A View of South Waterfront

Earlier this week I visited the South Waterfront Discovery Center for the first time. It’s a marketing tool on one level, of course, but it’s also a chance to visualize what this exceptionally ambitious new neighborhood is going to look like.

There is a tabletop model of the entire neighborhood there that must be several feet wide, and it shows better than a two-dimensional image how the buildings will relate to one another. Together the Meriwether’s twin riverfront condo towers designed by GBD, the John Ross condos one block back from the water designed by Thompson Vaivoda, and the as-yet-unnamed riverfront condos at Block 34 by Thomas Hacker comprise theater rows on the water. They cooperate in spatial placement so that the view is shared.

The taller and skinnier the buildings are, the easier it is for this kind of relationship to happen: dense, vital urbanity that doesn’t feel claustrophobic. You can still see the sun this way, and that’s important in a rainy climate.

But as mentioned in yesterday's post about Jack Onder's tower near 23rd and Burnside, no view is sacrosanct. If there is a consensus that taller, skinnier buildings in the South Waterfront are the wisest choice from a collective civic architectural or urbanistic standpoint, then it ought to happen. Nobody actively seeks to disrupt a homeowner’s picture-postcard view of Mt. Hood, but that view isn’t as important as the overall city’s decision about how tall our buildings ought to be.

As it happens, the first three South Waterfront projects seem promising. The Meriwether could be some of GBD's strongest work yet. The John Ross is a curving form welcome in boxy Portland. And by early accounts Hacker's Block 34 is a jewel. Kudos to Gerding/Edlen and Williams & Dame for seeking talented designers like Hacker and TVA to join the party with GBD -- and please keep it up, guys! And for now the buildings will certainly less bulky than what’s been built in other parts of town where the zoning is different. But as this neighborhood continues to take shape, height should be considered in terms of what’s best for South Waterfront, not the West Hills.

Comments

[JB]

I'm not sure you're giving enough credit to Busby + Associates out of Vancouver, B.C.
Not to take anything away from the locals at GBD, but I believe Busby is credited as "lead designer" on the Meriwether.

[MarkDaMan]

The John Ross is probably the best building in the pipeline yet. It's not old Portland and fits perfectly with what I imagined this district to become. Stopping buildings at 31 floors or 350 feet doesn't make any sense to me though. The West Hills home owners that are truly disturbed that their view have been "blocked" (by a view that will be coveted by any new comer) will have plenty of equity in their home to move higher up the hill and restore the Mt. Hood view.

I personally would like to see in the upwards of 500 to 550 feet buildings in the SoWa district and a couple 600 to 700 foot buildings in the downtown core. Taller, thinner buildings in PDX that meet the highest environmental standards will redefine this boxy lumber city into the progressive, world-class, city so many want it to become.

[Mike Thelin]

I agree with the last post. New construction will always block somebody's view of something. We shouldn't apologize ourselves into mediocrity.

[Ray Whitford]

We need to examine the height and density requirements in the central core. I also think the height limits along 5th and 6th isn't logical and is based only on West Hill input. Most people of Portland have to make compromises, why can't all.

Yes we need view corridors as mentioned by the Oregonian architecture critic, but we also need architectural design flexibility in certain special locations like the main downtown spine and NE 8th to 10th in Lloyd Center where the streetcar is planned. These super towers should only be office/residential development, but maybe thats not possible because of the office requirements on each floor.

Ray

[jr]

RE: first comment. Basically, Busby Perkins + Will is the lead designer of the towers, GBD is the lead designer of the podium. BPW should be credited. Thanks.

[Brian]

My mistake with not crediting Busby as lead designer on the Meriwether condos -- I knew it and it just slipped my mind as I wrote the post.

[Cab]

What is the problem with GBD and the slim tower design? Seems they have a difficult time understand the concept. To have to bring in Busby for just the tower seems...bizarre. Thank God they did or we'd probably end up with another Slab, but anyone every ask GBD (and Ankron Moisen) why they are so wedded to the slab and can't seem to branch out to the more elegant slim tower design?