Panoramas of Pacific Hall

Pacific Hall is being transformed into a new research hub for the Human Physiology, Geography, and Anthropology departments at the UO. A typical lab has four open bays, each 10’8” by 22’0”, and a fifth, enclosed bay that serves as flex space for a clean room, biopsy room, data analysis area, and/or office. Each entry will be storefront and have a seating bench for socializing in the corridor. Alignment of entry zones across corridors creates sight lines between labs and to the outdoors.

Read More
Crescent Village Featured in Community Design Handbook

As part of the Envision Eugene Comprehensive Plan, the Community Design Handbook (CDH) establishes "a broad set of non-regulatory design principles and guidelines that express the community's vision for the built environment." Crescent Village appears in a subsection of the chapter "Evoke a Sense of Place." Please Note: Though the publication specifies "draft," this document is in its final form.

Read More
Student Tour of Amazon Corner

Ken Hutchinson of Rowell Brokaw and Andy Driscoll of Essex Construction lead a tour of Amazon Corner for University of Oregon architecture students. Amazon Corner is a 120,000 sf mixed-use apartment building in South Eugene. This 4-over-1 building has four floors of wood framed construction above ground floor and second floor post-tensioned concrete slabs.

Read More
Tykeson Hall Featured in Register-Guard

The University of Oregon is preparing to build a major new student advising and career center at the heart of its campus. The $39 million building, named after the late Eugene businessman Don Tykeson and his wife, Willie, who contributed $10 million, also will include six classrooms and house the College of Arts and Sciences administrative offices on its upper floors.

Read More
Andersen Construction Performs the Impossible

During a planned power outage for the Pacific Hall renovation to replace the rooftop electrical transformer this weekend, the Pacific team encountered a serious problem. When power was transferred to backup Friday evening around 6pm and the old transformer removed, it was discovered that the steel structure under the platform supporting the existing transformer was nothing like the as-builts the design team had been working from. The original plan to modify the existing structure to accommodate the new, 40% heavier transformer no longer made sense.

Read More
Groundbreaking for Tykeson Hall

Willie Tykeson, President Michael Schill, Dean Andrew Marcus, and Kathryn Sternberger ('17) broke ground for Tykeson Hall, a $39 million facility devoted to liberal arts education and career development at the University of Oregon. In this innovative project, academic and career advising will be housed under one roof, allowing undergrads to realize the career possibilities behind their academic choices. As Dean Marcus explains, "We want to help students navigate college intentionally and give them the ability to articulate the specific skills they’ve acquired. 

Read More
Grand Opening of the Arts & Technology Academy

The grand opening of the Eugene 4J Arts & Technology Academy at the Jefferson Middle School featured a ribbon cutting, student performances, and architectural tours of the building. The design of the new building supports ATA’s innovative STEM program, which integrates science, technology, engineering, and math into the curriculum in hands-on, real-world ways. For a more in-depth explanation of the design, see the brochure we created for the event:

Read More
Mentoring the Future

John Rowell spent the last couple of weeks mentoring Phillip Bindeman, a senior at South Eugene High School. Phillip shadowed John, observing all that goes into his job as a Principal. He says of his experience, “I had an image of architecture as people drawing all the time. I realize now it’s a lot more social than I thought. There are lots of meetings, especially for John and Greg.

Read More
The Saga of Sawdust: Creating a Wall of Sawdust for the Roseburg Forest Products Headquarters

Early in the design phase of the Roseburg Forest Products (RFP) project, Rowell Brokaw travelled with the RFP design team to the DIRTT headquarters in Calgary, Canada. Since 2003, DIRTT has been creating innovative modular wall systems. During their visit, the design team saw a glass wall full of lemons that DIRTT had created for Mike’s Hard Lemonade.

Read More
Drone Pics of 1203 Willamette

Renovation moving forward at 1203 Willamette, a mixed-use office and retail building. This will be the third substantial remodel since the original building’s construction in 1942 and expansion in 1946. A goal of the current remodel is to expose the structure, including the existing wood columns, wood ceiling joists, and board formed concrete walls. Structural upgrades, such as glulam beams, have been added to the 36,000-square-foot building. The west elevation facing Willamette Street will be storefront, windows, and wood finishes.

Read More