In its design of a new 12,600-square-foot building in Wilsonville, Oregon, PIVOT Architecture was challenged to provide functionality on a tight budget.  The Wilsonville SMART Operations Fleet Facility will primarily serve as a maintenance hub for the city’s transit fleet and public works vehicles. Presently, they are maintained at a Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue facility that the city needs to vacate next year. The new facility will be built on a site near the Wilsonville WES station, and provide space for maintenance and office use.

When PIVOT began work on the project, its team met with Wilsonville officials and determined program needs to create a construction cost estimate. That initial cost was much too high, however. “It came out to $8 million for everything they wanted,” said Eric Gunderson, PIVOT principal-in-charge. “Their budget was only $4.8 million.” To reduce cost, PIVOT downscaled plans for the building and parking lot, and switched out materials and construction systems. “We looked at a lot of different construction systems,” Gunderson said. “A combination of tilt-up concrete construction and wood framing proved to be a pretty economical system.”

The building now is “pretty bare bones,” but works well, according to Gunderson.  “We try to make the most out of the bare bones of the building, and that includes plenty of daylight,” he said.  For the exterior, the PIVOT team considered the building’s use.  “We wanted to create a sense of motion in the exterior appearance,” Gunderson said.  The windows are laid in bands and “slipped” a bit from their frames. The siding is metal, taking cues from buses. And some of the building will be painted the lime green color that is part of the SMART transit brand.

Bids are being accepted from contractors, and construction is expected to start early next year.

The PIVOT Architecture team for the project includes: Gunderson; John Stapleton, project manager; Adam Davidson, designer; Liza Lewellen, interior designer.

Other project consultants include: Hohbach-Lewin Inc., structural engineering; Balzhiser & Hubbard, mechanical engineering; GreenWorks, landscape architecture; Architectural Cost Consultants, cost estimation; Parsons Brinckerhoff, civil engineering and management consulting; Otak Inc., surveying; and Ash Creek Associates Inc., geotechnical engineering.

SOURCE | Daily Journal of Commerce, Oregon