For most of us, when we think of a Fred Meyer store, we think of a big box suburban grocery store constructed of painted block. But when the owners decided it was time to remodel the decade’s old store on the edge of downtown Portland, the typical design never made it past first base. The city wanted something special.
The location of this particular store sits at the western edge of downtown and just to the south of Portland’s famous Pearl District. So a ho-hum painted block building was not going to cut it. Instead the city leaders wanted an iconic structure that would add intrinsic value to this part of Portland. So Mackenzie Architects set out to do just that.
The result was a beautiful new brick building that looks nothing like a grocery store.
In the words of the architect: “The renovation and expansion of the Fred Meyer Stadium Retail Store on West Burnside represents an urban response to both community and context. The new design balances the programmatic needs of the client, the ethos of the neighborhoods, and the guidance of the Portland Design Commission.”
J&S Masonry laid the roughly 80,000 Columbia brick on this project. Of interest as the use of a combination of both full size and Slimbrick products. This new capability enabled us to add brick in areas where there wasn’t enough structural support for full size brick. In the past, another material would have been used instead of brick.
The project received high praise for its design, earning the 2015 Mayor’s Design Excellence Award.
