Redefining Vertical Living
Downtown Development Group, 11W
Housing and Mixed Use
11W is a mixed-use high-rise building in the West End sub-area of Portland’s Central City Plan District. Bounded on all sides by a dense urban environment, the owners of the site felt strongly that it was ripe for development. Today the 24-story building offers Portland's West End a new approach to vertical living with six levels of Class A office, 16 floors of rental housing, enhanced amenity spaces, and street-level retail.
11W builds on the success of its neighbor, 12W, as a catalyst for downtown Portland’s West End, with its mix of uses and density contributing to the vitality of this evolving neighborhood. The building is inspired by the planning traditions of Italian villages, where life is celebrated at all levels, rather than just streetscape and roofline.
Location
Portland, Oregon
Square Feet
507,000
Completion date
2023
Project Component
Architecture
Interior Design
The design respects the diverse character of the West End district. A unique circumstance of the site involved building a high-rise on a half block adjacent to two historic buildings, two- and four-stories, respectively. The challenge was making the entire block appear as a beautiful tapestry to design a building that shares a synergy amongst all three.
The interior design thematically reflects the vertical living storyline of this mixed-use building. Much like a towering tree, the street level serves as the forest floor – shady, rich, dappled, inviting – the office levels its trunk – dark, simple, clean, open – the housing floors to the rooftop, serving as promontories and treetop – rocky, misty, airy, lush. Inspiration was further gained from the Japanese aesthetic of craft and minimalism, and its complementary palette of Northwest natural materials – stone, wood, and metal. The rich personality of the lobbies is captured through the coloration and texture of this material palette, an extension of the building’s exterior with its darker bronze metal panel, animated by depth and shadow.
Practically speaking, the quality of the interiors is intended to appeal to its targeted clientele – a cosmopolitan class locating from bigger cities to work with Portland’s world class companies, and established Portlanders downsizing from large homes in the West Hills and suburban locations as an alternative to home ownership. The intent is to create a feeling of timelessness, elegance and craft.
At street level, retail bays wrap the north, east and west facades of the building. Entries and lobbies for office and residential uses are also on Level 1; both feature prominent concierge stations. Upon entry the residential lobby includes a custom-designed reception desk.
The building is positioned to feature a top-of-the-market amenity package located on three different levels plus the below grade bike parking and changing area. A mezzanine, Level 1.5, houses a fitness facility for office tenants, dog run and spa, and other back-of-house functions. Class A office space covers 114,175 SF on Levels 2 through 7; most levels have some combination of floor-to-ceiling windows and/or sliding doors with some exterior balconies.
Among the luxury amenities provided at 11W is a lap pool that cantilevers off the building, unique in Portland, with adjoining fitness facility, yoga studio, and massage room on Level 8 – the first residential floor.
Levels 8 through 25 accommodate 213 units of rental apartments, featuring a mix of 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom units; some studios; and four levels of luxury penthouse suites.
