IIDA Oregon 2025 Design Excellence Awards
We’re excited to announce that OSU Azalea Early Care & Education Center Remodel received an honorable mention at IIDA Oregon Chapter’s 2025 Design Excellence Awards!
Originally built as a women’s residence in 1952 and partially remodeled in 2021, the Azalea ECE Center is repurposed from an existing wood frame building. The 2025 remodel was an opportunity to find a narrative and visual structure to build imaginations around.
Kids love climbing trees, and toddlers wish they could. Upon graduating from the first floor, where building code requires younger children to be, they climb up into the tree canopy and sky of the second floor. The exposed beams and rustic feel of the existing ground level evoke tree trunks and branches. Treetops made from custom-cut acoustic, tackable panels line the central hallway and, in each classroom, take on 3-dimensional form. The teachers jumped at the chance to incorporate curriculum lessons about the changing seasons.
Another way to capture young children’s imaginations is through color. The team gravitated towards a softer overall color palette tied to the personality (and flower) for each learning group. A neutral base of warm woods and earth-tones is a backdrop connecting floors. Color ultimately connects the interiors with the more vibrant exteriors at the staircase and entry mural.
A new entry mural celebrates the Center’s namesake, Rachel Azalea Sager, a community leader, teacher, and advocate, who led fundraising for the original women’s residence and was known for her needlepoint prowess. The mural weaves objects, suggested by the Center’s teachers and children, including Sager’s needle and thread. The mural was created by Liza Mana Burns.
The remodel helps knit together the entire staff. Co-location of administrative staff with classroom activities enables a deeper connection to the Center’s children and their learning. The flexible break room and meeting space is a unique amenity in a project of this type and strategically connects and supports both groups. Every classroom, staff area, and individual office have direct access to daylight and views while offering comfortable acoustic separation and privacy.
The IIDA Oregon Design Excellence Awards took place this year at The Avenue in Portland. It was inspiring to be surrounded by such a talented community of designers and industry partners and to see the range of projects submitted.
