Standard Plaza is a 16-story office building in

downtown Portland Downtown Portland is the central business district of Portland, Oregon, United States. It is on the west bank of the Willamette River in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and where most of the city's high-rise buildi ...

in the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. At in height, it was the largest office building in Oregon when it was completed in 1963. The structure, occupying a city block on SW 6th Avenue between Main Street and Madison Street, is owned by

Standard Insurance Company Standard Insurance Company, also branded as The Standard, is an American insurance and financial company which is a subsidiary of StanCorp Financial Group, headquartered in Portland, Oregon. On July 23, 2015, Meiji Yasuda, a Japanese mutual in ...

, which also owns the neighboring Standard Insurance Center. It was designed by

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill SOM, an initialism of its original name Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a Chicago-based architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, they were joined by enginee ...

in the

international style The International Style is a major architectural style and movement that began in western Europe in the 1920s and dominated modern architecture until the 1970s. It is defined by strict adherence to Functionalism (architecture), functional and Fo ...

History

Construction firm Andersen–Westfall was awarded the contract to build Standard Insurance's new headquarters in March 1961. The bid was for $6.4 million on the project that was expected to cost $8.3 million total. Construction began in 1961, and by January 1962 the superstructure had risen to four stories above ground-level. At that time it was expected that construction would be complete by March 1963. A

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

in June 1962 by the Iron Workers Union halted work on the project, though the strike itself was part of a larger labor dispute between the union and the construction industry dating to May 1962. A similar region-wide strike by the Carpenters Union had paused the project in April 1962, as well. By late 1962 the Standard Plaza was expected to become the second-tallest building in Portland after the Hilton Portland Hotel. The building opened in June 1963 after a cost of $8.5 million to build. At that time it was the largest office building in the state. Original tenants included Dean Witter & Co., First National Bank of Oregon, Overseas Shipping Company, and the Portland office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, among others. Several law firms moved into the building, due to its proximity to the federal and county courthouses. The building earned a gold rating from the

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a Green building certification systems, green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating ...

in 2009 after upgrades that included more energy-efficient equipment and low-flow water fixtures. In 2012, three

electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...

Blink charging stations were added to the building's parking garage. During a windstorm in December 2014, a piece of sheet metal blew from the neighboring

PacWest Center PacWest Center is a 30- story, office skyscraper in Portland, Oregon. It is the fifth-tallest building in Portland, and the fourth largest with . The building was designed by Hugh Stubbins & Associates of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and complete ...

and broke out glass on the Standard Plaza.

Details

Architectural firm

designed the international-style structure. Their design incorporated the use of aluminum and glass for the skin of the 16-story high-rise steel and concrete building. The parking garage portion of the building has spaces for 265 vehicles. The building has a

weather beacon A weather beacon is a beacon that indicates the local weather forecast in a code of colored or flashing lights. Often, a short poem or jingle accompanies the code to make it easier to remember. The beacon is usually on the roof of a tall build ...

on top for a total height of . The beacon glows red if the temperature is forecast to increase by 5 degrees or more, green if the temperature forecast is to be within 5 degrees, or white if the temperature is forecast to decrease 5 degrees. Flashing lights mean precipitation is forecasted and steady indicates dry weather ahead. Standard Plaza is located in downtown between southwest Fifth and Sixth avenues and Main and Madison streets. Neighboring buildings to the high-rise include the

to the south, the Solomon Federal Courthouse to the west, and the

Portland Building The Portland Building, alternatively referenced as the Portland Municipal Services Building, is a 15-story municipal office building located at 1120 SW 5th Avenue in downtown Portland, Oregon. Built at a cost of US$29 million, it opened in 1982 ...

to the east. The interior of Standard Plaza provides one of the few unobstructed views of the ''

Portlandia ''Portlandia'' is an American sketch comedy television series starring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, set in and around Portland, Oregon, and spoofing the city's reputation as a haven for eccentric hipsters. The show was produced by Broa ...

'' sculpture that adorns the Portland Building.

References

External links

* {{Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Skyscraper office buildings in Portland, Oregon 1963 establishments in Oregon Meiji Yasuda Life Skidmore, Owings & Merrill buildings Office buildings completed in 1963

History

Details

See also

References

External links