Training the Next Generation of Business Leaders
A design collaboration with Behnisch Architekten, the LEED Platinum Karl Miller Center establishes a powerful identity for Portland State University's School of Business, reflecting its international prominence in sustainability.
Size
100,000 sf (renovation); 45,000 sf (addition)
Year Complete
2017
Location
Portland, OR
Sustainability
LEED Platinum
Project Tags
Media
Metropolis, “Super-Sustainable Addition to Business School Quickly Becomes Center of Portland State Campus,”, August 31, 2018
ArchDaily, Karl Miller Center, Portland State University / Behnisch Architekten + SRG Partnership, November 19, 2018
The Plan, “University Building: Karl Miller Center: Light that breathes”, March 28, 2018
Awards
American Architecture Award, 2019
ACEC Oregon, Engineering Excellence Honor Award, 2019
ENR Mountain States, Best Projects, Higher Education / Research, 2019
AIA New England Design Awards, Honor Award, 2018
IIDA Oregon Design Excellence Awards, Honorable Mention, Education, 2018
DJC Oregon Top Projects, 2nd Place, Education, 2018
AIA Seattle Honor Awards for Washington Architecture, Award of Merit (Built), 2018
Creating an Active Hub
The new Karl Miller Center is uniquely positioned to integrate with the city’s rich network of public open space and its diverse urban uses.
Benefiting from a diverse program, the design of the Karl Miller Center is centered around a five-story atrium that is animated with activities. By arranging a variety of spaces – informal meeting and study areas, gardens, classrooms, business incubators, student spaces, faculty and administrative offices and retail – to maximize communication and connectivity, the space goes beyond a transitional corridor and creates community for the School, the University and the neighborhood.
Enhancing the Pedestrian Realm
Rejecting the singular building construction that dominates the 200‘ x 200‘ city blocks, the new Center appears as two distinct buildings sharing a city block. This approach enhances the public realm by providing a more diverse streetscape and by reinvigorating existing links and creating new arteries between the urban center and surrounding pedestrians, transportation and parks. The result creates many pedestrian-friendly and transparent opportunities for future development along 6th Avenue, Broadway and Montgomery Street.
Activating the Plaza and Atrium
A one-story grade differential between 6th Avenue and Broadway creates two ground levels, further heightening the activity within and around the building. These ground levels are populated with public oriented spaces to activate an exterior plaza and the central, interior gathering space, providing a home for the University and the neighborhood’s civic events.
Certified LEED Platinum, this new social hub continues Portland State University‘s reputation as an institution dedicated to social, economic and environmental sustainability while creating a welcome and inviting space within the campus fabric.
