strategies to achieve the ambitious certification including solar PV panels, an ultra-efficient building enclosure and HVAC system, on-site stormwater management, regional materials, and native plantings.
“Investing in a permanent space as an Oregon-serving foundation, we wanted to deepen our connection to Historic Albina and use our new building as a resource to further support and invest in communities across the state. Typically, architecture in philanthropy is hierarchical, with the best spaces reserved for executives. But as a justice foundation that places a premium on equity, it was important to make the most desirable office space accessible to everyone."
LEVER is an architectural design practice based in Portland, Oregon. and Los Angeles, California. The firm works closely with creative and mission-driven clients and has a body of built work that includes campus planning and design for leading creative companies and nonprofits, higher education, cultural projects, and affordable housing. The firm is recognized for material innovation and for pioneering work with Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT), with projects that include first-of- their-kind wood buildings and more than $2M in research to develop and test mass timber building assemblies.
LEVER was recognized by Fast Company as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies, and named to Architectural Record’s Design Vanguard and the Architectural League of New York’s Emerging Voices. The firm’s work has been published in the Atlantic, New York Times, Surface, and Dwell, among others; and was featured in “Timber City,” an exhibition at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.
https://leverarchitecture.com/
