The Reserve

Hennebery Eddy crafted an extensive renovation of Pietro Belluschi’s 109,000-square-foot International Style building in downtown Portland. Originally constructed as a Federal Reserve Bank building in 1950, the transfer to private ownership required a complete analysis of all building systems and code compliance, along with new energy-efficient heating and lighting systems. The project aimed to rehabilitate and adaptively reuse the bank while preserving its modernist traits, to transform its closed-off character into a more transparent composition in order to better address the surrounding urban and pedestrian context, and to create highly desirable office space.

The Reserve renovation and expansion complemented the original building’s simple forms, clean lines, limited materials, and restrained detailing while creating a transparent and accessible entrance, new lobby, and a new 8,000-square-foot penthouse. The new west elevation incorporates an art glass wall to activate the entrance and visually connect to SW 10th Avenue. Original building materials are repeated and reinterpreted in the lobby, with white marble and tapering/rounded walls and ceilings. Set back from the buildings edge by a terrace, the penthouse is executed in a single material — glass — which wraps around the building, unifying the roof and establishing a new image for the building. The new entry and overall design of the project establishes a high level of transparency, making the building much more approachable to tenants and visitors.

Glass insertions and additions open the façade break up the solidity and reduce the mass of the blank west elevation.

“Hennebery Eddy’s restoration of the landmark Pietro Belluschi-designed federal building in downtown Portland […] gave the building new life even as it honored the beautiful and historic original structure.”

— Brian Libby, Portland Journalist & Architecture Critic