OTAK is an international multidisciplinary firm of architects, engineers and planners, with offices across several states as well as in the Middle East. When they opted to move their corporate offices to two floors of a historic building in downtown Portland, SUM worked with them and the property owner to create an open office atmosphere to help foster cooperation between their various teams. With engineering at the heart of their practice, SUM thought it was important to expose the heart of the building’s structure - massive timber columns whose weathered finish form a compelling counterpart to the clean modern lines of the rest of the space. A spectrum of spaces leads from the open studios to glass volumes housing private offices and meeting rooms, and then back again, culminating in an amphitheater around the stairway tying the two floors together, where collaborative design meetings are held.

location
Portland, OR