Karl Miller Center

Project Details

Project Description

FROM THE ARCHITECTS:

Located in downtown Portland, the new Karl Miller Center is uniquely integrated with the city’s rich network of public open spaces and diverse urban uses. Questioning the full-block archetype that dominates the typical 200' x 200' city block of Portland, the building design appears as two distinct structures sharing a city block - the renovated existing building, a 100,000sf 1970's structure retrofitted with a metal panel facade system broken up by an irregular composition of punched windows, and a new dynamic, shifting 45,000sf addition, clad in regionally sourced Alaskan Yellow Cedar. This approach, coupled with a series of terracing external green spaces and new circulation pathways linking the urban center, local parks, transportation stops, and nearby campus buildings, enhances the public realm by providing a more diverse streetscape. A one-story grade differential between 6th Avenue and Broadway, populated with public oriented spaces, creates two ground levels, further activating the exterior plazas and the atrium and heightening the activity within and around the building.

Centered around a five-story glass atrium that is animated with activities, the School of Business benefits from a diverse program. By arranging a variety of spaces – informal meeting and study areas, gardens, classrooms, business incubators, student spaces, faculty and administrative offices and retail – to maximize communication and connectivity, the project promotes an inclusive attitude toward learning. Flexible, student-focused informal learning spaces are evenly distributed throughout the building to act as social anchor points helping to elevate the space beyond a transitional corridor and create a pedestrian-friendly space for students and the greater University community.

Taking advantage of Portland’s temperate climate, all new construction is designed without any mechanical cooling equipment. Utilizing passive sustainable strategies to minimize the environmental impact while simultaneously prioritizing human comfort and wellbeing, this newsocial hub is expected to achieve LEED Platinum status; continuing Portland State University's reputation as an institution dedicated to social, economic, and environmental sustainability.

Promoting a variety of innovative, largely passive, climate concepts, the Karl Miller Center design strives to minimize its energy impact with a low tech approach. Taking advantage of the Pacific Northwest’s temperate climate, the new pavilion structure was designed to be passively cooled through a meticulously designed natural ventilation strategy. Outside air is drawn through operable windows into the classrooms and collaboration areas, and is then transferred via acoustically protected vents into the atrium, which acts as a “natural cross-ventilation exhaust shaft". Designed to accelerate stack effect with its sloping geometry, the atrium has exhaust fans located at the roof to provide supplemental drive for natural ventilation with minimal energy usewhen necessary. All automated windows have local override to provide user control and increase perception of quality and comfort in the classrooms. The same air transfer and return path is used for mechanical ventilation in heating mode, eliminating the need for return ducts. With heat extraction supplied from the campus chilled water return loop for almost all heating demand, the building improves efficiency of the campus cooling system while limiting required equipment for heating on site.

Both existing and new construction is optimized for daylight harvesting and thermal performance. The high-performance facade design of the renovated portion includes two layers of insulation and glazing with two low-e coatings, one of which shares the room-side surface with a ceramic frit. With a floor plan configuration that provides maximum access to daylight, all offices adjacent to the façade will not require electric lighting for nearly all daylight hours. Exterior glazing on the 45,000sf addition is oriented based on solar modeling, either to the north or under large overhangs to avoid solar heat gain yet maximize daylight opportunity.

A series of terracing greenroofs capture site stormwater and release it into planters located at ground level drastically reducing site runoff. As a whole, the project reduces the total site EUI of the building to less than half of the original, pre-renovated structure.