Congress Center (formerly the Orbanco Building and Security Pacific Plaza) is an office building completed in 1980 in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
. It is currently the ninth tallest building in the city. The building's current name dates to January 2002.
History
Construction began in 1978
and was completed in 1980. It was named the Orbanco Building, for its largest tenant, Orbanco Inc., which at the time of groundbreaking was set to lease around 30 percent of the space. That company's two largest subsidiaries,
Oregon Bank (established in 1887)
["Bank moves to new home" (March 23, 1980). ''The Sunday Oregonian'', p. E8.]["100-Year Club singles out Oregon Bank" (April 30, 1987). ''The Oregonian'', p. E16.] and Northwest Acceptance Corporation, were set to be headquartered in the building.
[ Oregon Bank moved to the new building from another ]downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...
location in March 1980.Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a
green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...
(LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), co-founded by Mike Italiano, David Gottfried and Rick Fedrizzi in 1993, is a private 501(c)3, membership-based non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and op ...
in 2012 for its sustainability. American Realty Advisors and Unico Properties LLC purchased the building in December 2016 for $85 million from Shorenstein Properties.
Design
The firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel A. Owings, Nathaniel Owings in Chicago, Illinois. In 1939, they were joined by engineer Jo ...
(SOM) designed what is now Congress Center, with reflective dark glass that contrasts with the mostly white or lighter colored architecture common in Portland's architectural
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...
history. However, the highly reflective surface of Congress Center's glass curtain walls reflect all the nearby buildings. Most notable are 1000 Broadway, the Portland Building and Multnomah County Courthouse
The Multnomah County Courthouse is a historic building that served as the courthouse for Multnomah County, Oregon from 1911 to 2020. It is located in downtown, Portland, Oregon, the county seat, and is listed on the National Register of Historic ...
.
Name
The current name is the fourth name the building has carried.Bank of America
The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...
in 1992,Congress Hotel Congress Hotel may refer to:
* Congress Plaza Hotel, hotel in Chicago
* Canfield Casino and Congress Park, former hotel in Saratoga Springs
* Congress Hotel (Portland, Oregon), demolished hotel in Portland
* Hotel Congress
The Hotel Congress is ...
, located on the site from 1912 until 1977.Terracotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, a ...
arches from the Congress Hotel were restored for use as an entry to a lower level restaurant.[
]
See also
* Architecture of Portland, Oregon
* List of tallest buildings in Portland, Oregon
References
External links
*{{commonscat-inline, Congress Center (Portland, Oregon)
Skyscraper office buildings in Portland, Oregon
Office buildings completed in 1980
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold certified buildings
1980 establishments in Oregon
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill buildings