Raising a Glass to Design

We kicked off summer with a Mayer/Reed project tour and wine tasting to experience our work firsthand. Perched high in Portland’s West Hills, Amaterra Winery has become a destination for wine, fine dining and special events since opening in 2022. We value visiting our built work to both celebrate its completion and learn through observation. We took note of how construction details, materials and planting selections perform in real life.

Beginning in the fall of 2017, Mayer/Reed’s landscape architects worked with the client team, Waterleaf Architects through many iterations to design a unique urban winery – an ideal combination of working winery and hospitality venue. On the day of our visit, we enjoyed a tour from winemaker Matt Vuylsteke where we witnessed the success of the design, from the bay where grapes enter the building to the cascading waterfall that’s a perfect backdrop for wine-sipping selfies.

We found the terrace lawn to be a popular place to enjoy Amaterra’s bounty on a late afternoon. Overlooking new vineyards with expansive views beyond, the 7,000 sf terrace provides an indoor/outdoor guest experience, with space for food and drink service, live music and lawn games. On other days, it’s a prized wedding venue.

As the sun went down behind the trees, like others before us, our team marked the occasion with a group shot at the water feature we worked on with Hughes Water Gardens. We can’t wait to return!

Posted July 13, 2023
Written by: Mayer/Reed
Categories: EVENTS  PROJECTS 

A Season of Groundbreakings

Around the Pacific Northwest and around the world, it’s been a busy season for groundbreakings as our projects move into the construction stage. This milestone, often marked with golden shovel ceremonies, marks a particularly satisfying moment for project teams – the work is getting built.

In June our landscape architects joined a groundbreaking ceremony for a new primary school soon to take shape in the Wilsonville neighborhood of Frog Pond.

In addition, we celebrated groundbreakings for several of our signage and wayfinding projects, including: a new academic building at Vancouver’s Washington School for the Deaf, a replacement Newhouse Building on the Capitol campus in Olympia, Washington and US Embassies in Lilongwe, Malawi and Port Louis, Mauritius. Lastly, the US Department of State dedicated a new U.S. Consulate General with a ribbon cutting in Hyderabad, India, wrapping up the years long project.

Frog Pond Primary School Groundbreaking Ceremony, Wilsonville, OR

Working Toward Inclusive & Accessible Gorge Viewpoints

The Columbian newspaper featured Mayer/Reed’s Jeramie Shane and Margaret Drew and the firm’s work with Friends of the Columbia Gorge to design inclusive and accessible Gorge viewpoints. Read the article here.

Posted: Jun 05, 2023
Written by: Mayer/Reed
Posted June 05, 2023
Written by: Mayer/Reed
Categories: PROJECTS 

TriMet’s Transformational Housing and Transit Access Project Are Moving Forward Together

TriMet’s first ever transit-oriented development (TOD) recently received an enthusiastic green light from the Portland Design Commission. Along with the pedestrian access way which received land use approval earlier this year, the two projects will transform the existing Hollywood District transit center into affordable housing and a public paseo.

The complicated site serves the needs of many, and coordination between the two projects proved key. As a collaborator on both teams, Mayer/Reed provided urban design, landscape architecture and experiential graphic design that unifies the site as a cohesive, active and safe community space.  

As part of the infrastructure project led by David Evans & Associates, Mayer/Reed designed a paseo and stair/ramp structure (dubbed the “stramp”) to provide an important pedestrian and bicycle connection between NE Halsey and the pedestrian bridge to the light rail station and neighborhoods across I-84. Mayer/Reed associate principal Shannon Simms describes the paseo as more than a pathway. “It offers fluid travel through the site with ‘eddy spaces’ to the sides that invite people to linger in the plaza.”

The vibrant design is inspired by the outpouring of community support following tragic events that occurred on a MAX train in May 2017 and a subsequent mural titled “We Choose Love” created by artist Sarah Farahat. While the mural was intended to be temporary until the construction of this project; the design teams and TriMet collaborated with Farahat to carry forward the messages of healing, remembrance, unity, love and safety through flowing forms and color.

This infrastructure project carves out space for the TOD project, led by Holst Architects and developer BRIDGE Housing, which will provide over 200 affordable housing units, retail space and a courtyard on the TriMet-owned property. Curved seatwalls delineate the residents’ courtyard from the public paseo.

The Portland Design Commission lauded the design. “It is a fantastic project,” noted Commissioner Brian McCarter. “Shout out to the architect, the landscape architect who worked on both pieces of the property and to TriMet for making this happen.”

The two project teams will now finalize their designs, with a groundbreaking set for January 2024 and opening expected June 2026.

Posted: May 04, 2023
Written by: Mayer/Reed
Posted May 04, 2023
Written by: Mayer/Reed
Categories: PROJECTS