Opinion | The renowned firm committed $330,000 of services to realize a new building for Street Roots
Nearly five years ago, Holst Architecture principal and owner Dave Otte made a promise to Street Roots.
Once we found a building to support our ever-expanding needs, Holst would provide architectural services pro bono.
That time came in early 2021, with the project coming to completion this year. The need for a new Street Roots building was amplified by the expanded needs brought on by the pandemic. Street Roots had first occupied a cramped space on SW 12th and Morrison in the 1990s as the Burnside Cadillac, then was renamed and restructured as Street Roots in 1999. We’ve been at NW 2nd and Davis ever since, in a still-cramped space.
Then we found our building on NW 3rd and Burnside. Longtime Street Roots vendor Jason Scheer suggested we check it out — particularly because it was on Burnside, reconnecting us to our original name. As a newspaper, we wanted a highly visible building to mark our role in civic life, as well as the center of existence for people too often pushed to the margins. The building was the right size and right location, and we launched the gambit to buy and renovate it.
I called Dave Otte and he was ready. He brought together a team led by Nici Stauffer, Holst Senior Associate, and Hannah Rusnac, Holst Designer.
Now, three years and $330,000 of donated services later, the dedication of Holst will be fully realized at 281 W. Burnside.
Recently I walked through the building construction site with Hannah, who has devoted thousands — yes, thousands — of hours to this project. She worked on a team that maximized the space to transform two usable floors into four, designing the basement into a wellness center with showers and laundry, and turning the rooftop into the “School in the Sky,” a place for vendors to learn.
We chatted as we walked, but much of the time we were both just taking it in. I wondered if she felt the same excitement I felt, or if the responsibility for all the details loomed too large.
It was never in doubt that Rusnac was dedicated to the social purpose of architecture, designing a space where the poorest people could thrive. To do that, though, Rusnac and her colleagues contended with city codes, project delays, structural needs, permitting constraints, and all the creaks, woes and charm of a century-old building.
As we walked east from the space where vendors will purchase their weekly stocks of papers, Rusnac pointed to a ramp. “That really became a key transition point in the space,” Rusnac said. There were three level changes on the first floor alone, so the Holst team was challenged to find opportunities within constraints. They found a way to create flow in the transition.
The Holst team worked to center folks usually marginalized through design. Every space is designed for the movement of wheelchairs. That’s why, Rusnac explained, “the stairs stop and start basically at the same point as the elevator. So it's that same experience” of moving up and down the building.
A central consideration was how people experiencing trauma could find calm when so much is, indeed, unpredictable and chaotic. The space is designed to calm the senses. She chose a cool green for the inside and there are long stretches of window seats for vendors that double as supply storage. The light is soft: white globed fixtures illuminate the central gathering space.
The team worked through solutions to soften the crash of many voices in an open space. They selected an acoustic spray treatment for the high, long ceiling. Now painted in that soft green, it resembles a mossy landscape.
In addition to creating density by designing how both the basement and rooftop could be used for programming, the Holst team strove to maximize every inch of the building. This meant exposing some of the structural elements — ducts, beams and brace frames.
“It’s almost like you have no other choice but to expose it,” Rusnac said, “but I think it helps tell the story of what happened and how this building will continue on into the future.”
It was exposing the history of the building that led to a clever solution on the rooftop. The Holst team was challenged to create a trellis around the new classroom and patio that added a green space downtown and also functioned as a safety barrier. Rusnac chose to mimic the crisscrossing streetcar cable lines that historically ran along NW 3rd outside the building.
“It’s so meaningful when you can keep an existing building that has a history and beauty to it and make that seen again, and in a new way,” Rusnac said.
The three years of work will result in a space where people experiencing homelessness and poverty will seek low-barrier income opportunities and stability — as well as, often, an opportunity to find community and move toward dreams. Rusnac is eager to see how Street Roots vendors interact in the building and continue to change it.
“It's meant to change, it's meant to adapt,” she said of her work on the building’s architecture. “Seeing people change their space shows the power that they have.”
Street Roots is an award-winning weekly investigative publication covering economic, environmental and social inequity. The newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Street Roots newspaper operates independently of Street Roots advocacy and is a part of the Street Roots organization. Learn more about Street Roots . Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today .
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