Montgomery Park

Montgomery Park is an icon of Portland, Oregon and represents the industry and commercial activity that has been in this area for centuries. The transformational master plan for this Park leverages creative program, branding, architecture, and planning to create an iconic identity of place while successfully integrating complex civic and private programmatic needs with a thoughtful mix of preservation, re-interpretation and new construction.

Urban Design Frame Work Plan

Leveraging sensitive adaptive reuse strategies, the District seeks to celebrate the site’s history & iconic architecture by celebrating the historic Montgomery Park building and American Can Complex. Breathing life back into the urban fabric with programmed and active uses, new programs and a refreshed identity cater to the existing workers and surrounding community needs. The human-scaled urban fabric and circulation encourage interaction, sense of discovery, and provide experiential moments of surprise and delight that draw people through the district. A variety of open spaces of multiple scales engage the surrounding neighborhoods and create a functional 18 hour a day destination that appeals to a broad range of users.

CREATING A DISTRICT

City Context

The district is the size of twelve historic 200 x 200 Portland blocks with large existing building footprints, so it is key to break down the scale of the development into smaller compact parcels and integrate a district spine with innovative wayfinding to encourage connectivity and universal access. These large existing footprints provide opportunities to carve open pedestrian connections, courtyards, and light wells to promote a porous and inviting district at the ground level while providing natural light into the buildings. With a future streetcar line expansion creating a terminus stop at Montgomery Park, it opens up an opportunity to build upon the existing bus and bike network and transform the existing car dominated parking environment into a multi-modal, transit-oriented, and walkable district all within a 5-minute walking distance.

CREATING A DISTRICT

Neighborhood Context

The 17.5-acre site is located on the northwest edge of the Northwest District of Portland surrounded by residential neighborhoods to the south, industrial park to the north, and Forest Park to the west. Its century old architecture is rich in character and steeped in stories that echo the Portland’s own economic and cultural lineage. Due to local height restrictions, the existing historic Montgomery Park building soars over adjacent buildings and acts as a beacon and wayfinding monument within the city that Portlanders cherish. The project location is uniquely situated next to one of the region’s most renowned natural resources, Forest Park, that provides the site with a singular opportunity to renew itself as a vibrant mixed-use district that celebrates Portland’s famed urban outdoor lifestyle anchored by the same landmark building Portlanders have treasured for a century.

CREATING A DISTRICT

Site Context

Montgomery Park seeks to evolve a deeply rooted community and commercial core with direct connections to acres of forested parks and miles of trails in Northwest Portland with an vision that respects the past and looks to the future. With a proposed streetcar expansion, the Montgomery Park master plan wanted to embrace the district as a terminal streetcar station, multimodal transit connector, and gateway to Forest Park. The team understood the unique opportunity it had to be able to transform an existing office and parking district into transit-oriented destination by infusing it with vertical development, pedestrian connections, active open spaces, and additional mix of uses.

Process

History of Site

The Montgomery Park Master Plan envisions a generational opportunity to reimagine an iconic landmark surrounded by surface parking into a vibrant, diverse and highly-accessible mixed-use district that serves as a new gateway to one of the area’s most treasured natural resources in Forest Park. As a renewed home for innovation, creativity and community gathering, Montgomery park is poised to become a destination district that exemplifies sustainable placemaking rooted in Portland’s renowned urban outdoor lifestyle. Client/Developer