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1st Place Winner

Project:

White Stag Block Rehabilitation

Firm:

Fletcher Farr Ayotte Inc.

503.222.1661

http://www.ffadesign.com

Size:

143,000 sf

Budget:

$37,000,000

Contractor:

Bremik Construction

Architect:

Fletcher Farr Ayotte Inc.

Interior Designer:

Fletcher Farr Ayotte Inc.

Other:

KPFF Consulting Engineers and Interface Engineering

For years, the White Stag Block in Old Town stood as an underused, corroding symbol of the past. When local architecture firm Fletcher Farr Ayotte (FFA) and developer Venerable Properties got their hands on three of the block’s four buildings—the Bickel Building, the Skidmore Building, and the White Stag Building—the spaces were full of pigeons, dead and alive. The Bickel Building’s interior was charred from a 1950s fire, and its exterior had been covered with a brick wall.

Beneath the bricks, FFA discovered the remains of an ornate original 1883 cast-iron façade, from which they made molds and colorfully replicated the building’s original exterior. Much of the rehabilitation was born of a similarly painstaking exercise: scraping and digging to expose three buried histories and bringing them back to life as a single integrated space.

The new 143,000-square-foot facility houses the University of Oregon’s satellite programs. The interior spaces of the three buildings are unified by overlapping materials and finishes; they all share exposed brick walls, wood floors, and massive structural wood beams. Inconsistent floor heights between the buildings offered a unique challenge that FFA solved with short staircases, subtle ramping, and well-placed elevators. To draw natural light into the buildings’ deep floor plans, FFA used skylights wherever possible and carved out an interior light well that joins all three buildings at the ground floor.

Rainwater is harvested beneath the light well, allowing gray water to be used for all toilets, which reduces water usage by 86 percent. Also integral to the building’s LEED Gold certification was the use of natural ventilation, recycled and environmentally certified building materials, and highly efficient mechanical and electrical systems. With its striking street presence, cohesively unraveling interior spaces, and ethic of sustainability, this landmark rehabilitation has changed the face of Old Town.

- Rachel Ritchie