PSU Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design

Portland State University’s Schnitzer School of Art, Art History and Design is a four-story, 100,000 square foot mass timber building. The project brings together Art, Art History, and Graphic Design programs in one building for the first time in decades. The school’s design includes purpose-built classrooms, studios, and maker spaces designed with input from students and faculty. The student commons area sits at the core of the building and opens directly to a landscaped courtyard. Adjacent to this commons area is the main lecture hall, which doubles as an event space and provides direct access to the courtyard. The building was organized around a series of flexible commons areas, which act as informal gathering, exhibit, and learning spaces.

The building is PSU’s first mass timber project with a structure comprised entirely of regional Douglas Fir. The timber is harvested from Oregon and Washington forests, with over 50% of the glulam material from tribal enterprises, including Yakama and Umpqua owned or managed forests. The mass timber structure is prefabricated to a remarkable 1/8th inch tolerance, which allows for an impressive speed of installation and high degree of precision during construction. It took less than three weeks to install the columns, beams, and floor structure for a single level. This pre-fabrication included roughly 1000 penetrations that were digitally coordinated with BIM to organize the building’s various mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems around the structure. These building system components are also largely prefabricated for faster construction and efficiency.