1 AIA LU|HSW

AIA Oregon’s 2030 Award is meant to celebrate projects which balance exceptional design and forward-thinking energy performance. This award is not just about one exemplary project; it is about our community's commitment to innovative, sustainable architecture and leadership among our design peers.

Join the AIAO Committee on the Environment for a presentation by Ink Built Architecture on Timber Ridge Affordable Housing, the 2024 Oregon Architecture Awards 2030 Award Winner.

This project takes some very intentional detours from status-quo housing development in small towns and rural communities.  The presenters will explain how the project considered the numerous local assets in terms of amenities, access, natural environment, and social supports; building on them as an asset-based community development model.  They will also cover the key strategies employed from early community engagement, to relentless collaboration and problem solving, to long term durability and maintenance considerations.  Even as the project faced immense and unforeseeable budget challenges, the project held fast to the values and goals it set out to achieve; and they will strive to illuminate the pathway for other developers and project teams who often face similar challenges.

Using the AIA’s framework for excellence and ILFI’s framework for regenerative design, they will explain how the project exemplifies the following values:

●      Design for Equitable Communities - addressed through community engagement, trauma-informed and biophilic design, 8-80 concepts for age inclusive design, integration of a Head Start preschool program, art installations and murals

●      Design for Wellbeing - fundamentals of site and building design that enhance interactions as well as restful separation, daily experiences within a native landscape, natural regional materials, ample daylight, excellent indoor air quality, and robust shared amenity spaces and activities both inside and out

●      Energy & Carbon Reduction - Zero Energy design achieved through tax credit solar system and value-driven building envelope and HVAC system selections that drive energy use low, while optimizing comfort and environmental quality.

Learning Objectives

Learning Objective 1:
Explain how project planning centered the occupant's experience, through the journeys, interactions, and opportunities available to a resident on any given day, and how this understanding helps the designer strive to make every aspect of living in a place more abundant.

Learning Objective 2:
Describe how the project couples energy efficiency and climate response with the prioritization of human health and comfort - overlapping strategies that contribute to both immediate and long term sustainability of a place.

Learning Objective 3:
Use trauma-informed design thinking as an essential driver of fundamental decisions in order to realize better outcomes for real people - resist the status quo of the able-ist perspective.

Learning Objective 4:
Apply the principle of "Always strive for multiple benefits" to resource allocation strategies, demonstrating responsibility in maximizing limited resources to achieve diverse and impactful outcomes.

Speakers

Andrea Wallace, AIA
Principal Architect, Ink Built Architecture

Andrea’s desire to serve others, coupled with immense tenacity and passion landed her in leadership positions from the very beginning of her career.  Today, she is a champion of beauty, sustainability, and equity as a fierce advocate for women and people of color within and beyond her profession.  Andrea employs her design abilities to solve problems through simple and elegant solutions; seeking a beautiful practicality through every phase of the process. Her driving question; “how can we say a creation is sustainable if it is not also beautiful and affordable and available to everyone?”

Nate Ember, AIA
Principal Architect, Ink Built Architecture

Nate is a seasoned design and technical architect with broad experience across many project types and in-depth expertise in all things housing.  His passion to make the world better constantly drives him to learn and delve deeper into topics of equity, health, ecology, systems, community dynamics, and the expression of meaning in design.  Knowing that design has great power to improve life for people and the planet, while simultaneously seeing that those benefits have been available to only a small slice of society spurs an extra kick of motivation to make the architecture profession and larger development industry do and be better.