EDITH GREEN–WENDELL WYATT FEDERAL BUILDING Portland, Oregon Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building in Portland, Oregon, was renovated under the U.S. General Services Administration’s Design Excellence Program, an initiative to create and preserve outstanding public buildings that will be used and enjoyed now and by future generations of Americans. April 2017 EDITH GREEN–WENDELL WYATT FEDERAL BUILDING Portland, Oregon 6 Origins of Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building 10 Preparing for Modernization 16 EGWW’s Mutually Reinforcing Solutions 24 The Portfolio Perspective 28 EGWW’s Arts Legacy 32 The Design and Construction Team 39 U.S. General Services Administration and the Design Excellence Program 2 Each facade is attuned to daylight angles; the entire solution is based on the way the sun moves around the building. Donald Eggleston Principal, SERA 3 4 5 ORIGINS OF EDITH GREEN-WENDELL WYATT FEDERAL BUILDING At the start of the Great Depression, the Public Buildings Act of 1959 initiated half a million civilians worked for the hundreds more. Of the 1,500 federally United States. In 1965, approximately owned buildings that PBS manages today, 2.7 million Americans held non-uniformed more than one-third dates between 1949 jobs. Federal civilian employment multi- and 1979. plied five times in less than four decades thanks to the New Deal, and Edith Green- GSA’s mid-century building boom almost Wendell Wyatt Federal Building (EGWW) unanimously embodied the democratic stands 18 stories above Portland, Oregon, ideas and sleek geometry of modernist as a long-drawn consequence of that architecture. Not only had modernism historic transformation. achieved popular acceptance by the time, but the movement also resonated with GSA While the New Deal expanded government in deliberate terms. The agency was tasked services to benefit the nation’s economy, with harnessing mass production and other it plagued federal real estate operations, means of achieving economical real estate which could not keep up with demand for development; modernism asserted that offices and other facilities for the growing industrialization could provide high-quality federal workforce. The U.S. General Services buildings for all people. Administration (GSA) was founded in 1949 to furnish this workspace in a The visual language of modernism served systematic, efficient manner. GSA’s Public GSA equally well. As the statesman Daniel Buildings Service (PBS) would specifically Patrick Moynihan argued, architecture oversee new construction and renovations. “reports faithfully for ages what the political values of a particular time were.” A rush of construction followed the Stripping buildings of unnecessary volumes founding of GSA. The Public Buildings and ornamentation communicated a Act of 1949 allotted $70 million to the responsible, sparing use of taxpayer funds. agency for construction and improvement Clean-lined, glass-clad buildings conveyed projects halted during World War II, and the accessibility of federal services, too. 6 Suited as it was to federal building, employees at the least expense to taxpayers. modernism yielded next-generation Indeed, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the landmarks across government. Ground- same architecture and engineering firm breaking designs from the 1950s and 1960s responsible for the Air Force Academy include the U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet chapel, commenced work on EGWW Chapel, numerous foreign embassies, and, in 1969. That design team balanced in GSA’s real estate portfolio, the U.S. Tax innovation and pragmatism, in turn—it Court by Victor Lundy, John F. Kennedy cunningly placed a lush public park above Federal Building by Walter Gropius, and EGWW’s subterranean garage, but also the Chicago Federal Center by Mies van replaced a concrete structure with more der Rohe. Moynihan encapsulated these affordable steel framing faced in single- successes in the Guiding Principles for pane glass and precast concrete panels. Federal Architecture. The 1962 document states that “[m]ajor emphasis should Whether soaring or suitable in appearance, be placed on the choice of designs that all buildings perform less well over time, as embody the finest contemporary American systems like ventilation approach functional architectural thought.” It doubly endorsed obsolescence and occupancy standards forward-looking designs that were dignified become more rigorous. In 1997, the for the government and sensitive to region. Portland-based firm SERA Architects contracted with GSA to solve deficiencies For less prominent public buildings, the emerging at EGWW. As SERA principal federal government preferred a quieter Donald Eggleston recalls, need began expression of social optimism and cultural outpacing its improvements: lobby security patronage. Completed in downtown Portland installed after 9/11 forced queuing outside in 1975, EGWW exemplified this restraint. the building, and the tower’s uninsulated glass and concrete made interior climate The workmanlike modernism behind control difficult. GSA subsequently planned EGWW and similar buildings was intended a thorough upgrade to EGWW’s mechanical to house burgeoning federal civilian systems, security, and seismic resistance. 7 This project has the ability to inspire building owners and private developers to think more creatively. American Institute of Architects 8 9 PREPARING FOR MODERNIZATION GSA authorized EGWW’s upgrade Accepting Eggleston’s invitation prompted through the Design Excellence Program, Cutler to scrutinize EGWW’s 1975 con- which it had founded in 1994 to realize the struction drawings, and on this closer look Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture. he identified an opportunity precisely in Among the methods by which the program the re-engineered structure of the half- accomplishes this task is overseeing million-square-foot office. Because precast procurement of design services. The concrete panels wrapped the steel frame process steers the agency to the architect in U shapes, “the thickness of the U was that has a proven record of efficient, just a subtraction from the usable area,” dignified, regionally sensitive buildings. Cutler recalls. Penciling calculations on the back of an envelope, he realized that Eggleston remembers feeling enthused replacing the concrete with a taut, energy- about the larger-scale EGWW moderni- efficient glass curtain wall would add zation, albeit unsure that SERA’s portfolio approximately 24,000 net rentable square alone would strike the GSA evaluation feet to the building, reduce stress on the board as sufficiently visionary to get the job. refreshed heating and cooling systems, and To bolster the firm’s chances, Eggleston unload enough weight to make seismic approached Cutler Anderson Architects repairs almost incidental. The architect to submit credentials as its partner and also imagined training Boston ivy and design architect. The Bainbridge Island, Virginia creeper up the sunniest exposures Washington–based design studio had of EGWW by way of a trellis mounted in recently completed a land port of entry front of the glass curtain wall. The vines’ for GSA whose simple massing and visible shade and insulation would unburden the construction possessed a functionality and mechanical systems even more. Pacific Northwest spirit that embodied the Guiding Principles for Federal Perhaps not taking the existing scope Architecture. Cutler Anderson principal of work for granted could be more James Cutler agreed to vie for a second advantageous for citizens? SERA and federal commission. Cutler Anderson posed this bold question 10 to GSA and, impressed by its vision, in to lead the effort upon its revival. Brunner 2003 the agency hired the team to design had spent the previous five years pioneering EGWW’s renovation. “The best architect- a collaborative approach to designing client relationships are ones in which and constructing GSA projects known colleagues explore ideas outside of their as integrated delivery: the method allows comfort zones, and trust one another’s an architect to flesh out the most salient expertise,” David Insinga, chief architect aspects of a design; it then introduces a of GSA, remarks of the procurement general contractor and other construction decision. “The Design Excellence Program professionals to advise the completion of encourages that knowledge exchange, that scheme. Established objectives like because it produces more value for the energy efficiency or renewable power American people. SERA and Cutler production serve as benchmarks through Anderson’s early work on Edith Green the completion process, Brunner says, illustrates these best practices.” “and all parties work on the details, iterating solutions and giving and taking Two years later, funding for EGWW’s on budget allocations, to achieve as many upgrade was halted, and construction requirements as possible.” documents remained half complete. The project would not become eligible The open dialogue and tangible successes for funding again until passage of the of Brunner’s recent GSA projects “convinced American Recovery and Reinvestment me that this was really the only method Act of 2009 (ARRA), which apportioned to use on a complex assignment.” When $4.5 billion to GSA for high-performance EGWW came back online, he proposed, modernizations of existing federal properties. it should proceed by integrated delivery. SERA and Cutler Anderson enthused to The delay ultimately helped clarify what de-compartmentalizing responsibilities the EGWW modernization should achieve,