Meyer Memorial Hall by LEVER Architecture

The new HQ for the Meyer Memorial Trust embodies the foundation’s commitment to fostering equity, innovation, and sustainability across Oregon.

Located in Portland’s historically black Lower Albina neighborhood, the new home of the Meyer Memorial Trust features generous glazing and warm wood finishes that make it an inviting and comfortable “front porch” for the community, where many of the foundation’s grantees live. The metal-clad multi-purpose structure unites an eclectic and supportive program of office space, coworking space, a library, cafe-style event space, and a 100-seat engagement center for public programs. Designed in close collaboration with foundation staff, the three-story building embodies the Meyer Memorial Trust’s mission with equitable access to amenities, an approach to accessibility that goes well beyond ADA standards, and diverse cultural messaging and art.

Acelab spoke with LEVER principal Chandra Robinson about the project and her experience specifying its windows, which play a critical role in realizing their goals for the building.

Acelab: This seems like a very enlightened client. How does the building help realize the foundation’s mission to serve their community?

Chandra Robinson: The upper floors are mostly office space and amenities for around 45 employees, while the ground floor has a street presence with public convening and co-working space. The site was a former rail yard, so we wanted to create something beautiful and supportive in a space that was not very welcoming or friendly to the community. Meyer really wanted to pursue equity in the community on the projects. 

One of the main design principles for the project was around equity so we have a high level of women and minorities on the project team, and we are using a lot of women and minority-owned businesses. We made a point to include local materials and smaller businesses that maybe don't have experience working on a building.

Acelab: And how do the windows help achieve these design goals?

Chandra: Yeah, that's a great question. It does relate really specifically to windows. For us, equity also meant designing equitable space on the interior for staff. On the upper floor, we wanted staff to have equal access to light and views, which means that we needed a lot of windows in private offices and conference rooms, but also in the workstation pods as well. We chose Cascadia fiberglass-insulated punch windows. They are big windows that could be operable or fixed. So that was a consideration really based on equity. We also specified them all the same size to be more economical. 

And then on the ground floor, we used the same fiberglass-insulated punch windows on the East and West sides; on the North side we used Cascadia’s storefront system, since we wanted as much transparent glazing as possible on the ground floor to activate the street presence by showing what's happening inside the building.

Acelab: How did aesthetics influence these choices?

Chandra: We wanted to find a sort of curtain wall system that looked super clean that we could add our own wood volumes to. We also wanted to find fiberglass windows that looked really sharp and clean for this modern office building.

The most unique detailing in the project are these mass plywood mullions along the south facade. It is an Arcadia T500 SPDRL curtain wall system that allows you to provide your own mullions instead of the traditional steel or aluminum. We used Mass Plywood Panels that are visible to the street and exposed on the interior. We wanted to make the mass plywood look a little bit more refined, even though it's normally super industrial. 

While it's a new material, mass plywood worked for this project because it's a product that's really local. It is made in Salem, about an hour away. We wanted to showcase the material, so we had to find a solution that fits in the budget, is very sustainable, and can make this building perform for 100 years. 

Acelab: How did this difficult site influence your decisions about windows?

Chandra: Well, it's got these great views to the south right down to the city and we wanted everyone to have access to it. But having all that glazing on the south side means that it's going to be super bright, and potentially a little bit too warm. So we chose glass with a little bit more reflectivity on it. 

The site is also noisy because it's perched right above the Five freeway, and also has a lot of bus and car traffic on the street. Our acoustician did some measurements outside and inside the building, and we found that we didn't have to go with triple-glazed windows, because there was enough sound dampening in the argon-filled regular double-glazed windows.

Acelab: What are the climate challenges in Portland?

Chandra: In Oregon, since it's not sunny like in say, Arizona, we don't need to make windows too reflective, which is good because we want to get the clearest glazing possible so that people can see the activity happening inside. On the other hand, the client was very concerned with sustainability, so choosing a window that was really high-performing was important in achieving LEED Platinum.

Acelab: What is the process for choosing the right combinations of coatings and glass types?

Chandra: The local code tells you R-values and U-values and those numbers. So we look at the charts from the window manufacturers and compare solar heat gain coefficients, transmissibility rates, and those things. 

Then we review a selection of four-by-four glazing samples, or sometimes they'll just send you a whole box and then we ask for a bigger sample of the ones we like. We ask “What colors are the right colors for the trim on the windows or the exterior material of the building? What do all of those look like together?” We try them in different kinds of light. And that's really important for different sites. 

Acelab: How do you know you have made the right choice?

Chandra: We don't necessarily want to be the first to use something. Unless it's a completely new type of product that's really innovative, or we will try things out if it’s local sometimes. But we want to make sure that there's some record of durability. But even though we know they work, we also do window testing on site, and we ask for that in the specifications. A testing agency comes out and sprays a ton of water on them, and then everyone feels really confident about the system. That way we know it's gonna last.

Thanks to Chandra Robinson and the entire LEVER team for sharing their inspiring work with us! You can read more about The Meyer Memorial Hall on their website. 

This interview was conducted by ADvsCOPY for Acelab. It has been condensed and lightly edited.

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