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December 4, 2000

Urban Center at PSU

By JOURNAL STAFF

The new $33.2 million Urban Center & Plaza at Portland State University is the first major construction project in the city's University District, an area targeted for redevelopment.

PSU
Photo courtesy of Portland State University

Funded by both public and private sources, the Urban Center project is the first phase of a six-block master plan that the university says will be "a new front door to PSU and the University District." The plan was launched by students enrolled in a 1990 urban planning studio at the university.

The Urban Center consists of a public plaza, transit facilities for bus and light rail, and a 137,000-square-foot building that houses 28,000 square feet of retail space, five distance-learning classrooms, and new facilities for PSU's College of Urban and Public Affairs.

Design of the plaza and the building was integrated to create an open space for high-volume pedestrian, vehicle, bus and streetcar traffic. A streetcar, scheduled to open in May 2001, will cut diagonally through the plaza.

PSU
Photo by Tim Hursley
The College of Urban and Public Affairs building literally straddles the light rail. Clad in brick and concrete, the building has three wings offset from each other, but interlocked with vertical brick towers that house utilities. The wings descend from seven stories to three, with the lowest wing supporting a roof garden overlooking the plaza.

PSU
Photo by Tim Hursley
Retail spaces front both city streets and the plaza, enlivening the ground level with a variety of activities.

The project broke ground in June 1998 and was first occupied in February 2000.

Designers and builders included Thomas Hacker and Associates, architect; Walker Macy, landscape architect; KPFF, structural engineer; CBG, mechanical engineer; Shimuzu America Corp. for construction of the College of Urban and Public Affairs; Johnson Control, which built the mechanical and electrical systems; Merrill Contractors for construction of the distance learning center; and Drake Construction, which built the plaza and transit mall.


Do you have photos of recent projects? Share them with DJC readers. Send high-resolution images and information to lisa.lannigan@djc.com.


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