SeeingGreen ™

Last week I went on a tour of Burnside Rocket, Portland’s newest (and reddest) green building. Situated on the eponymous thoroughfare that divides Portland into north and south, Burnside Rocket is the latest brainchild of Kevin Cavenaugh, an architect and developer whose portfolio includes other favorites of mine - Ode to Roses and Box + One.

The Burnside Rocket rises from a previously undeveloped lot on NE 11th and Burnside. Similar to Cavenaugh’s other endeavors, the building is fabricated with off the shelf materials including concrete masonry units and precast hollow core concrete panels often used in less glamorous applications such as parking structures. The exterior is minimally, but boldly finished with flaming red paint and movable panels made by neighborhood artists that enliven the façade and slide to block out the relentless southern sun. Interiors are more fanciful, especially in the building’s two restaurants, The Chesterfield on the ground floor and the view-framed Rocket on the fourth floor.

As Oregon’s third LEED Platinum building, Burnside Rocket incorporates many green building strategies, including edible roof gardens, energy efficient lighting, non-toxic finishes and geothermal heating and cooling. Although using the energy stored in the earth’s layers is nothing new, there is another resource hidden below Burnside Rocket that turned out to be another opportunity to lessen the building’s impact on the city’s infrastructure. In what may hold the biggest return for Cavenaugh’s investment (think Mad Max), the serendipitous finding of an old aquifier now supplies the building ample water for drinking, cleaning, restrooms and even heating and cooling. The water is so clean that Cavenaugh plans on bottling it for resale with profits going to charity.

Another notable feature includes the building’s front arcade, or covered walkway supported by columns. Taking cues from Burnside’s remaining historic buildings a few blocks west, Cavenaugh took advantage of a line in the code that still allows an arcade to be built in this part of town (apparently the City doesn’t approve for other locations). This simple, yet bold appendage extends the building into the public realm and offers a solid structure for decks on the floors above.

Other details to examine include the exposed stairway or “human aviary” (as Cavenaugh suggests) and the third floor office called “TENPOD.” Replicating the cooperative space that was so successful in Ode to Roses, this new annex gives writers, architects and other creative types an opportunity to share a well-appointed office with kindred spirits.

I left the tour with a renewed confidence in the principles and practices of green building. As the Burnside Rocket demonstrates, good design and skillful contractors can create buildings that sip energy, enhance the occupant’s well-being and give the community a new architectural model to discuss. And while Cavenaugh’s admirable creativity is evident in all his development projects, I think with Burnside Rocket, he really blasts off.