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Old Posted Jan 15, 2009, 7:02 AM
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The end of Sienna Architecture

Sienna Architecture will close its doors
by Brian Libby, special to The Oregonian
Wednesday January 14, 2009, 10:17 PM



Portland-based Sienna Architecture will soon cease operations, but architects Gary Reddick, (right) who is co-owner of the firm, and designer Jeff Lamb (left) will be launching a smaller firm. Sienna had offices in Portland's historic Commonwealth Building (above) and Seattle and worked on projects around the world, but a weakened economy forced cutbacks and finally a decision to close.

One of Portland's most venerable architecture firms is closing its doors, another victim of a stumbling economy.

Sienna Architecture Co., founded in 1951, will soon cease operations of its Portland and Seattle offices. Employees were told of the firm's fate on Jan. 2, and CEO Gary Reddick made the decision public Wednesday.

The firm's troubles had been building. In October, Sienna downsized its downtown Portland office from 45 to 25 and retained only four of its nine Seattle employees.

Originally known as JKS Architects, Sienna's business during its first four decades came principally from designing Fred Meyer stores. In the mid-1990s, the firm underwent a makeover with Reddick taking leadership. The ensuing name change, accompanying a move to the high-profile ground-floor space in the landmark Commonwealth Building designed by renowned architect Pietro Belluschi, represented a shift to a more diversified client base and a focus on urban infill projects. In recent years, Sienna's portfolio consisted of more international work, particularly in Asia.

"There's no attempt here to spin it otherwise than the move coming in response to an economic change of climate," said Reddick, who co-owned Sienna with Lee Wynn. "We've been working all over the world: China, Vietnam, Jordan, Dubai. But that work has in all cases diminished and in others come to a screeching halt."

Reddick is helping to launch a smaller firm that will pick up some of Sienna's international work, and other Sienna veterans will remain active in Portland's architectural community.

Local architects say Sienna's closing is emblematic of larger problems in the building industry. "The severity of the mortgage crisis caught a lot of people off guard," said Stuart Emmons, who served as the firm's director of design in the 1990s before founding Emmons Architects. "Architects are at the beginning of construction projects," Emmons added. "If we're in trouble now, that portends more problems down the road for other parts of the building industry."

As Portland added density to existing neighborhoods in the 1980s and 1990s, Sienna became synonymous with creative efforts to carve architectural spaces from under-utilized urban spaces. Reddick saw the parking lot of a Northwest Portland medical center as a potential housing site and approached the owners with a plan for what would become the Northrup Commons project, with two stories of condos over a parking garage.

Sienna also won design awards for projects such as the North Park Lofts, a 1940s warehouse-to-lofts conversion, and Cascadian Court in the Lloyd District along the MAX light rail line, one of the city's first Vancouver, B.C.-style condos with a floor-to-ceiling glass facade.

More recently, Sienna designed Allegro, a 21-story mixed-use condominium proposed for Goose Hollow along the MAX line. Initial Design Commission approval was appealed to the Portland City Council because of the building's height.

"That slowed it down enough to be caught by the economic troubles," said Sienna's Jeff Lamb, the project's lead designer. Allegro is now on hold.

Sienna's architects are already busy starting new firms. Wynn says he will return to running his own business, known for its hotel and restaurant design prior to a 1999 merger with Sienna. Husband and wife architects Giorgio and Claudine Lostao, both laid off by Sienna last year, now head Ridiculous Design and have secured a key former Sienna account: the McCormick & Schmick's restaurant chain.

Reddick and Lamb have formed a new firm called V3 Design, which they're launching Friday, to follow through on Sienna's commissions in China, Vietnam and Tulsa, Okla., among others.

"Portland is remarkably famed out in the world, way beyond what a lot of people here would expect," Reddick said. "I went to a global cities conference two years ago in Lyon, and people were talking about Portland as if it were a brand name like Kleenex. To them, Portland was shorthand for good planning and sustainability. And that ethic is what is allowing us to continue working. We're taking that message to places that look like Portland did 15 years ago."

Giorgio Lostao, who was laid off on Dec. 31, said, "They saw this coming a year and a half ago, this perfect storm in the economy. So that's part of why they went outside (of Portland) to Dubai, China, Vietnam." But, Claudine Lostao added, not all of that work amounted to billable hours. "There could be thousands of hours spent on proposals that went nowhere."

Reddick said his new firm, with a staff of fewer than 10 and partnerships with other design firms on a project-to-project basis, represents a changing architecture profession with smaller studios. "Architecture has always been a low-profit-margin business," he explained. "A lot of times you're keeping employees you don't need, waiting for an upswing in the economy."

As word of Sienna's closing spread through the local architecture community in recent days, Reddick said he's been touched by the condolence calls he's received. "It's bittersweet," he added. "But I choose to focus on the sweet part."
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Old Posted Jan 15, 2009, 11:02 PM
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I am not sure how to take this because it sounds like it is just becoming a couple small firms now. I wonder what will happen with the space, if they will all move out or the name will just change? This is kind of confusing news because at first I thought it was about the economy, but now I am not so sure.
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Old Posted Jan 16, 2009, 4:36 AM
pdx2m2 pdx2m2 is offline
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I assume their current office space will go back to the landlord with unpaid rent and unfullfilled lease. I've heard that V3 has created a new office space at H45.
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Old Posted Jan 17, 2009, 4:57 AM
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Well, I think that it is a piece on the economic downturn. Architecture firms aren't finding work. Meaning no new buildings down the line, meaning that once the existing construction projects are finished it's likely we'll see little new construction for the next couple of years.
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Old Posted Jan 17, 2009, 5:16 AM
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^that remains debatable. Depending on what Portland, the State, and Obama push through, we could see a huge construction boom. Granted it will be on affordable housing, light rail, possibly a Convention Center Hotel?, I think we will see infrastructure projects in Portland that will continue to grow our city dramatically.

Would love to see MultCo pounce on the 'free money' and get their new downtown courthouse 'shovel ready'.
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Old Posted Jan 17, 2009, 5:31 AM
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^ Think again, most of the money in the stimulus package is going to shovel ready road expansion projects. In Oregon they are asking for about $150 million... mostly repaving projects.
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Old Posted Jan 17, 2009, 2:27 PM
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Portland Public is asking for $273M, Portland will spend $500M to stimulate, Portland has requested $805 (I think that's the number) in federal money, and I just read in the Oregonian that Oregon leaders are trying to nab on the upwards of $10 BILLION in stimulus money.

We probably wont see every project on our wish list started, but we are going to get a hella lot more than $150 million in pothole money.
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Old Posted Jan 17, 2009, 6:55 PM
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I love the fact that we are catching up on infrastructure projects but...Sam Adams plan will only create 5000 jobs with a 500 million dollar investment. Most of these jobs are in construction which when the projects are done so are the jobs. What I would love to hear are ideas for creating the infrastructure for permanent well paying jobs. Road and infrastructure projects will be a great way to put a few people to work temporarily, but we need some innovative thinking when it comes to creating jobs and creating permanent industries in Portland.
Perhaps we could take a successful idea and recreate it here in Portland. Albuquerque, NM built ABQstudios 3 years ago and has been successfully luring TV, Movie and advertising companies to shoot their projects in Albuquerque. The studios offer sound stages, production support, post-production facilities, and office space. Building a project like this in Portland would create hundreds of permanent jobs. Besides we already offer a rebate to production companies that film anything in Oregon, which is a big hoop that we have already successfully jumped through.
What have you seen elsewhere that has been successful and would like to se here in Portland?
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Old Posted Jan 18, 2009, 11:05 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkDaMan View Post
Portland Public is asking for $273M, Portland will spend $500M to stimulate, Portland has requested $805 (I think that's the number) in federal money, and I just read in the Oregonian that Oregon leaders are trying to nab on the upwards of $10 BILLION in stimulus money.

We probably wont see every project on our wish list started, but we are going to get a hella lot more than $150 million in pothole money.
well I hope so, because the initial numbers were pretty paltry. Of course, I guess that they don't plan on voting until mid-February... I guess I might have been a bit early eh?
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