Architects Find Sustainable Solutions, Even in a Downturn

A Portland architecture firm expands its business by creating a new line of sustainable furniture.

By Amy Rose Davis

The turbines on top of Twelve West only supply 1% of the buildiing’s power, but provide an opportunity to study their use in an urban setting. (Photo courtesy of ZGF)

The economic downturn gave Surround Architecture of Portland the opportunity to pursue its long-term vision.

Corporate clients include ESPN, Converse and Hilton Hotels. Recent projects include the design of the recently completed NuMiss building in North Portland, the KEEN Footwear headquarters renovation and the 150 Harrison Building renovation in Portland.

The company was working on a design project for Portland firm KEEN Footwear in 2008 and was looking for office furniture that would suit the company’s needs. “We struggled to find someone who would really deliver” what the company needed, says Mark VanderZanden, Surround’s creative director.

The client asked if Surround had anyone on staff who could design office furniture, and that allowed Surround to expand its services.

“It was an alignment of economic times and other goals,” VanderZanden says. “The architecture market was slowing, and we had staff with skills in steel fabrication and woodworking.”

In January, Surround began fabricating office furniture for the refurbished KEEN workspaces, and the company is now entering a second phase in furniture fabrication based on KEEN’s ongoing needs.

Surround Architecture is based in downtown Portland but has a workshop in southeast Portland for the furniture fabrication.

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With a focus on economic and environmental sustainability, Surround takes a highly localized approach to all of its projects by using local labor and materials as much as possible. For example, the firm has designed several projects in Hood River, Ore., and opened a small showroom in the downtown Hood River area.

As part of its work in Hood River, Surround educated local people on LEED rather than bringing in green consultants from the Portland area.

For the KEEN project, Surround provided furniture that was 100% locally made from reharvested and repurposed materials. Erik Matthews, executive director at Surround Architecture, says if there were a LEED certification for furniture, “ours would all be platinum.”

VanderZanden says the company is currently working on projects in the Philippines and El Salvador. “You have to find local materials there,” he adds.

The company’s focus on recycled or repurposed materials is also a big advantage for clients, whether they are seeking LEED certification or not, because it reduces costs significantly, VanderZanden says. “We can either reduce the budget through these projects or get more out of the existing budget,” he adds.

Surround has constructed some unusual furniture pieces after gathering waste from its project sites. At the 150 Harrison Building, the owner wanted to pursue LEED platinum, which required removing all of the 1968 building’s existing aluminum frame windows. Surround employees gathered the aluminum framing and turned it into office furniture for the completed building. “There’s a real artistic level to it,” VanderZanden says.

The furniture uses as much recycled material as possible and was desinged by employees.

On the NuMiss project, the architects asked the contractor to gather remnants from floor decking, and they then turned the remnants into benches, mailboxes and other pieces for the building.

VanderZanden says the most unique piece he’s seen is what KEEN Footwear calls the “Wheel of KEEN,” a spinning wheel the company uses at trade shows to give away items. “It’s made entirely out of found objects,” including a bicycle wheel and tripod, VanderZanden says.

Matthews calls the new 150 Harrison Building a “working lab” where the company can showcase its pieces to clients and display prototypes. Surround is also looking into co-branding some of its furniture with KEEN Footwear.

VanderZanden likens the company’s approach to the “local food movement.” “There should be a ‘local architecture movement,’” he says.

VanderZanden opened the firm in 2000 with two employees, and the company now employs up to 10 people and provides a full range of commercial and residential architecture services in addition to its furniture design.