Slabtown Square is an anchoring project in the City’s Con-Way master plan, which has been central in the transformation of this former industrial area into a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood. The master plan dictated that Slabtown Square’s site should include a public square as well as a festival street for the future, and it included additional neighborhood height restrictions. The LRS design team used these various limitations to their advantage, drawing inspiration from the master plan’s emphasis on public space to create a beautiful, sustainable mixed-use building that integrates with the neighborhood through a thoughtful mix of plaza, retail, and resident amenity space.

Public plazas are the heart of Slabtown Square. At the prominent corner of NW 21^st Avenue and NW Raleigh Street, a tree-filled corner plaza welcomes pedestrians in with built-in seating and raised planters. Spill-out retail spaces with expansive glass storefronts brings in ample natural daylight and give pedestrians, shoppers, and diners clear views inside and outside to spark interest. Large, operable garage-style doors also allow commercial tenants to open and expand their spaces in good weather to enhance and activate both the customer and pedestrian experience. Transparency at the ground floor was a top priority, reinforcing inside and outside connections.

To minimize the scale of this large, U-shaped building, its masses are broken down with different heights and volumes on each side – it’s taller on the north end, and shorter on the south to increase the amount of sun in the plaza below. This also creates more opportunities for views across Portland to Forest Park, the bridges, and various city landmarks. Canopies at the ground floor and the upper floor unit balconies also help to minimize the overall scale of the building, while a mix of exterior materials, colors, and setbacks give the façade a sense of texture and activity. The building’s southern orientation keeps the plaza and the roof deck amenity well-lit throughout the year.

Early in the project, the design team sought to prioritize high-quality materials that honor the context and history of the site while celebrating the future of the neighborhood. Referencing the many masonry buildings throughout Slabtown, the design has a primarily brick composition with a subtle interplay between masonry, zinc, and glass. To further emphasize community connectivity, a mural created by local artist, Devin Finley, was painted in the breezeway.