THE SHILEY-MARCOS DESIGN AND INNOVATION CENTER
Portland, Ore.
Merit Awards
Sent by: Skanska USA Building
OWNER: University of Portland
LEADING DESIGN COMPANY: Opsis Architecture
GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Skanska USA Building
CIVIL ENGINEERING: Humber Design Group
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING: KPFF Consulting Engineers
MEP ENGINEERING: Interface engineers
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: PLACE Studio
SUBCONTRACTORS: AFP systems; Anderson Roofs; Anning-Johnson Co.; Carr Construction; Keeping the world clean
Spanning 43,800 square feet, this $34 million hybrid mass-timber structure sits on a sloping hillside atop a bluff at the west end of the University of Portland campus. Each of the four levels houses spaces for invention, discovery and testing, while distinctive features of the facility include a combustion and propulsion laboratory, materials fabrication and fabrication spaces, as well as a media laboratory space digital
LEED Gold certified, the adaptive reuse project integrated the concrete foundation, retaining walls, and structural elements of the physical facility of the existing plant, which previously housed maintenance operations. Using fewer new materials reduced the carbon incorporated in the project. Almost total soil neutrality was also achieved through the reuse and re-use of existing soil on site, which saved more than 400 m3 of new soil. Energy performance was further enhanced with advanced mechanical systems, heat recovery technologies and a photovoltaic array.
The team also used a built-in carbon calculator tool to estimate and reduce the built-in carbon in building materials, earning the project the LEED credit designation for “low-carbon materials procurement.”
The building is one of the first structures on campus to feature cross-laminated timber, which was used in the roof. The project team designed panels that could be cut in the field to account for off-square structures. The project was completed in January 2024.
