Following It Through

While a handful of tenant improvement projects kept us busy this winter, we’ve also been engaged with more extensive commercial projects in recent years. This spring, we have been revisiting selected projects and talking with clients, through a kind of post-occupancy survey, to assess how the building was working for the clients in terms of meeting functional, experiential and energy goals and expectations. Feedback is always good to calibrate for future projects – and we are interested in ‘lessons learned’!

New Heights Physical Therapy

The site for this project is on the corner of a busy street in NE Portland, and had previously been a sheet metal sales and fabrication shop. The 10,000 sq. ft. building needed to be completely renovated for the new location of an established physical therapy business. The change of use meant that current structural and energy codes needed to be met. We also researched and provided direction to the owners for the all-new mechanical systems; installation included a group of variable speed inverter heat pumps and ducted heat recovery ventilation. The project was designed to be solar-ready, and was featured in an Energy Trust of Oregon case study, found here.

Fairclough Building

This historic building was selected by Metro for assistance as a part of their ‘Main Streets’ program. This commercial storefront improvement project received matching grants as a result of Metro’s pilot storefront partnership with the City of Oregon City. The design focused on improvements to the exterior walls on a prominent corner site: opening up transom windows, installation of a new metal screen awning structure, and new exterior lighting. Mini-split heat pumps and dedicated outside air supplies were provided for several storefront bays as needed. Design coordination included initial color schematics and signage locations.