Firm Description
OFFICE 52 Architecture is an award-winning interdisciplinary design studio established in 2010, and led by Michelle LaFoe and Isaac Campbell. Based in Portland, Oregon, our work ranges in scale from large to small and encompasses architecture, landscapes, planning, furniture, and installations and includes new construction and renovations for institutional, educational, arts, workplace, and residential projects.We are nimble and inventive and see our studio as a place where critical thinking meets creative practice. We believe in the power of big ideas to transform the built environment and yield better design solutions for our clients. Our work draws from its context – be it programmatic, environmental, cultural, or economic – resulting in buildings and places that are valued by their constituents, rich with meaning, and powerfully connected to their place. We believe that architecture is a language of space and materials interwoven with art and technology that is revealed in the clarity, craftsmanship, and beauty of the work.
We are committed to creating strong and focused collaborations with our clients who are the primary focus of our creative energy. Our projects – even modest ones – exhibit high level thinking blended with rigorous pragmatism that brings greater beauty, discovery, and joy while also being practical and economical. This approach often involves embracing a project’s greatest constraints and, through rigorous and creative design, turning those challenges to advantage. Our portfolio repeatedly demonstrates this “outside the box” approach and has enabled us to accomplish more with less.
This is inseparable from our strong belief that we must reduce our impact on the planet and make buildings and places that are more in harmony with the natural environment. Our process begins with exploration of the inherent natural and man-made opportunities of a particular project, its place, and program. We believe in comprehensive design solutions that address these opportunities and respond to the challenges of climate change, limited resources, environmental equity, and shrinking biodiversity. We create and lead integrated teams and have collaborated with clients, consultants, and contractors on multiple LEED Platinum, LEED Gold, and other high-performance projects that help address our growing climate crisis.
Our work has been widely published in books and journals, featured in regional and international exhibitions, and has received numerous national and international awards for design excellence.
