Portland’s Collaborative Life Sciences Building Earns Recognition

May 13, 2015 1773 Views Acuity Brands Lighting, LEED Steering Committee, MinuteClinic, OLED, organic light-emitting diode, Philips Research North America, Western U.S.

PORTLAND, Ore. — The 650,000-square-foot Collaborative Life Sciences Building & Skourtes Tower (CLSB) — which combines the research of Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), Oregon State University and Portland University into one location — recently earned three industry awards for its sustainable design. Los Angeles-based CO Architects and locally based SERA Architects worked together on the design.

The $232 million complex, located in Portland, opened for all programs in the fall of 2014. It consists of both the 12-story Skourtes Tower on the north and a five-story south wing connected by an atrium. It features lecture halls, classroom labs, specialty research centers, OHSU School of Dentistry facilities and offices for health professionals and educators from multiple institutions. Approximately 3,000 students use the building per day to study medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, chemistry and biology.

Last year, the building achieved LEED Platinum certification, making it one of only two buildings in the country comprising more than 500,000 square feet to achieve this rating. Its sustainable features include green roofs, stormwater collection for non-potable water uses, energy-efficient lighting and climate control. It also incorporates a large amount of daylight thanks to the plethora of windows placed throughout the building.

Thanks to all these features, the complex was also named a 2015 Top Ten Green Project by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE), earned a 2015 Innovation Award from the AIA Technology in Architectural Practice group and won a 2015 Excellence in Architecture Merit Award from the Society of College and University Planners, in association with AIA Committee on Architecture for Education.

“CLSB demonstrates that even a large building with a complex program can achieve high performance,” noted the AIA/COTE award jurors. “This building has a remarkable 67 percent of its occupants able to use public transit, cycling, or walking to access the site, and it houses 400 bike parking spaces. The façade thoughtfully handles solar control and daylight harvesting.”