Happy Holidays from LRS Architects!

With the holiday season upon us, we’re reflecting on the past year at LRS Architects and giving gratitude to those who have helped shape our firm and our community. It’s been quite a year full of challenges and triumphs, but we’re truly grateful for every moment. From all of us at LRS Architects, we wish to extend our warmest holiday wishes to our clients, partners, collaborators, and friends.

In lieu of sending holiday gifts, it is an LRS tradition to spread cheer and give back to our community by making charitable donations to local nonprofits on behalf of our clients and partners. This year, we’re delighted to announce Habitat for Humanity and Oregon Food Bank as the recipients for our 2023 holiday giving. These two wonderful organizations resonate with our mission to create strong, happy, healthy communities and enrich the lives of those they serve. Our partnership with Habitat for Humanity allows us to support their efforts to provide affordable housing to families who need it most, especially during this season of love and sharing. Additionally, through the Oregon Food Bank, we can reach out to the hungry in our community and play our part in filling their bellies with warmth and nourishment. We encourage all our clients and partners to learn more about Habitat and Oregon Food Bank to see your holiday gift in action.

Behind the Scenes Making of the Holiday Card

This year, the LRS Design Lab, a team at LRS focusing on emerging technologies and innovations in the AEC industry, took on a different kind of creative project: designing and fabricating our annual holiday card. Drawing inspiration from a classic holiday village scene, the design features a combination of iconic and upcoming LRS projects that showcase the craft and innovation of our distinct design culture. The holiday card was also an opportunity to test the capabilities of LRS’ 3D printer, a tool that we use throughout our design process.

The Design Lab team collaborated to generate conceptual sketches, arranging the village of LRS projects to represent a vibrant and interactive holiday scene. They translated these concepts into 3D modelling, which inspired even more creative energy and fresh ideas. Each stage of this design journey was documented meticulously, detailing every triumph and challenge encountered.

Once the 3D model was polished and finalized, the model was brought to life with the 3D printer. With every passing hour, our holiday village developed, each layer adding intricate details. All along, this incredible transformation from concept sketches to tangible design was recorded in a stunning visual chronicle.

The final result is a beautiful 3D holiday card that showcases various LRS projects. From public infrastructure, residential buildings, and civic centers to distinctive high-rise icons in the Portland skyline, the LRS holiday village landscape casts a festive light on a wide range of our projects, past, present, and future. The LRS Design Lab’s holiday card design process is an unconventional, festive visual testament of the power of collaboration and the joy of creating together.

What is the LRS Design Lab?

The LRS Design Lab is a pioneering entity at the forefront of LRS Architects’ advancing technology and practical innovation strides. Their mission is to keep LRS ahead of emerging design technology, and to cultivate our culture of innovation, empowering and supporting our design teams to explore new territory. LRS Design Lab’s impacts are not confined within our walls; they bring our clients and the communities where we work new ways to participate in the design process and interact with the ideas and concepts that will one day become built spaces. The design world transforms at a rapid pace, with constant technological advances, evolving social and cultural values, and global economic shifts significantly reshaping our environment and, with it, the design profession. To keep up with this tide of change, contemporary tools like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), computational design, and robotic fabrication are becoming mainstream in daily life and in many professions. Recognizing this transformative shift, the LRS Design Lab is continuously exploring innovative approaches to integrate these paradigm-shifting advancements into LRS’ design culture and daily operations. In 2024, stay tuned for more exciting updates about the LRS’ Design Lab and their continued work to chart LRS’ path to the future.