10 projects that defined 2015

January 8th, 2016

Framework is part of Brian Libbys review “10 projects that defined 2015”: Framework is a continuation of that language, and a refinement, and it makes one all the more excited for some of the large-scale projects to come from this award-winning firm.

Read full article here: http://www.portlandarchitecture.com/

Framework


"The Central Eastside has always charted a different path than other burgeoning neighborhoods like South Waterfront and now the Lloyd District. There are no apartment and condo towers here, as this remains an industrial district. But what we refer to as industrial has expanded quite a lot, with a host of creative agencies and design firms. Over the past decade, the Central Eastside has become a very vibrant place, with some of the city’s best restaurants in the shadow of the freight trains regularly passing through. And many of those old warehouses have been given new life, such as the Olympic Mills Commerce Center and the Eastside Exchange. Yet new buildings here are relatively rare, and when they do come the architecture tends to ape the old structures. Not so with Framework, a new building from Works Partnership Architecture. The firm has been working in the Central Eastside for over a decade, responsible for many of those aforementioned warehouse renovations. But Framework is as light and transparent as those buildings are heavy. And it’s a leading example of a new generation of timer-framed buildings in Portland, including one with the same name, Framework (by Lever Architecture), set to break ground in 2016."

“The sleek, minimal structure pits four stories of glue-laminated timber beams atop a concrete base, a ship-in-a-bottle analogy of sorts that adapts and significantly slims the traditional warehouse structure seen in this part of Portland. With thin glass walls and open floor plans, it’s a truly bare bones structure that takes advantage of advances in timber construction to maintain the material palette while reducing bulk,” wrote Curbed‘s Patrick Sisson. Indeed, part of what’s noteworthy about Framework is that it’s part of a new generation of timber-framed buildings. But what’s most special here is the building’s transparency and refined elegance. Six years ago, Works Partnership transcended its reputation for warehouse conversions with the eye-catching bSIDE6 on East Burnside. Framework is a continuation of that language, and a refinement, and it makes one all the more excited for some of the large-scale projects to come from this award-winning firm.”