Architecture

Impressively green timber office building is built to last

Impressively green timber office building is built to last
Now that the project is complete, the PAE Living Building's energy performance will continue to be monitored over the next 12 months
Now that the project is complete, the PAE Living Building's energy performance will continue to be monitored over the next 12 months
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Now that the project is complete, the PAE Living Building's energy performance will continue to be monitored over the next 12 months
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Now that the project is complete, the PAE Living Building's energy performance will continue to be monitored over the next 12 months
The PAE Living Building's exterior is designed to complement the local architecture in Portland, Oregon
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The PAE Living Building's exterior is designed to complement the local architecture in Portland, Oregon
The PAE Living Building includes solar panels and a battery array, which allow it to run off-the-grid for up to 100 days during summer
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The PAE Living Building includes solar panels and a battery array, which allow it to run off-the-grid for up to 100 days during summer
The PAE Living Building's water needs are met using an onsite water capture and recycling system that includes cisterns to hold 62,500 gallons (roughly 237,000 l) of rainwater
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The PAE Living Building's water needs are met using an onsite water capture and recycling system that includes cisterns to hold 62,500 gallons (roughly 237,000 l) of rainwater
The PAE Living Building measures 58,000 sq ft (almost 5,400 sq m), spread over five floors
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The PAE Living Building measures 58,000 sq ft (almost 5,400 sq m), spread over five floors
The PAE Living Building was primarily constructed using glued laminated timber and cross-laminated timber
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The PAE Living Building was primarily constructed using glued laminated timber and cross-laminated timber
Over 50% of the PAE Living Building's primary work areas are naturally illuminated by daylight
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Over 50% of the PAE Living Building's primary work areas are naturally illuminated by daylight
The PAE Living Building's interior decor leaves the timber uncovered, highlighting the natural beauty of the wood
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The PAE Living Building's interior decor leaves the timber uncovered, highlighting the natural beauty of the wood
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Designed to withstand severe earthquakes and to last for as long as 500 years, the PAE Living Building, by ZGF Architects, is an impressive example of resilient sustainable design. The office building has been constructed largely from timber and minimizes its grid-based energy use both passively and using technology like solar panels.

The PAE Living Building is located in Portland, Oregon, on a former parking lot. Structurally, it consists of sustainably sourced glued laminated timber and cross-laminated timber, though there is some concrete too, and its overall design nods to the local architecture in the city.

The building measures 58,000 sq ft (almost 5,400 sq m), spread over five floors. The ground floor hosts retail space and a fitness center, with the upper floors given over to office space. There's also an open-air lounge area. As is typically the case with these modern engineered wood buildings, the interior decor throughout leans into the natural beauty of the timber and leaves surfaces largely uncovered.

According to ZGF Architects, the PAE Living Building uses only one-fifth as much energy as a standard comparable office building. Its photovoltaic panel and battery system includes a 133-kW PV array on the roof and an offsite 215-kW PV array, as well as a two-way connection to the city's electrical grid. This allows the building to temporarily operate in a special low energy mode while completely disconnected from the grid (for example because of a blackout), and also run off-the-grid for up to 100 days over the summer.

The PAE Living Building's interior decor leaves the timber uncovered, highlighting the natural beauty of the wood
The PAE Living Building's interior decor leaves the timber uncovered, highlighting the natural beauty of the wood

All of the building's water needs are met using an onsite water capture and recycling system that includes cisterns holding 62,500 gallons (roughly 237,000 l) of rainwater and up to 8,500 gallons (32,000 l) of stormwater. The building also has a complex composting system that transforms human waste into liquid fertilizer and agriculture-grade compost onsite – ZGF Architects says this can serve as an income source for the building owners. Furthermore, over 50% of the main work areas are naturally illuminated using daylight and 70% of the building perimeter can be naturally ventilated with operable windows.

We were curious about the longevity claims and its earthquake resistance, and reached out to the firm for more information.

"The PAE Living Building is designed and constructed for both endurance and adaptability that will cater to multiple generations of users," explained a press representative. "One example is the building's design for maximum resilience in the event of a major earthquake (up to 8.0 on the Richter scale). After weighing various options, the team determined that it made both structural and financial sense to invest in a costlier 'stiff' frame that would bring the building up to Category IV standards – achieving the same level of seismic resilience required of hospitals and fire stations."

The PAE Living Building's water needs are met using an onsite water capture and recycling system that includes cisterns to hold 62,500 gallons (roughly 237,000 l) of rainwater
The PAE Living Building's water needs are met using an onsite water capture and recycling system that includes cisterns to hold 62,500 gallons (roughly 237,000 l) of rainwater

The PAE Living Building is so-named because one of its tenants is the engineering firm PAE and because it's slated to meet the Living Building green building standard. Over the next 12 months, its performance will be closely monitored and only then will it be officially certified, should it meet expectations.

Source: ZGF Architects

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4 comments
4 comments
paul314
The interior design will have to be seriously flexible to be usable for all the different purposes that might arise in 500 years. There are plenty of buildings that old still in use, but most of them have been massively renovated inside on multiple occasions (to put in things like running water, inside toilets, non-fireplace heating). Who knows what people will need from an office-ish building even 100 years from now?
Karmudjun
Nice article Adam. How effective will that human waste composting be? The risk of contamination of human foods grown and fertilized by composted human waste is a byline of all organic farmers - only grow animal forage using human waste-stream. I'm not sure if I trust the building's composting standards if they sell the effluent or solid compost to food growing entities.
It seems nice that they were able to build to the Hospital standard for earthquakes - but no mention of how long the building needs to completely outgas the bonding agents (the glues holding the laminate structural compoinents) and what levels are acceptable when completed?
FoFu
I'm not an expert in this but isn't the laminated wood imbued with so much plastic resin that it is essentially more plastic than wood by mass? If this is the case how is this sustainable? This is essentially a plastic building with the wood fiber acting as reinforcement, like steel reinforced concrete. This is just another scam by the petro chemical industry, like hydrogen power, since oil is required to make the resins to produce the laminated wood.
FB36
In past centuries, building ships & buildings from timber/wood had nearly destroyed all forests of many countries & not to mention, there were many giant city-wide fires!
Maybe we should/must take lesson from history?
Not to mention, do we really want to constantly produce & use very harmful chemicals to fight against termites etc, in all future buildings/towns/cities?
IMHO, trying to bring back timber/wood building construction is a really bad idea!!!