The Design Commission has approved Eleven West, a 290′-6″ tall tower planned for SW 11th & Washington St. The 24 story building is being designed by ZGF Architects for Gerding Edlen Development and Downtown Development Group. At the ground level the building will include 7,816 sq ft of retail fronting onto all three streets surrounding it. Levels 2 to 7 of the tower will be offices, while levels 8 to 24 will include 222 residential units. Four levels of below grade parking will provide 258 vehicular parking stalls, accessed from SW 12th Ave. Long term parking for 365 bicycles will be provided.
The site for the Eleven West is a half block at 1102-1116 SW Washington St, owned by the Goodman family owned Downtown Development Group. The quarter block at SW 12th & Washington is currently used for surface parking. The quarter block at SW 11th & Washington is covered in grass.
One block to the west, on the other side of SW Washington, is the 22 story mixed use Twelve West building. The 2009 building was designed by ZGF, and is the location of their main office. Twelve West was also developed by Gerding Edlen, with Downtown Development Group as the largest investor in the tower.
At level 8, the first of the floors to include residential units, there will be a gym and an amenity room. An exterior swimming pool at level 8 will cantilever out from the tower over the adjacent building Culver building. The building at SW 12th & Alder is in the same ownership and underwent a substantial remodel and addition in 2012/13.
At level 24 a variety of amenity features are proposed, including three lounges, a kitchen and a rooftop garden with fire pits.
A notch in the massing of the building will ensure that a mural on the adjacent Carlyle Building, Capax Infiniti by South African artist Faith47, will still be visible post-completion of the tower.
Exterior materials proposed include break-formed aluminum-plate and fiberglass windows at the upper levels. At the ground level steel-plate storefront surrounds, aluminum storefronts, and cast-in-place board-formed concrete will be used.
Eleven West was approved at its second hearing in front of the Design Commission, held on October 19th 2017. In the conclusion to the Final Findings and Decision by the Design Commission the project was praised for its “active and highly articulated ground level”:
The proposed development will provide an active and highly articulated ground level, responsive massing, a dense mix of uses, numerous exterior terraces above ground level, and highly-designed wall systems, which together will provide a building that strongly embodies the spirit intended by
the applicable design guidelines, and responds well to the natural, cultural and built context. Revisions since the first hearing, held on September 19, 2017, further refined the coherency of the design, emphasized the main entrances, and added more pedestrian protection.
Building permits will have to be obtained before construction can begin.
Drawings
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- Plan – Site
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- Plan – Level P4
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- Plan – Level P3 / P2
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- Plan – Level P1
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- Plan – Level P1 Mezzanine
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- Plan – Ground
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- Plan – Mezzanine
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- Plan – Level 2
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- Plan – Level 3
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- Plan – Levels 4 to 5
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- Plan – Levels 6 to 7
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- Plan – Level 8
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- Plan – Levels 9 to 20
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- Plan – Levels 21 to 23
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- Plan – Level 24
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- Plan – Roof
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- Elevation – North (SW Washington)
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- Elevation – East (SW 11th)
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- Elevation – South
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- Elevation – West (SW 12th)
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- Section
Not bad. Not great. Just seems like we are seeing a preponderance of blocky glass 20-some story towers popping up all over downtown. Street level is fine but would also be nice to see more added interest to the skyline. Unless we are really trying to live up to the name Stumptown.
Yup
I have no idea why this city doesn’t build anything “iconic”
For such a “progressive” city they sure do build conservative and weak looking structures
It’s because Portland has some pretty restrictive zoning laws, especially when it comes to building height.
ZGF does Excellent detailed Architecture . . glad to an International Style High Rise instead of another 6 story wood framed plywood structure with no parking sitting on a concrete base.
It’s kind of nice looking, and as has been pointed out, it’s a lot better than those cheaply built (but not so cheaply rented) boxes that have been springing up like so many ugly tenements, which is exactly what they are. Anyhoo, very glad to see this one being built.
That bronze-ish color will be a welcome addition to the mostly grey/blue/white pallet of the new towers downtown
good looking design
Haven’t we seen the likes of this in the background of many a Russian dash-cam video? It’ll cast a big Internationalist shadow across12th Ave. But hey- Progress!
This is such unfocused, sloppy design. Does every building built in Portland need Yard inspired windows that get smaller and smaller as they descend? This is the fourth major building to employ this gimmick.
I don’t see where that’s happening on this building.
That said, I do find it a little unfocused. I can almost see the idea but it feels to me like it was lost somewhere in the details & tacked on pieces.
ZGF has developed a very complex and interesting design that will be a gift to the street. The pedestrian experience along the sidewalk will be quite rich.
Well said. ZGF does a good job at picking quality materials with attention to detail . . . .
I agree that the materials seem to be quality and the pedestrian experience looks rich, but to my eyes the design of the north and south elevations look more busy than coherent. They remind me of houses that have extrusions made by successive owners with too little attention to the original design.
I yearn for human-scale buildings with Sullivan facades. High rise dormitories leave me cold, cold, cold. I hate to see them rise.
The city is growing, building short new buildings will shorten the lives of the old beautiful buildings we have to make more grown space for taller buildings in the future.. that will inevitably happen but we can at least build up to increase the office space and apartments to prolong the destruction of the older buildings.
This building is poorly designed. There is really nothing here. Lacks life. Lacks a soul. Looks like a giant cheese grater in the sky.
If I was a salad this building could grate cheese over my salad 😛
Typical Portland building right here, modern street level, glassy box about 20 stories high. It’s not terrible but I’m still waiting on a building that will redefine our skyline :/