Framework R&D
Project Type: Affordable Housing
Mission
Office
Retail
Role: Fee Developer
Partners: USDA
SBLC
SLB
Home Forward
TomKat Foundation
Framework was intended to be the nation’s first wood high-rise building. Framework is the collaboration of Beneficial State Bank, a triple-bottom like community bank, TomKat Foundation, a mission-driven equity investor, and Home Forward, the public housing authority for Multnomah County to re-envision the Pearl District property. The project’s Research & Development (R&D) phase was supported by a $1.5M award from the U.S. Tall Wood Building Prize Competition, sponsored by the USDA Softwood Lumber Board and the Binational Softwood Lumber Council. The building showcases the progressive innovation of mass timber construction, specifically Cross Laminated Timber (CLT). Framework seeks to innovate a model for sustainable urban ecology while promoting social justice, resilient building practices, and economic opportunities for advancement of these objectives at a national scale. Framework’s R&D resulted in the first permitted high-rise made from wood in the United States and was instrumental in changes to the International Building Code to allow for tall wood buildings by right throughout the entire United States.
Values: Design Excellence, Development Innovation, Environmental Stewardship, and Equitable Outcomes.
Framework during the day
Framework at dusk
Lobby and Tall Wood Exhibit
Bank Branch
Offices for B-Corporations
Affordable housing
Model of wood structure
Digital Model - Core / Beams & Columns / Floors
Fire testing
Seismic testing - Rocking
Seismic testing - Crushing
59 seconds
Resilient Design.
Resilient Design refers to the ability of a building to be easily repaired following an earthquake. Framework was designed as a “low damage, rocking-wall resilient building”. This not only meets the code requirements for structures in seismic regions but goes above and beyond to ensure that the building will be easily reparable after a major earthquake.
Project Details
Program: 60 Apartments
Offices
Bank Branch
Location: Portland, OR
Completed: 2018
Building Area: 89,544 SF
Cost: $3.0M
Sustainability: Earth Advantage
Platinum (target)
Status: R&D complete
Project on hold
Team
Architect: LEVER Architecture
Landscape Architect: 2.ink
Contractor: Walsh Construction
Awards
The Chicago Athenaeum
American Architecture Award
2018
Architect’s Newspaper
Best of Design Awards, Honorable Mention in Research
2017
LafargeHolcim Foundation
North America, Acknowledgement Prize
2017
Portland Design Commission
Excellence in Design Award
2017
USDA / Softwood Lumber Board / Binational Softwood Lumber Council
U.S. Tall Wood Building Prize Award Winner
2015
Completed by Anyeley as a partner of project^
2:00-10:30 min
America’s Forests.
Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell combines two of his passions - music and trees - to bring stories of sustainable forestry to the public on "America's Forests with Chuck Leavell." This episode focuses on Oregon - building timber skyscrapers in Portland; adapting to 'fire forests' in Bend; and habitat restoration in the Siuslaw National Forest on the Oregon Coast.