We at SERA are thrilled to congratulate Tim Smith for achieving the planning profession’s highest honor by being named to the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) College of Fellows. AICP is Planning’s national authority for certification in the US, and their College of Fellows includes professionals who have not only done great project work, […]
SERA’s Principal group held a celebratory toast last week to announce 21 promotions at an array of levels across the firm. The promotions included five Associates, 10 Senior Associates, three Principals, and three newly created positions. The event was SERA’s first major in-person gathering since the onset of the pandemic, with live celebrations in both […]
Natasha Koiv, a Principal in SERA’s Portland office, recently announced her retirement after nearly 36 years with the firm. Natasha began her career as a member of the interiors team. After about 15 years, she made a move to SERA’s public practice, and then about eight years ago, she transitioned to become SERA’s director of […]
The West Coast has experienced an astonishing number of climate-related catastrophes in recent years. Wildfires created widespread devastation and smoke-choked air, atmospheric rivers resulted in extensive flooding, and a heat dome shattered records and resulted in a significant number of deaths. As architects, we know our work has a significant impact on the climate, and […]
Last week, AIA Oregon’s Oregon Architecture Awards recognized our Raleigh Slabtown project with a Citation Award in the Residential Architecture category. This year’s jurors said they were impressed not only by the structure overall, but by the way our team integrated the outside with the unique and luxe interiors. We’re honored! Raleigh Slabtown was designed […]
How does a design firm choose a new building? It’s the same challenge that faces any company, with the added wrinkle that, whereas another business might hire a project manager or designer to help them weed through the possibilities, understand their own needs clearly, and identify their best option, we’re our own consultant for that […]
In honor of Indigenous People’s Day on Monday, we want to recognize and show our respect for Native People that have understood for generations how to live in harmony with the land, water and all other living things. SERA has learned so much about tribal culture and world views from working with the Affiliated Tribes […]
The design and construction industry has spent two decades promoting net-zero energy buildings by combining operational energy efficiency and onsite renewable energy generation, but now the goalposts are shifting. There is a growing awareness that buildings generate massive amounts of carbon through “embodied carbon” emissions during construction, creating huge spikes in carbon emissions and undercutting […]
Historically significant, seismically upgraded building houses some of Portland’s most vulnerable populations The newly renovated and seismically upgraded Henry Building in downtown Portland is among 11 historic projects across Oregon to receive a 2021 DeMuro Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation! The 112-year-old Henry Building presented a variety of challenges for the client Central City […]
The American Dream of single-family homeownership is growing increasingly inaccessible. To explore new paths to affordable homeownership, the City of Los Angeles’ Chief Design Officer and the Mayor’s Office created the Low-Rise LA design competition to promote housing affordability, paths to homeownership and innovative models of sustainable residential architecture. With a growing housing portfolio in […]