2019 brought balance to the Burnside Bridgehead, as the 5 MLK development rose to join the Yard tower in Portland. While the first year of construction cleared the site, laid the foundations, and barely reached above grade level, the second year saw the structure top out and most of the cladding installed.
The building looks nearly complete from afar despite the persistence of the tower crane. At street level, it clearly remains an active construction site. 5 MLK will house hundreds of residents, several floors of office tenants, and three retail frontages further activating the Central Eastside by the end of 2020.
The building’s massing and facade are the most noteworthy aspects to emerge this year. Note the variation in the facade with the weather, as the building reflects a bright sunny, or a gray rainy day. And also note the continued juxtaposition of 5 MLK alongside the other works of unusual architecture at the bridgehead. GREC Architects of Chicago offer Portland a dynamic counterpoint to the dark, the colorful, the massive, the micro-scaled, and the historic context.
Formwork for level 4 is installed along SE MLK Blvd.
Rebar and post-tensioning tendons are installed in the radiused corner of the level 3 slab in front of the Towne Storage building.
Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing systems are installed in the below-grade parking garage.
Steel framing creates several offset levels to access the parking ramps from inside the elevator core.
A welder works on sloped steel stair stringers inside the elevator core.
Large openings in the elevator core walls will provide double-sided access to the office elevators at the lower floors.
Shoring posts from level 2-3 support the placement of concrete on floors above along SE MLK Blvd.
Formwork reaches level 5 in mid-February, revealing the terraced massing at the corner of Burnside and MLK.
The podium is completed in late March as formwork for the first residential floor is installed at level 7.
Steel framing and slabs on metal deck are installed inside the elevator core, with steel supports for the six primary elevators.
View along the podium-tower transition to the Towne Storage building from level 6.
The circular oculus opening in the lobby ceiling will house a large skylight.
The second floor office tenant lobby overlooks the double-height shared building lobby.
5 MLK begins to create an enclosure at the Burnside-Couch couplet, as glazing is installed in the petite Sideyard building across the street.
5 MLK rises above the Towne Storage building, working toward Yard in the skyline. At the end of 2019, the newer building is visibly taller.
Residential floor slabs are built in quick succession, followed by the window wall cladding.
Cladding encloses the office floors, while the base of the building remains open for construction access along SE 3rd Ave.
Glass and porcelain window wall panels climb up the tower at the corner of MLK & Ankeny.
The Yard tower is relatively attractive viewed along its slender edge from the 5 MLK tower.
Roofing is installed along cascading terraces at the corner of 3rd & Ankeny.
The eastern wing of the tower rises alongside the tower crane.
The Willamette River, Downtown Portland, and the West Hills are viewed from the nearly-completed 12th floor structure.
Re-shore posts for concrete slab placement extend about four floors below the top of the structure, revealing an open concrete structure as the lower levels await installation of the cladding.
A seventh-floor apartment at an inner corner features a view to the river and west hills despite the tower crane.
The Slate building is viewed beyond the Fairhaired Dumbbell building through the open concrete structure.
The west wing of the residential tower rises in front of the Yard.
The historic Towne Storage building across SE 3rd is now occupied by Autodesk, makers of the software used to create the drawings and digital coordination models for 5 MLK and most other new buildings.
Cascading terraces at every office floor will soon be filled with intensive landscaping including trees and stormwater fountains.
Views to adjacent buildings from enclosed office space at the corner of Burnside & MLK.
A soon-to-be-landscaped opening in the building mass along Burnside offers reflected views across the river to the US Bancorp Tower and the West Hills.
The Sideyard building is nearly complete at the Burnside Bridgehead, completing the view from the north level 5 office terrace.
Reflective glass, matte porcelain panels, and navy-blue aluminum fins comprise the window wall cladding system, which reflects the adjacent buildings at its lower levels.
The residential tower levels rise above the glass-clad office terraces.
Window wall cladding along the west facade reflects the Towne Storage and Yard buildings.
5 MLK rises toward Yard, viewed from the southwest across the Willamette river.
5 MLK rises toward Yard, viewed from across the Willamette River north of the Burnside Bridge.
5 MLK is seen approaching the height of Yard from the roof of the Benson High School Gymnasium in inner northeast Portland.
Window wall cladding reflects blue sky with light clouds on the east elevation in August.
Window wall cladding wraps the body of the east tower mass along MLK as the structure nears topping-out.
Formwork is installed to frame the 18th and final concrete slab level as the once-massive tower crane fades into the background.
A bundle of rebar flies over a view northeast to the Lloyd District heading toward installation on the level 17 amenity deck.
The concrete core and a row of columns reach up to the top of the structure at level 18 as slab forms are installed. A steel-framed mechanical penthouse will cap the building.
The tower crane and the east tower wing frame a view of the Central Eastside Industrial District from the amenity terraace.
Window wall cladding begins to climb the east wing of the residential tower.
Concrete planter wall footings define spaces on the cascading terraces at the office levels, viewed from the roof amenity deck.
Freshly-installed windows frame the view from a south-facing apartment.
Windows enclose the large fitness center at the sixth floor amenity space.
Spandrel glass replaces the facade’s porcelain panels to distinguish the central link between the two tower wings.
View of the Towne Storage building from the level 6 amenity terrace.
Continuous reflective glazing at the link between the tower wings.
A massive mechanical exhaust duct frames the parking garage entry on SE 3rd Ave.
5 MLK and the Towne Storage building frame a view to the slender south facade of Yard.
The radiused corner at SE 3rd & Ankeny grounds this dramatic view of the two tower wings rising from the cascading podium terraces around the tower crane.
The west facade reflects wispy white clouse on a bright August afternoon.
Interior and exterior window wall glazing surrounds the lobby’s oculus skylight before the lobby enclosure is installed.
The final floors of concrete work near completion as the window wall cladding climbs the building.
The west wing reached its final height in August with placement of the level 17 amenity terrace,
The building rises to bring the once-towering tower crane into context.
The nearly-completed west tower facade reads as a matte canvas of vertical patterns on a gray December day.
Work progresses as SE 3rd Avenue remains the primary construction access point, viewed from the Burnside Bridge.
A canopy system is installed along the radiused southeast corner across from the Towne Storage building.
The southeast corner canopy features curved steel and tectonic exposed connections to frame a dynamic double-height retail volume.
The tower is viewed through the rain-soaked lobby oculus skylight.
A complex plumbing system evenly distributes water to a series of cascading (soon-to-be-planted) stormwater planters at grade along Ankeny.
The “kiva” depression at the southwest corner of the roof amenity terrace offers expansive views.
Fog frames the unobstructed views of Downtown Portland and the Willamette River from the roof amenity terrace.
The level 17 amenity deck includes a pool, to be installed in this depression.
The window wall cladding reflects nearby buildings in inner northeast Portland.
View of the north cascading office terraces from the roof amenity deck.
View to inner northeast Portland from the roof amenity deck.
A completed residential kitchen in a level 7 apartment.
View overlooking the Burnside Bridge and Yard from corner windows in a level 7 apartment.
Exposed concrete columns and ceilings frame floor-to-ceiling windows looking west in this completed level 7 apartment.
A completed residential bathroom on level 7.
View to the south from the breezeway at the level 6 amenity terrace.
View to the north from the breezeway at the level 6 amenity terrace.
The tower rises from the north office terraces.
The tower rises to meet the tower crane, above the north office terraces.
Columns line the north wall of an open office level.
The two tower wings rise behind the tower crane.
The tower crane operates above the visually-completed west tower.
Cascading terraces break down the mass of the building at the corner of Burnside & MLK.
The completed tower exteriors rise toward the tower crane boom above East Burnside St.
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