Portland State University Art + Design Building

Portland State University’s Schnitzer Art+Design Building will bring PSU’s three art programs together under the same roof for the first time. The design incorporates input from current PSU Art students, such as a student-curated gallery and outdoor work yard. The building is also situated directly on Portland's “Green Loop,” a linear park running through central Portland's park sequences, further connecting the school to the city and the natural spaces around it.

The Art+Design building is funded with $81.6 million in public bonds, contributions from private donors, and the Schnitzer family, for whom it is named. This design-build project was awarded to Lever Architects and KPFF engineers, the team Swinerton and Timberlab partnered with on the Thesis building in Northwest Portland. This working relationship helped win the job before the design process even started. Portland State University originally planned to supplement a concrete and steel build with mass timber elements. However, the project team put together a study on the viability of a full mass timber structure that won the board over. It was so effective that the university recently voted to utilize mass timber in all of its new construction going forward.