Message from the AIA Portland Section Director

Jennifer Wright, AIA
AIAO Portland Section Director

Hello, I appreciate having this opportunity to update all of you on the progress of the formation of an AIAO CRAN (Custom Residential Architects Network) Committee. I would also like to take a moment to join all my fellow AIAO members in extending a warm welcome to Heather Wilson in her new role as EVP/CEO of our State chapter. I know that her expertise with facilitating community connections and supporting progressive policy will bring immense value to the organization and I look forward to working alongside her.

Prioritizing the topic of housing, from single family residential to multi-family development, has been a driving element in the formation of two of AIAO’s newest committees: The CRAN Committee & The Housing & Community Development Committee (HCDC). Having been Knowledge Communities at the AIA National level for many years, member demand has led to these committees being reflected at a local level. Personally, in my role as Residential Studio Director at Telford+Brown Studio, I am excited about being involved in both committees and expanding my knowledge within all scales of housing. Creating spaces for thoughtful dialogue amidst people with broad perspective and lived experience brings innovative ideas to the table that will benefit all of us as individuals & as practitioners. Tonight’s April 8th Thursday Roundtable event from 5 to 6 pm, provides an opportunity for interested members to weigh in on the development of The Housing & Community Development Committee (HCDC). A group which tackles the challenging topics of affordable housing, missing middle housing, homelessness & density at both a statewide & community level.

Comprised of a group of design professionals that share a common interest in or are engaged in custom residential practice, the AIA National CRAN Knowledge Community is a style-neutral group that recognizes members who are engaged in all types of residential architecture design and practice models. From kitchen remodels to new construction, the group provides a forum for an exchange of ideas and resources that affect the residential practitioner.  In fact, a handful of resources that serve the purpose of educating potential clients about an architect’s beneficial role can be found on the CRANtv YouTube channel,  which features videos like “How to choose an architect for your project” and “The Owner/Architect Contract”.

Last week’s April 1st Thursday Roundtable served as a forum for AIAO members to learn more about what topics the AIAO CRAN Committee may focus on by reviewing recent examples of events hosted by other local chapter CRAN groups.

Some examples included:

• AIA Austin CRAN: Site visit to discuss the value of an architect regarding general development, zoning requirements & energy efficient building design methods

• AIA Chicago CRAN: Mentoring staff - how to retain well-trained employees through positive firm culture

• AIA Houston CRAN: 5 Principles for a Healthy Home

• AIA Cincinnati CRAN: Plumbing 101 – What your plumber wishes you knew & How cut effects appearances of wood flooring

• AIA Minnesota: Developing & promoting award programs for Emerging Talent of the Year and Architect of Distinction

• AIA New York: Decarbonization is Now! And Demystifying Passive House

These examples serve to illustrate how each chapter can take a lead in focusing their CRAN dialogue to mirror the priorities of their membership and region. Those attending last Thursday’s Roundtable voiced interest in the possibility of hosting the annual AIA National CRAN Symposium as a way to promote local residential designers to a national audience, creating more inroads with residential contractors that are interested in supporting custom design and sourcing subject matter experts that would educate on designing resiliency in the face of the destructive nature of fires, tsunamis and climate change.

As can be expected of many topics, there is inevitable cross over with the work of other AIAO Committees. Discussion regarding government policy, regional zoning and codes shows direct parallels with the issues being focused on by The Housing & Community Development Committee (HCDC). The group’s interest to learn more about energy efficient solutions and Net Zero incentives illustrates the importance of tying into the ongoing work being done by The Committee on the Environment (COTE). Finally, the fact that a majority of firms focusing on custom residential projects are small groups with less than 10 employees means that there are many correlations with topics promoted by the Small Firms Exchange (SFx). In fact, AIA Seattle merged their CRAN and Small Firms Exchange into SPARC, The Small Practice & Residential Committee. Discussing the variety of groups and their broad focus prompted a lively discussion of an AIAO hybrid of sorts, where each interested committee might schedule educational outreach, an event or a subject matter expert to focus on a CRAN related topic at points throughout the year.

This summarizes what is only the first discussion in the formation of our unique Oregon-based CRAN Committee and I look forward to hearing your input as these ideas gain momentum. Until next time, if you are interested in learning more about AIA CRAN and their ongoing events, including this month’s webinar on Lessons Learned on Detailing for Durability, visit the AIA CRAN Knowledge Community.

Message from the AIAO President

Amy Vohs, AIA
AIAO President

EVP/CEO Search Update

Hello everyone, I wanted to touch base with you on our search for a new Executive Vice President/CEO for AIA Oregon. As you may be aware, Curt Wilson has been our EVP/CEO for the last year and a half in an interim capacity. He remained in the role long enough to allow us enough time to find a permanent replacement.  In the fall of 2020 we created an EVP/CEO search task force with representation from all sections and a variety of architects at different levels in their careers to get a well-rounded selection committee.

In December, we announced the posting on various national job websites and received over 90 applicants which took us three weeks to review and narrow down to about 20.  In January the task force reviewed the selection down again to about 14 applicants. We then extended an invitation to this group to provide a video responding to specific questions we had about AIA Oregon and a little background on each person.  Of the 14 applicants, eight responded with videos the task force later reviewed. From these videos we narrowed the selection down to three individuals who were invited to interview via Zoom.  

The final three applicants had extensive experience in working with non-profits and would have brought a very unique approach to working with AIA Oregon. The task force recommended one individual to the board on March 19, 2021 to begin negotiations with one candidate who has specific experience with other chapters within AIA.  We look forward to introducing you to the new EVP/CEO next week as negotiations conclude.  A preliminary schedule is to have the new EVP/CEO in place by the end of April with some overlap with Curt Wilson assisting with the transition through the beginning of May. 

We are very excited about the future leadership of AIA Oregon and have had some really exciting discussions on moving this chapter forward. We will miss all of the wonderful organizational skills and passion that Curt has brought to the organization. I know he is eager to get back into the practice of architecture. Please look for the announcement in next week’s Thursday at 3.

Message from the AIAO Executive Vice-President

Curt Wilson, AIA
AIA Oregon EVP

Portland CFA Status

We’ve had a long winter indoors (and with Zoom) and I’m happy for Spring and getting outdoors more.  Late March for my wife and I is the beginning of the mowing season on our property west of Eugene, which is oddly exciting this year.

The focus of this message is on the status of our lease for our main office in Portland, the Center for Architecture.  Our lease, the original lease signed in 2006, expires at the end of this year on December 31, and we have had been unable to negotiate a suitable lease extension with the building owner.  I apprised the AIA Oregon Board of Directors of this on at the March 19, 2021 board meeting, and we are preparing to move forward.

How’d we get here?  AIA Portland took control of the space in 2006 as the future Center for Architecture in Portland.  Other larger city chapters were also creating spaces that not only served as the operational headquarters for their AIA chapter with meetings, social events and educational programming, and space to support programming for architecture, design education and advocacy intended for the public at large.  Planning and design of the CFA occurred in 2007 and 2008, which was impacted by the Great Recession, and construction was completed in 2009.  The CFA was a vibrant place with a classroom, gallery space, meeting room, and staff offices in the heart of the Pearl District.  AIA Portland was a generous host for AIA Oregon (the former state council) meetings, which I attended regularly.  I also made many trips from Eugene for the Friday Education (FRED) series.  I love the space and was excited to work there when I took over as EVP/CEO in July 2019.

From my perspective as EVP, I saw a different side of the CFA.  The ceiling throughout our 5,000 sf space was damaged during an unusual weather event in February 2017 and the dispute with the building owner over responsibility remains unresolved.  The lease terms place AIA Oregon at risk for repairs to the building systems and other repairs that I feel is excessive for a tenant.  In addition, the costs of occupancy, including rent, tenant improvement loan payments, utilities, insurance, etc. were approximately one third of our 2020 operational expenses.  While we are addressing the needs of the CFA, we need to consider the context of our transition to a single state chapter, and the need to equitably service members across the state.

In 2020, AIA Oregon President Amy Vohs and I convened a Facilities Task Force.  Bill Hart, AIA and I co-chair the facilities task force, and the participants include board leaders, representatives from all sections, and members from the AIA Portland Section.  Click HERE to read the 11/11/2020 Message from Bill Hart about the purpose of the Facilities Task Force.

The Task Force was asked to evaluate the CFA in Portland and the Octagon in Eugene, to discuss our spatial needs to support engagement, education, design advocacy, and operations across the state, to consider revenue/expense considerations, and to make a recommendation to the Board regarding our future occupancy in the CFA.  Keep in mind that this occurred during the work-from-home environment of the pandemic when the CFA was last open in late March 2020.

The Task Force summary report to the Board presented at the December 2020 board meeting includes:

1. Our facilities planning should be based on physical presence in all sections and should reinforce the single state chapter-local section model.

2. The operational budget should incorporate equitable funding for the space in all sections.

3. Our long-term commitment to space should be nimble.

4. The CFA is the central location for operations, socializing, advocacy, and education. These functions are vital to our organization, but do not need to happen in the same location.

5. Our presence in all sections should be associated with cultural institutions that support design, architecture, and community.  A university campus is located in each section center.

6. The main office for AIA Oregon should remain in Portland, and be conveniently located to as many members as possible.

The task force recommended that AIA Oregon not exercise the 5-year extension in the current lease, but instead negotiate new terms with the building owner for a shorter duration, and shift more of the responsibility for the repair and maintenance of building systems to the building owner.  The Board agreed at the December 1, 2020 board meeting, and a letter was sent to the owner later in the month.

Efforts through our commercial broker to negotiate new terms with the building owner have not been successful, and the Facilities Task Force recommended to the Board to terminate negotiations and to focus efforts on finding a future home.  This discussion occurred at the March 19, 2021 board meeting and we are moving forward accordingly. 

As we move forward, we are organizing our related efforts into three tracks.

Track 1:  Find a new space for AIA Oregon.  This will be a Facilties Task Force lead effort.

Track 2:  Address the lease-required repairs to the CFA before the end of the lease.  This will be an EVP lead effort.

Track 3:  Prepare to vacate the CFA by the end of the year.  This will be a staff lead effort.

As we search for new space, we want input from as many members and partners as possible.  As we all quickly pivoted to a new way to work and engage in response to Covid, the Facilities Task Force believes that we’ll engage, learn, advocate, and support our communities in new ways, and our commitment to physical and digital space should reflect this.  We need your help.  We need more perspectives guiding our decisions.

If you are interested in participating on the Facilities Task Force, or have comments to share, please contact me at cwilson@aiaoregon.org.  In addition, we expect to provide updates through Thursdays@Three articles, and discussion sessions through the Thursday Roundtable venue.

We are working with Doug Carter, our broker with Norris Stevens, for advice on the Portland real estate market and to scout out potential space for us.  Our initial direction to Doug is:

• Look for 3,000 to 5,000 sf of space.

• Focus on locations in areas of Portland near concentrations of members.

• Consider locations near architecture schools and/or other cultural institutions in Portland.

• Focus on transit corridors.

As we plan for the remainder of the year and the transition to our new EVP/CEO, I strongly recommend that we find ways to celebrate the Center for Architecture at 403 NW 11th in the Pearl District.  I’m generally sad that one of my last significant tasks of my tenure is to report to you that we will not remain in the space, but I’m confident that it is the best long-term decision for our chapter.  If you have comments, concerns, or want to understand more details involved in the decisions that got us to this point, please reach out to me at the email address listed above.