Portland Building, Remodeled Instead of Demolished, Might Lose Historic Status

A renovation saved the Portland Building, designed by postmodern pioneer Michael Graves, from demolition, but its likely doomed its status on the National Register of Historic Places.

June 21, 2019, 9am PDT | James Brasuell | @CasualBrasuell

The Portland Building, pictured in July 2017.

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"An audit by the City of Portland, Oregon, has found that the DLR Group’s renovation of the Michael Graves–designed Portland Building is over budget and, once complete, will cause the building to lose its historic landmark status," reports Jonathan Hilburg.

The Portland Building came close to being demolished back in 2014, due to "desperately needed waterproofing, seismic, and efficiency upgrades."

The city an alternative that involved reskinning the tower "with a unitized aluminum rainscreen designed to imitate the original facade."

"However, according to the City of Portland’s audit of the renovation, a follow-up to an initial risk analysis report, the budget has increased to $214 million. It was also revealed that once the project is complete, the building will be removed from the National Register of Historic Places," according to Hilburg.

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DLR Group’s Portland Building renovation will kill its historic status

Published on Monday, June 17, 2019 in The Architect's Newspaper