LEVER Architecture

10/15/2026

This week, Portland State University celebrated the grand opening of the new home for the Jordan Schnitzer School of Art, Art History & Design at PSU. Designed by LEVER, the four-story building is the university’s first mass timber structure, bringing Art Practice, Art History, and Graphic Design together under one roof. Located at the southern terminus of Portland’s South Park Blocks, the new facility connects the university with surrounding cultural institutions and the city.

The building incorporates cross-laminated timber floors and a glulam column-and-beam system, with 50 percent of the wood used for the glulam components sourced from regional Tribal enterprises. The design includes classrooms, studios, production and technology labs, galleries, and flexible gathering spaces. A protected outdoor courtyard provides space for creative work and community engagement, while ground-floor galleries along Broadway connect the school’s academic programs with the surrounding community.

The project integrates sustainable building strategies, including an all-electric mechanical system, a fully planted roof, and off-site timber fabrication. Developed through a design process informed by student participation, the building supports interdisciplinary learning, flexible academic spaces, and connections to the surrounding urban landscape.

For more information about this project, please visit: https://leverarchitecture.com/projects/psu_school_of_art_design

10/14/2026

10/13/2026

The Architecture Foundation of Oregon recognized Vailey Oehlke, Executive Director of Multnomah County Library from 2009 to 2024, at its 2026 Honored Citizen event. LEVER was honored to join the celebration last week, recognizing her leadership in expanding library access, advancing community-centered design, and guiding the $387 million library bond initiative approved in 2020.

Among the projects developed through the bond program is Albina Library in Portland. LEVER, together with Multnomah County Library and Noll & Tam Architects, led a responsive design process guided by community input. The project combines the renovation of the original 1912 Carnegie library with a new addition.

The design incorporates a double-height timber entry, nine new community spaces, and a children’s room within the original library building. An adult reading room on the second level provides views toward Russell Street, while the addition’s brick exterior references the surrounding neighborhood.

For more information about this project, please visit: https://leverarchitecture.com/projects/albina_library

Photo credits: © Lara Swimmer / Esto
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10/12/2026

Last week, LEVER hosted a tour of the University of Oregon’s Oregon Acoustic Research Laboratory as part of Portland Sustainable Building Week 2026.

Designed by LEVER, OARL and the associated Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory comprise a mass timber facility developed to test the acoustic performance of floor and ceiling assemblies. The project will establish the West Coast’s first accredited laboratory for floor-ceiling acoustic testing, supporting broader applications of mass timber in residential and commercial construction.

The building incorporates glulam and mass plywood, with folded weathering steel cladding inspired by a spectrogram, a visual representation of sound frequencies over time. The façade’s chevron patterns change in appearance depending on the viewing angle, translating acoustic principles into architectural form.

At ground level, the offices are clad in rough-sawn juniper harvested from Central Oregon, connecting the project’s material sourcing to regional habitat restoration efforts. The use of juniper builds on strategies the firm previously explored at the Oregon Conservation Center.

For more information about this project, please click visit: https://tinyurl.com/5df33n4u

10/10/2026

10/07/2026

LEVER in collaboration with Studio O+A and GGN designed the adidas Performance Zone as a mass timber athletic center on the adidas North American campus. The building cantilevers over a new soccer field and connects directly to the central campus plaza, creating a setting for athletic training and community activities. Its structure uses regional Cross-Laminated Timber panels and glulam columns and beams, allowing the facility to be built above an existing parking garage.

The program includes indoor and outdoor training spaces, weight and cardio rooms, a yoga and dance studio, a cycling studio, and locker rooms. A second-floor lounge and juice bar overlook the soccer field and provide areas for gathering. Floor-to-ceiling windows bring natural light into meeting and fitness spaces, framing views of the city and surrounding landscape.

The project emphasizes wellness through access to campus walking and biking paths, a green wall, and indoor plantings. Exposed wood, natural materials, and biophilic design elements support occupant health and well-being. The overall design strengthens connections across the campus while establishing a dedicated environment for fitness and community use.

For more information about this project, please visit: https://leverarchitecture.com/projects/adidas_performance_zone

Photo credit: Garrett Rowland
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10/05/2026

Thank you to Architectural Record for featuring LEVER’s Portland State University Jordan Schnitzer School of Art, Art History & Design at PSU in its 2026 Colleges & Universities issue. The new mass timber building brings Art Practice, Art History, and Graphic Design together under one roof for the first time, while connecting the school to the South Park Blocks, surrounding campus, and city.

Organized as three distinct frames around a central ground-floor commons, the building combines cross-laminated timber floors with a glulam column-and-beam system and a ribbed forest-green metal facade. More than half of the Douglas fir glulam was sourced by Timberlab from Tribally owned forests, all Sustainable Forestry Initiative certified, and mills across the Pacific Northwest. Traditional mortise-and-tenon joinery was used in the building’s assembly, with CNC fabrication supporting a quicker and more efficient process.

A 25-foot sliding glass door connects the commons to an open-air courtyard, while interconnected galleries extend the school’s public presence along Broadway. Classrooms, studios, labs, faculty offices, and communal areas occupy the upper floors, with large windows providing views of the city and neighboring academic buildings. Exposed wood is paired with blue and pink accents throughout the interiors, including the steel fire stairs and exposed seismic bracing.

For more information about this project, please visit: https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/18446-a-metal-clad-mass-timber-building-by-lever-architecture-unites-portland-state-universitys-art-school

Photo credits: © Jason O’Rear
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