Edith Green/Wendell Wyatt Federal Building Renovation | Complete

[MarkDaMan]

Originally Posted by 65MAX

No, because it was built before the OKC bombing. After that, new federal buildings have a perimeter designed to prevent cars from getting too close to the base of the building.

The pre-renovated building had an ugly brick raised podium. The basement goes all the way out to the sidewalk on 2nd Ave.

[2oh1]

Oh, that's RIGHT. They added round concrete mini-poles (or were they more like bulbs?) along the perimeter of the old building to prevent vehicles from driving up to it if memory serves correct.

[65MAX]

Yes, you'll see bollards around most federal buildings now wherever there's a possibility of a car or truck parking at the base.

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by 65MAX

Yes, you'll see bollards around most federal buildings now wherever there's a possibility of a car or truck parking at the base.

I wish they'd taken that approach rather than walling off so much of the block. Oh well... what's done is done.

[MarkDaMan]

Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt federal building dedication set for May 30
By Elliot Njus, The Oregonian
on May 21, 2013 at 1:25 PM, updated May 21, 2013 at 6:02 PM

http://www.oregonlive.com/front-porc..._river_default

The Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt federal building, the downtown Portland office tower that has been under construction since 2010, will be rededicated and opened to the public on May 30.

...

The GSA will hold a rededication ceremony at 11 a.m. May 30, followed by an open house and tours from 1 to 4 p.m. The building is at 1220 S.W. 3rd Ave.

[2oh1]

I'm not a fan of how this turned out at all. The west face looks menacing, and the walls that surround the sidewalk feel imposing. It would have been so much better if they could have at least widened the sidewalks if there were going to wall them off.

[Norelco]

After touring the building, basement to roof, I really like it. The exterior has "grown" on me, and the functionality of the reeds on the front and the horizontal panels on the east/south sides actually work.

The most impressive parts are all unseen - the electricity and water reductions, the radiant heat/air conditioning, and the reclaimed square footage by replacing the dinosaur-era equipment on the top floors.

The views are great too!

[MarkDaMan]

^Completely agree with you. By the end of my tour I was asking how I could rent out the conference rooms in the basement. I'm a huge fan of the heavily planted landscaping too.

[Norelco]

Yes, the conference center downstairs is nice. The cutouts of the concrete on the floor above provide a ton of natural light. The two outside exit staircases on the east side of the building were added in the footprint of the crane when it was removed.

I like the landscaping as well. And as unappealing as the sidewalk walls are, their necessity trumps.

There are other cool features like the aforementioned sculpture from the original building that now stands out front and murals from the original building that adorn the main level.

I don't know if it's a blessing or curse that I can see my house from work, but it's all good.

[urbanlife]

Yeah, I personally have been a fan of this renovation. They did a great job making this building a reflection of Portland.

[PacificNW]

I am sorry I missed this tour...I like the changes.....with the exception of the "support design" of the new roof.. It looks unfinished too me....but I am only one voice.

[Norelco]

Originally Posted by PacificNW

I am sorry I missed this tour...I like the changes.....with the exception of the "support design" of the new roof.. It looks unfinished too me....but I am only one voice.

But you're not the only voice. I was pointing the building out to my brother-in-law a few weeks ago and he asked "how long until it's finished" and I told him it was! The south and east sides of the building give the appearance of scaffolding from a distance. Oh well.

Still a nice building.

[MarkDaMan]

Anything additional to say about this tower? If nobody disagrees, I'm going to combine this with the Downtown Portland News thread where it will be searchable but somewhat archived.

[2oh1]

Personally, I don't like this project at all. The western facade looks evil. The roof looks interesting but unfinished.

I think this would be better off left as its own thread rather than merged into the downtown thread since merging it makes it harder to search and follow as it would get lumped into other conversations. I think fewer threads make it harder to have a conversation about a particular project. It makes sense for little things to get lumped in together, but major projects having their own threads makes sense to me, especially for the sake of future searching.

[PacificNW]

Originally Posted by 2oh1

Personally, I don't like this project at all. The western facade looks evil. The roof looks interesting but unfinished.

I think this would be better off left as its own thread rather than merged into the downtown thread since merging it makes it harder to search and follow as it would get lumped into other conversations. I think fewer threads make it harder to have a conversation about a particular project. It makes sense for little things to get lumped in together, but major projects having their own threads makes sense to me, especially for the sake of future searching.

I think this is a huge improvement. I hated the look of the "old" federal building but I agree that the roof looks unfinished.....

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by PacificNW

I think this is a huge improvement. I hated the look of the "old" federal building but I agree that the roof looks unfinished.....

I think the N/S/E sides of the building are a huge improvement. I like the tilted roof, but as designed, it looks unfinished and that's a shame.

I also think the street level of the west side might be an improvement. Maybe the south side street level too. Maybe.

The north and east sides of the block where the building connects to the street are far worse than before. Those two sides of the building are basically walled off now and that's terrible. I know, I know, it's a federal building, so that's there for security... but regardless of the reason, the street level along the north and east sides of the block are downright terrible now. That part of the new design is absolutely not an improvement and I am not convinced there couldn't have been a better way to achieve security without walling the darn thing off. Sheesh. I'm sorry, but the east and especially the north sides of the street level of the block are a joke.

And that's the thing: It's easy to look at the building now and think "Ooh, neat. It looks cool, especially compered to before." But the block, as a part of our downtown, is not an improvement. Half of it at the pedestrian level is nasty now. Nasty. It's walled off and they made no attempt to at least give the wall some sort of artistic value. The sidewalk along the north side of the building isn't nice to walk along. The wall feels imposing. I don't care if it's a federal building. This is Portland. We deserve better.

Yes, the north, east and south sides of the building from two stories up look so much nicer now, but I think that's a ridiculous way to judge the value of a piece of architecture in a city. Half of the block is basically walled off now. I don't think that's an improvement. True, the old design was ugly bland and generic as it rose into the sky, but at the street level, it was better than what we have now because it wasn't walled off.

God, I hate this project. I find parts of it to be beautiful, but the roof looks unfinished, the erector-set western facade looks evil, and the way the block now connects to the city at the sidewalk is frigging terrible.