Located in Portland, Oregon’s Pearl District, Vibrant! is a new affordable housing, high-rise development. Salazar Architect designed the building shell and interior common areas in collaboration with LRS Architects, which led the overall project management and design of the apartments.
Vibrant! includes 93 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, including 40 units that are set aside for families transitioning out of homelessness. The building’s exterior design forgoes the brown brick tradition of the district and instead opts for a combination of neutral and brightly colored metal panels.
See Also: MLK Plaza brings 167 units of affordable housing to the Bronx
Interior common areas were designed with a minimalist approach and simple materials including natural concrete floors and ceilings. The lobby’s flooring is stained in a blue hue that contrasts with the reclaimed oak wood walls that wrap around interconnecting management and social services offices, casual seating, mail boxes, and a bike room. The second floor features a playroom, a community room, a kitchen, and a computer room. Glazed garage doors lead to an outdoor playground. The building also includes a number of sustainable features such as a rooftop PV solar array, native plants, and a roof terrace.
Also on the build team: KPFF (structural engineer), Shapiro Didway (landscape architect), A3 Acoustics and 3J Consulting (civil engineer), Bremik Construction (general contractor).
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
National Intrepid Center of Excellence tops out at Walter Reed
SmithGroup and The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund (IFHF), a non-profit organization supporting the men and women of the United States Armed Forces and their families, celebrated the overall structural completion of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE), an advanced facility dedicated to research, diagnosis and treatment of military personnel and veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury.
| Aug 11, 2010
USGBC honors Brad Pitt's Make It Right New Orleans as the ‘largest and greenest single-family community in the world’
U.S. Green Building Council President, CEO and Founding Chair Rick Fedrizzi today declared that the neighborhood being built by Make It Right New Orleans, the post-Katrina housing initiative launched by actor Brad Pitt, is the “largest and greenest community of single-family homes in the world” at the annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York.
| Aug 11, 2010
Trump luxury condos in Jersey City get more luxurious
Only two years after opening, Jersey City-based Trump Plaza Residences is getting a facelift. Interior designer Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz of BNOdesign has been commissioned to create a fresh design for the residential tower's entrance and outdoor pool, cabana, and lawn spaces. Renovations on the 55-story, 443-unit luxury high-rise will be completed in two phases.
| Aug 11, 2010
Apartments offer skyline view of Houston
Perched atop a hill near downtown Houston, the Gables Memorial Hills residential tower will rise to eight stories and cover 2.68 acres. With an average unit size of 965 sf, the brick and cast-stone complex will consist of 70% one-bedroom units and 30% two-bedroom units, some of which overlook downtown.
| Aug 11, 2010
Sustainable features central to independent-living building
Architecture firm Perkins Eastman, together with Saint Johns on the Lake retirement community, plans to open a 21-story, 88-unit independent-living building for seniors by mid 2011. When the $46-million project is complete, it will offer residents a streetside café, art gallery, spa and wellness center, classroom, and community performance space.
| Aug 11, 2010
Historic building to be restored in Kansas City
Construction has begun on the conversion of the historic 17-story Home Savings Association building in Kansas City, Mo. The transformed structure, to be known as Grand Boulevard Lofts, will house 134 apartment units. The $18-million project, designed by architect Rosemann & Associates, follows a revitalization of downtown Kansas City, where there is high demand for affordable housing to ser...
| Aug 11, 2010
Old factory converted from hearth to home
A former briquette factory in Cologne-Frechen, Germany, was converted into a mixed-use building by Astoc Architects & Planners, Cologne, in association with Rheinischen Amt für Denkmalpflege—the Rhenish agency for historic preservation. The roughly 172,200-sf building includes a mix of residential condominiums, lofts, and leased commercial space.
| Aug 11, 2010
And the world's tallest building is…
At more than 2,600 feet high, the Burj Dubai (right) can still lay claim to the title of world's tallest building—although like all other super-tall buildings, its exact height will have to be recalculated now that the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) announced a change to its height criteria.
| Aug 11, 2010
Luxury high-rise meets major milestone
A topping off ceremony was held in late October for 400 Fifth Avenue, a 57,000-sf high-rise that includes a 214-room luxury hotel and 190 high-end residential condominiums. Developed by Bizzi & Partners Development and designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, the 60-story tower in midtown Manhattan sits atop a smaller-scale 10-story base, which creates a street façade t...
| Aug 11, 2010
Mixed-use Seattle high-rise earns LEED Gold
Seattle’s 2201 Westlake development became the city’s first mixed-use and high-rise residential project to earn LEED Gold. Located in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood, the newly completed 450,000-sf complex includes 300,000 sf of Class A office space, 135 luxury condominiums (known as Enso), and 25,000 sf of retail space.
