Boora Architects

For the first five years after it moved its headquarters from New Jersey to Oregon, Adidas was headquartered in the suburb of Beaverton, an enclave of chain restaurants and strip malls located about 20 minutes from downtown Portland. Over time, Adidas grew unhappy with its outer-city locale. Demographically a young workforce, employee lifestyles revolve around Portland's hip downtown more than the suburbs.  And being in Beaverton required some long commutes. To win the battle for top talent, the company decided it would need a new facilty.  An active urban headquarters modeled after a European village, rather than a suburban enclave behind defensive berms, better suited the company's youthful,energetic brand.

To unite the complex across the busy Greeley Avenue, Boora's design team extended a wedge-shaped entry plaza at the heart of the existing hospital complex to the opposite side of the site, creating a large public space at the center of the complex and giving both existing and new buildings a focal point. This plaza directs all circulation to this shared central space and collects executive, employee, and visitor traffic flow.

Sited at the center of the plaza and forming the core of the complex, an elliptical fitness center doubles as a conference space for corporate events.  To preserve open space around the new buildings for public and corporate playing fields, an 830-car garage fits into the excavated hillside, capitalizing on the significant grade change from one side of the site to the other.

As the core and shell architect, Boora then sought an exterior skin treatment for the complex that would unite the existing hospital buildings with the new construction across the street. The design team devised a building skin for the new buildings teeming with windows and vibrant color. The cladding totally covers two of the new buildings, while on the other side of the site, the patterned skin provides only an accent, creating the effect of a reflection of the new buildings on the old.

The village's design makes strong connections between the headquarters and Portland's Overlook neighborhood, which surrounds it. In contrast to corporate sites that restrict public access, Adidas wanted to make its complex an asset for the community.  For this reason, the concrete skybridge over Greeley Avenue provides safe passage not only for employees passing between buildings but also for neighbors crossing the busy thoroughfare to access a transit stop on the street.  The design aligned the paths of the campus's internal circulation with existing circulation paths in the neighborhood and eliminated all barriers to moving unimpeded from the neighborhood to the complex and vice versa.

The re-use of the hospital facility required abatement of hazardous materials – asbestos, chemicals, even a nuclear radiation lab. Of the remaining materials, Adidas made a concerted effort to reuse whatever it could from the existing facility. Doors, lights, sconces, lockers, fire extinguisher cabinets, and exit signs from the Bess Kaiser facility remain in the buildings today. Discarded toilets, shelving, cabinets, stainless steel counters, surgical equipment, and doors were routed to Portland’s Rebuilding Center, a marketplace where building materials diverted from the waste stream are sold. Additionally, through the assistance of Mercy Corps International, Adidas was able to donate 110 tons of new or existing hospital equipment to needy facilities in developing countries.