LEVER Architecture

Designed by LEVER in collaboration with Multnomah County Library and Noll & Tam Architects, Albina Library combines the restoration and seismic upgrade of Portland’s historic 1912 Carnegie library with a 30,000-square-foot addition, expanding the facility to 41,000 square feet. The new brick exterior responds to the surrounding historic district, while its angles and palette reference the Carnegie building’s original terracotta tile roof. The addition includes a double-height timber entry lobby, adult reading room, community room opening to a courtyard, study rooms, and nine new community spaces.

The design uses the sloping site to connect the Carnegie library’s ground floor directly to the addition’s second level, integrating the historic and new structures. The original building now houses the children’s reading room, while the second-floor adult reading room provides natural light and views of historic Russell Street, the green roof, and the main lobby. The project was informed by more than 75 community meetings, including public events, focus groups, interviews, and a youth design cohort.

For more information about this project, please visit: https://leverarchitecture.com/projects/albina_library

Photo credits: © Lara Swimmer / Esto
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LEVER designed a full renovation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' 1970s headquarters on Wilshire Boulevard. The design responds to the Academy's vision for an open, functional, and flexible workplace aligned with its contemporary mission and community outreach. The project introduces an open stair that links three office floors to a top-floor common space and boardroom, supported by new windows and a skylight that create a balanced, day-lit environment.

The renovation replaces an opaque taçade with transparent glazing, establishing a stronger public interface and providing views into the revitalized Academy Grand Lobby and Event Space. Interiors formerly defined by dark, enclosed rooms were transformed into open workspaces connected to city views. The project also includes a complete refurbishment of the 1,000-seat Samuel Goldwyn Theater, upgrading projection and sound systems to achieve maximum technical accuracy.

For more information about this project, please visit: https://leverarchitecture.com/projects/academy_of_motion_picture_arts_and_sciences

Photo credits: © Jeremy Bittermann / JBSA
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Designed by LEVER, 843 N Spring Street transforms a windowless 1980s retail warehouse and existing parking garage in Los Angeles’s Chinatown into a hybrid mass timber office building. The structure combines CLT, steel, and concrete, using the existing foundations and parking grid to support flexible office layouts while reducing embodied carbon associated with demolition and reconstruction.

Organized around a central public garden, the design integrates landscape and outdoor space throughout the building. Developed with Field Operations, a tiered vertical garden courtyard connects the office wings, while open-air circulation, private balconies, and a shared rooftop deck extend access to the outdoors across multiple levels.

Sustainability strategies include natural ventilation, rooftop solar PV, EV charging stations, bicycle parking, rainwater reuse for landscape irrigation, and façade shading designed to reduce solar heat gain. Exposed timber panels combine Douglas fir and spruce pine, while the hybrid steel and CLT structure cantilevers to form shared outdoor balconies around the building.

For more information about this project, please visit: https://leverarchitecture.com/projects/843_n_spring_street

Photo credits: © Jeremy Bittermann / JBSA
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Designed by LEVER, T. Joyce Phillips Apartments is an affordable housing development in Portland’s Concordia neighborhood that redevelops an existing housing community to provide 187 units for residents earning at or below 60% of the median family income. Three- and four-story apartment buildings offer studios through four-bedroom units, along with resident parking, playgrounds, and a community center.

The design preserves the neighborhood’s existing character and amenities while creating pedestrian connections, shared outdoor spaces, and healthy, light-filled environments for residents. The site plan and unit design were informed by a three-month master planning process that addressed accessibility, resident services, property management, and other community priorities.

For more information about this project, please visit: https://leverarchitecture.com/projects/dekum_court_affordable_housing

Photo credit: Justin Cordova
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Designed by LEVER, Albina Yard is an office building with ground-floor retail in North Portland and was the first building in the United States made from domestically produced cross-laminated timber (CLT). The mass timber structure combines a Douglas fir glulam frame with CLT panels manufactured and prefabricated in Oregon from wood harvested in the Northwest.

The design focused on economy, simplicity, and material expression, with exposed timber integrated throughout the architecture. Off-site prefabrication allowed components to be assembled on site five times faster than a conventional wood decking system, while CLT’s two-way spanning capacity reduced the number of glulam beams required. At street level, the building connects to a private south-facing courtyard, while the upper floors provide views of Mt. Hood and downtown Portland.

For more information about this project, please visit: https://leverarchitecture.com/projects/albina_yard

Photo credit: © Jeremy Bittermann / JBSA
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CASCADA Thermal Springs + Hotel was named the No. 1 hotel in Portland, Oregon, in The Oregonian’s 2026 Readers Choice Awards. Readers voted on their favorite places to stay in Portland, recognizing CASCADA for its accommodations, amenities, staff, spa, and restaurant.

The Oregonian noted CASCADA’s balance of accommodations and amenities, along with its focus on luxury, wellness, and relaxation. Congratulations to the other hotels recognized: Cambria Hotel Portland, The Ritz-Carlton, Portland, The Bidwell, and Heathman Hotel.

For more information about The Oregonian’s 2026 Readers Choice Awards, please visit:

These are the 5 best hotels in Portland: Readers Choice Awards Did your favorite make the list?

Designed by LEVER, Meyer Memorial Trust’s sustainable campus in Portland’s Albina neighborhood brought together public programs, workspaces, meeting rooms, a mission library, coworking space, and a roof garden terrace. The ground floor was conceived as a “front porch” connecting the Foundation with the communities it serves. At the center of the building, the 100-seat Center for Great Purposes provides an indoor/outdoor space for public programs and collaborations with partner organizations.

The Center for Great Purposes was constructed from mass plywood, a regional wood product, and opens directly to an educational garden. The landscape design responds to local ecology, community history, and regional identity, with Indigenous plant species selected for their historical significance as food, medicinal, or commodity resources for Columbia River tribes. Together, the architecture and landscape integrate the Foundation’s programs with regional materials and the ecological context of the site.

For more information about this project, please visit: https://leverarchitecture.com/projects/meyer_memorial_trust_headquarters

Photo credits: © Jeremy Bittermann / JBSA
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Designed by LEVER, this renovation of a prairie-style 1920s home balances existing character with a light-filled modern addition. The relocated kitchen acts as a hinge that connects the original living spaces to a new skylit stair and to an outdoor cabana and patio. The cabana is made from regional cross-laminated timber and provides an open-air living space overlooking a new landscaped yard, which recalls the owner’s Florida roots.

The design preserves the formal reading of the home, while completely transforming how spaces are utilized day to day. A bright, airy interior creates a sense of calm and functionality, with solid oak wood flooring and warm finishes throughout. The design places value on bringing nature indoors, with an abundance of plants, natural materials, and views to the exterior.

For more information about this project, please visit: https://leverarchitecture.com/projects/house_hallovi

Photo credits: © Jeremy Bittermann / JBSA
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The adidas North American Headquarters campus expansion, designed by LEVER in collaboration with Studio O+A and GGN, includes two signature mass timber buildings organized around a new central sports plaza. The expanded arrival sequence, circulation, and public spaces bring greater cohesion to the site while improving connections between existing and new buildings. Inspired by small stadium environments, the architecture connects creative work, community, and sport.

The Gold Building is a creative office building with four levels of open, flexible workspace and meeting areas. A maker lab with movable furniture supports product design and creative work, while the entry includes a coffee bar, lounge, and living green wall. A food hall and dining areas provide light-filled spaces for eating, socializing, and working.

Its hybrid structural system is composed of precast concrete columns and girders with glulam beams and cross-laminated timber panels. Regional timber gives the architecture a Pacific Northwest identity and connects it to the region's forestry culture. Campus planning improvements also include a new intersection and entry point, an arrival court and drop-off, below-grade parking, a loading facility, and landscape improvements that improve connectivity and create new outdoor spaces.

For more information about this project, please visit: https://leverarchitecture.com/projects/adidas_headquarters_expansion_and_gold_building

Photo credits: © Jeremy Bittermann / JBSA
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