The new LEED Gold Cyan Building by THA Architecture Inc. and GBD Architects rises sixteen stories above Portland’s downtown streetscape, offering a new model for sustainable urban living. The 380,000 square-feet building is contains compact one- and two-bedroom apartments that are all under 550 square-feet. Thanks to its location in Portland’s downtown, residents of the new building enjoy convenient proximity to urban amenities, all within a sustainable package that delivers quality over quantity and ensures minimum impact living in a high-density urban landscape.
Image © Jeremy Bittermann
Maximizing daylight and views are key to making small spaces feel big. The Cyan makes this a priority through the use of double casement windows and sliding partitions throughout each unit, which help to create a sense of openness while allowing for various spatial configurations.
Additional sustainable strategies were employed throughout to help Cyan achieve its LEED Gold certification. The units feature compact energy-efficient kitchen appliances, dual-flush toilets, low-flow showerheads and locally-sourced materials with high recycled content. All of Cyan’s electric power is derived from renewable resources, and the use of high efficiency speed chillers and fan coil units cool and heat the spaces. High performance glazing and motion sensor lighting ensures an overall energy saving of 20% as compared to buildings of similar size and function.
Cyan’s eco-roof of native and adaptive species and a series of parks designed by Lawrence Halprin offer residents a restful place to get away from the city. The eco-roof also captures and filters Portland’s rainwater, storing it on-site in a 40,000 gallon cistern. The building is currently at an 80% occupancy rate, so there’s still time to claim a space before the building reaches maximum capacity.
+ Cyan Building
+ GBD Architects
+ THA Architecture Inc.
Lead image: © Jeremy Bittermann
not to be off topic. I am pretty sure the movie they are watching in the court yard is Ferris Bueller.
So how many thousands of dollars per month does it cost to live in such a wonderful building…?
Portland’s using urban planners in attempt to be like New York City. Where studio apartments alone cost more than a thousand a month. They’re thinking they can turn the downtown into some sort of vibrant and super urban environment. But it’s urban planning that caused the housing bubble, urban planning caused house prices to rise exponentially until it becomes unaffordable. Urban planners have spent tax money on development which is being robbed from fire, police, and emergency services, sewers, etc. Portlandia is here… http://ti.org/antiplanner/?p=4378
Housing in California is more affordable than parts of Oregon. There’s an entire website called debunking portland, I love it. It craps down the throat of any Oregon resident.