Framework - CLT | 130' | 12 floors | Dead

[Leo]

Originally Posted by CouvScott

Sep 17, 2015, 9:58am PDT

Jon Bell
Staff Reporter
Portland Business Journal


A new 12-story wood high-rise will be built in the Pearl District thanks in part to a $1.5 million prize won by LEVER Architecture and project^.

Two Portland firms will spearhead the construction of a 12-story timber high rise in the Pearl District that will be home to workforce housing and office space for socially minded businesses.

The team of LEVER Architecture and project^, firms that have teamed up on projects before, was one of two teams to win the U.S. Tall Wood Building Prize Competition, a contest sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Softwood Lumber Board and the Binational Softwood Lumber Council.

The win lands the team, united under the name Framework Project LLC, $1.5 million to embark on research and development needed to bring the 12-story building to fruition. A residential condominium project submitted by a team from New York also won a $1.5 million prize in the competition.

Tall timber structures that utilize cross laminated timbers and other engineered wood products have been built in other countries around the world, but they've yet to take off in the U.S. for a number of regulatory and other reasons.

"This will really enable us to align the regulatory framework and the technology that's already out there for these kinds of buildings," said Thomas Robinson, principal of LEVER.

The proposed building will rise from the corner of Northwest 10th and Glisan on a quarter block that's currently home to Albina Community Bank. The property owner is Beneficial State Bancorp, which acquired 90 percent of Albina's stock in 2013.

Also part of the project is Home Forward, a Portland-based affordable housing investor and developer.

The team expects to break ground in October 2016. When the building is completed, it will include ground-level retail — likely including space for Albina Bank — five floors of office space for B Corp businesses and social enterprises and five floors of workforce housing, which slides in somewhere between affordable and market rate housing.

"Workforce housing is something that we believe is missing from the Pearl District," said Anyeley Hallova, a partner with project^. She also noted that using engineered timber and wood, much of which can come from Oregon forests, in a project like this is a nice way to tie together the urban and rural economies of the state.

Looks interesting ... I wonder if they can get the sound insulation to be on par with concrete construction. I’m not sure I’d ever sign up to live in a woodframe building...

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by Leo

Looks interesting ... I wonder if they can get the sound insulation to be on par with concrete construction. I’m not sure I’d ever sign up to live in a woodframe building...

You know most buildings that are below 5 stories are all wood frame buildings....so not sure what your issue would be with this one.

[eric cantona]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

You know most buildings that are below 5 stories are all wood frame buildings....so not sure what your issue would be with this one.

there's some pretty cool tech out there for underlayment below flooring that really cuts sound out well.

[daroon]

There is a quick and educational Ted Talk about building with Cross Laminated Timber. If you are not familiar with the process, it should provide you a quick understanding of the differences between CLT construction versus traditional wood frame construction.

Worth a watch:

TED Talk - CLT Construction

[maccoinnich]

Lever Architects have scheduled a Pre-Application Conference to discuss Framework at 430 NW 10th Ave:

Proposal is for 12 story timber framed bldg which will consist of one level of grd floor retail and five levels of office, five levels of workforce housing and a rooftop amenity space.

[urbanlife]

I am already in love with this building....I am thinking about asking it to marry me at dinner. I hope my wife won't mind.

[65MAX]

Isn't there already a "FrameWork" at NE 6th and Davis?

[maccoinnich]

Originally Posted by 65MAX

Isn't there already a "FrameWork" at NE 6th and Davis?

Yes. There is also:

Yard, and the Yards at Union
The Union Arms apartment, and the Union
The Hotel Modera, and the Modera Pearl / Belmont / Goose Hollow

[cailes]

Looks nice!

[athorak]

I think it looks great, but I have to say I tire of unrealistic renderings. The building is literally glowing from within and reflecting sunlight while everything around it sits in shadow.

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by athorak

I think it looks great, but I have to say I tire of unrealistic renderings. The building is literally glowing from within and reflecting sunlight while everything around it sits in shadow.

Thank you. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way.

This looks like it could be fantastic, but I don't trust renders at all.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by athorak

I think it looks great, but I have to say I tire of unrealistic renderings. The building is literally glowing from within and reflecting sunlight while everything around it sits in shadow.

Very true, the burnout is a lazy rendering trick to make a rendering pop....and to hide any poor or unfinished rendering work....I should know, I have hid some unfinished work that way for presentations.

It is actually a shame the rendering does do a burnout because looking at it, it looks like the wood interior should be able to show very well through the facade. From what I can tell in the rendering, it should look like quite a standout wood structure....though the interior won't glow like Jesus has somehow managed to appear from the heavens inside the building.

[maccoinnich]

Notice of a Pre-Application Conference [PDF].

[maccoinnich]

The World’s Most Sustainable High-Rise Construction Material Is… Wood?

A Portland Team Is Pioneering Its Addition to US Skylines



PORTLAND IS GROWING UP—adding high-rises, increasing density, and pricing many people out. But two local firms are exploring a state-of-the-art building material that could help solve the city's affordability problem, create living-wage jobs in rural communities, and help save the planet.

It's wood.

Right now, Portland-based LEVER Architecture and real estate development firm Project^ are designing a 12-story mixed-use building in the Pearl District that will be made primarily of a material called cross-laminated timber (CLT).

That's an unheard of height for wood structures, which top out at six stories in most of the US. And it's not the project's only unique attribute. Five of those stories will be affordable housing, something Portland desperately needs.

...continues at the Portland Mercury.

[maccoinnich]

Wooden Buildings as Strong as Steel



Lever Architecture plans to build a new-generation tall wooden building—the 12-story mixed-use Framework project is set to begin by the end of 2016. The wood is expected to come from Riddle, Oregon, home to the only U.S. plant certified to build structural-grade cross-laminated timber.


Portland, Oregon, home to all things craft and micro, is emerging as the hub of a potential construction revolution that relies on materials from a century ago. Buildings as high as 12 stories made from wood—or, more specifically, multilayered wood panels such as cross-laminated timber engineered from Douglas fir cut down in the state’s forests—are cropping up across the city with hopes of spurring new projects here and across the country.

Erecting tall buildings—normally the domain of steel or concrete—with engineered wood, or “mass timber,” has already been done in Australia and Europe, but this type of construction is nearly nonexistent in the United States. Done right, the buildings are cheaper to build and safer in disasters than steel and concrete ones, say proponents. And despite all the dead trees they entail, they’re also more environmentally friendly: The buildings actually sequester carbon in their wooden frames, whereas concrete manufacturing emits large amounts of carbon dioxide.

...continues (at length) at Newsweek.

[maccoinnich]

Lever Architecture have submitted Framework at 430 NW 10th Ave for Design Review:

new 12-story mixed-use project. The building will be timber-framed with ground-floor retail, 5 floors of office and the remaining floors in residential use –workforce housing. The rooftop will provide amenity space. Adjustment for loading access, Modification for long term bike parking.

[cailes]

Help me out, because I am ignorant.

What does "workforce housing" translate to?

[maccoinnich]

Housing priced in between affordable and luxury housing.

[eric cantona]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Housing priced in between affordable and luxury housing.

most projects I have been aware of that are described as "workforce" housing limit residents to be at 60% of median income or less. not sure if there are state/federal definitions of the term, but that's been my experience.

[maccoinnich]

Well here is how they described it before:

Originally Posted by CouvScott

The team expects to break ground in October 2016. When the building is completed, it will include ground-level retail — likely including space for Albina Bank — five floors of office space for B Corp businesses and social enterprises and five floors of workforce housing, which slides in somewhere between affordable and market rate housing.

"Workforce housing is something that we believe is missing from the Pearl District," said Anyeley Hallova, a partner with project^.

The Pearl actually has a lot of 60% MFI housing, so if they were targeting it at that income range I don't think they would describe it as being "missing" from the district.