Portland State University (PSU) Development News - Page 35

tworivers · #**681** Posted **Mar 17, 2014, 3:10 AM**

Those property line walls are hideous. Why do we have a design commission again?

Also, I rode by the new PSU glass wall addition yesterday and was surprised that I felt underwhelmed by my street-level experience of the building, mostly because there is an imposingly-high blank wall facing the street. There may have been activity in the windows up above...but I couldn't see it.

urbanlife · #**682** Posted **Mar 17, 2014, 3:28 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by tworivers

Those property line walls are hideous. Why do we have a design commission again?

Also, I rode by the new PSU glass wall addition yesterday and was surprised that I felt underwhelmed by my street-level experience of the building, mostly because there is an imposingly-high blank wall facing the street. There may have been activity in the windows up above...but I couldn't see it.

I actually like what they have done with the Broadway side of Lincoln Hall, simply because before this it was nothing more than the butt end of the building with zero interaction with the street.

bvpcvm · #**683** Posted **Mar 17, 2014, 3:57 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WestCoast

for what it's worth, that blue PSU building is still vacant and fenced off.

It finished after the school year started, so perhaps they mothballed it until next year.

Either way, imagine someone is losing a lot of money on that at the moment...

Just fyi, because it sounds like you're assuming this is a PSU bldg - from what I recall, this is "student oriented" but not a psu/chnw project. So it seems unlikely that they would put off the opening until next year.

2oh1 · #**684** Posted **Mar 17, 2014, 6:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by urbanlife

I actually like what they have done with the Broadway side of Lincoln Hall, simply because before this it was nothing more than the butt end of the building with zero interaction with the street.

I'm not a fan. To me, it looks so out of place within the context of the rest of the building. And I'm baffled that they spent so much money on what looks like so little return, comparatively speaking. Ah well...

WestCoast · #**685** Posted **Mar 17, 2014, 9:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bvpcvm

Just fyi, because it sounds like you're assuming this is a PSU bldg - from what I recall, this is "student oriented" but not a psu/chnw project. So it seems unlikely that they would put off the opening until next year.

I'm sure it's <i>not</i> a PSU building, this is just the only thread I've seen it mentioned in.

I drive by it every day on way to work and it is indeed empty still. I know the target date of opening was September (they had a sales office in food truck lot on 4th last summer).

Just curious what happened!

bvpcvm · #**686** Posted **Aug 2, 2014, 12:15 AM**

6 story building proposed for 11th and Market

urbanlife · #**687** Posted **Aug 2, 2014, 3:06 AM**

Good little infill building. Not much in the way of commercial on the first floor, but that area doesn't have much activity anyway. Hopefully we will see some more towers like the Benson tower in that area.

tworivers · #**688** Posted **Aug 2, 2014, 6:01 AM**

Another parking lot down. Just a few more to go ;-)

maccoinnich · #**689** Posted **Aug 15, 2014, 2:47 AM**

Design Advice Request [PDF, 64MB] for remodel and expansion of the PSU School of Business Administration. Architects are SRG with Behnisch Architekten, a very prominent German firm. Unfortunately the quality of the scans is pretty poor, but it looks like a very interesting project.

maccoinnich · #**690** Posted **Oct 12, 2014, 2:28 AM**

I was curious about the status was of the Viking Pavilion project. I found this at the Portland Tribune, published last week:

Quote:

The Vikings also have raised $38 million toward construction of a multiuse pavilion that will become the new home of PSU basketball. They need to get the figure to $44 million by the middle of February, “and I think we can get even higher than that,” Hersh says.

This video is a couple years old, but is still current as far as I know:

• Video Link

urbanlife · #**691** Posted **Oct 12, 2014, 5:16 AM**

That is awesome new, I can't wait to see this arena get built.

maccoinnich · #**692** Posted **Jan 14, 2015, 8:34 PM**

The Design Commission is currently scheduled to offer Design Advice for the PSU School of Business Administration tomorrow (rescheduled from 10/2, 11/20 & 12/18!). Normally there are drawings up on efiles in advance of the hearings, but none have been uploaded yet. There was some discussion of this last year in the JBPM thread. This is the only image of the project I've been able to find so far, but I don't know how current it is:

maccoinnich · #**693** Posted **Jan 16, 2015, 3:53 AM**

Scheme as presented to the Design Commission today:

bvpcvm · #**694** Posted **Jan 16, 2015, 5:31 AM**

Isn't the building above/to the left in the model shots the existing building? Are they re-skinning it??

maccoinnich · #**695** Posted **Jan 16, 2015, 6:02 AM**

Yes. They're reusing the existing structural frame, much as the Courtyard Marriott, Edith Green / Wendall Wyatt and Hotel Eastlund have done.

urbanlife · #**696** Posted **Jan 16, 2015, 6:21 AM**

I am not wowed by this building, but I really like it. I love that PSU is starting to really hit its mark with architecture on campus. And I am so happy to see the School of Education getting reskinned because the current look of that building is seriously poop in a can.

Though does this mean the whole block is going to become the School of Business Administration? If so, where is the School of Education moving to?

maccoinnich · #**697** Posted **Jan 16, 2015, 8:12 AM**

Into Neuberger Hall according to what I can find on Google.

RED_PDXer · #**698** Posted **Jan 17, 2015, 2:29 AM**

I like it, but it doesn't seem to be adding much SF to the school. Looks more like a cosmetic upgrade than anything.

zilfondel · #**699** Posted **Jan 17, 2015, 3:30 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by RED_PDXer

I like it, but it doesn't seem to be adding much SF to the school. Looks more like a cosmetic upgrade than anything.

Well, as someone having spent many, many years working and attending school at PSU, I have to comment here. One of the biggest problems PSU has is that many of its facilities are dated, in poor shape, and simply do not meet the needs of the university. Ie, they are small, poorly lit, have poor access, do not provide adequate environments for learning, and all sorts of weird problems. Take a tour of the upper floors of Kramer Hall if you don't believe me.

Also, the nature of education has changed, and there is a huge need for collaborative spaces for students to meet, socialize and work on group projects. There are almost no spaces on campus that can meet this need, aside from a few new break-out rooms in the library and Seattle's Best coffee shop, which the majority of staff members use as a meeting space (as there is a huge dearth of meeting spaces and conference rooms on campus).

I could go on.

So I can see how PSU's administration would like to fix the "core" of campus, consolidate functions, make the spaces work, and THEN spend money on the expansions that are also sorely needed. But it doesn't make a lot of sense to pay for all these buildings that are barely contributing to PSU's academics and core function (Peter Stott Center is another huge problem - and barely used right now).

maccoinnich · #**700** Posted **Jan 17, 2015, 3:57 AM**

I don't think I would describe it as cosmetic, just because they're reusing an existing structure (a very sustainable move, I might add). According the Design Advice drawings, the addition is 31,600 sq ft. The 100,000 sq ft existing building will be completely renovated.

Looking through the drawings, one nice aspect of the project is that there will be new ground floor retail on 6th, and at the corner of Broadway and Montgomery. That move alone should dramatically improve the streetscape.