AD—WO to convert Portland grain silo into complex based in "Black spatial tradition"

The Albina Riverside hotel and arts centre project in Oregon has been designed by US studios AD—WO, Mall, and Wayside Studio around the reuse of a former grain terminal complex along the Willamette River.

Commissioned by the nonprofit 1803 Fund, the forthcoming Albina Riverside project supports the 1803 Fund's intent to enable "multiple stages for play, exploration, learning, and ritual" at the site used for grain processing by international firm Louis Dreyfus Co in the early 20th century.

Six silos will be reused in the Portland scheme, which weaves together the arts, leisure, and sporting activity into an interconnected space for recreation and entertainment.

It will transform the since-neglected postindustrial waterfront into a "vibrant site for Black pilgrimage, creativity, and ecological restoration," AD—WO cofounder Emanuel Admassu told Dezeen.

The program includes a wood-slat-screened Art Shed in the silo headhouse, topped by a terrace, as well as an open-air Art Cube pavilion, an all-season Basketball Shed, and a 16-storey hotel, all serviced by a bridge-like processional terrace called The Crossing.

The lobby of the hotel will sit on top of a three-storey podium and be connected to a series of flexible exhibition and event spaces that spread across the existing silos.

Its largest component will be the 53,500-square-foot (4,970 square metre) two-level Articulated Dock beset by terraced planters and a wading pool that brings users into direct contact with the river's edge.

Altogether, the project encompasses some 3.2 acres and will stand as an exemplar of "Black spatial traditions that reclaim and animate undervalued sites into places of joy and assembly," said the team.

Reused concrete, mass timber, and pre-oxidised copper are among the materials chosen to strike a balance between industrial heritage and ecology.

Repurposed steel recovered from the silos' existing structural frames and conveyor trusses will also be incorporated throughout the site.

At the site, wetlands will be terraced and other landscaped areas will be organised into four zones for more effective water and habitat management. Expanded bicycle and pedestrian pathways will meander through each zone, meeting a northern nexus that keys a connection to the wider riverfront areas beyond.

"The landscape is reframed as a reparative system, working in concert with the hydrological character of the Willamette watershed," AD—WO cofounder Jen Wood told Dezeen.

"The primary gesture is a series of vegetative bands that establish an ecological gradient across the site. Beginning from the railway lines, an upland forest yields to scrublands, then a wet meadow to slough."

"The goal is to create a landscape that transforms in concert with a visitor's approach towards the water's edge," Wood added.

"It was beautiful to participate in a fluid exchange of ideas between three design offices, graphic designers and the owner. ‘Collaboration' is a word floated around a lot right now, yet it is typically a difficult thing to successfully pull off in practice," Mall founder Jennifer Bonner told Dezeen.

"For the 1803 Fund to open up this postindustrial landscape for the Black community in Portland and visitors beyond is a wild vision," she continued.

Elsewhere in Oregon, ÖÖD has designed a series of mirrored riverside retreat cabins, and SHED has completed its renovation of an early 1960s residential design overlooking Mount Hood.

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