Portland, OR
Portland, OR
Located in Portland’s modern Pearl District, The Cosmopolitan is the tallest residential building in the city. Working with the development firm Hoyt, we designed this building on a remarkable site between two city parks with the vision to make it stand out from other residential buildings in Portland.
The 28-story “point tower” with a small footprint on a podium base was conceived as a singular form rather than the typical tall building. The tower and base are clad entirely in high-performance reflective glazing to create one cohesive mass. Exterior spaces such as decks, building entries, and ground-level covered areas are “carved” into the glass façade and dressed in a contrasting cement panel that recalls the nearby park boardwalk. Performing as weather-protected outdoor rooms, these inset decks create strong vertical clefts accentuating the height of the slender tower.