Insights

Anyone Can Design in Virtual Reality

In the Pixar movie Ratatouille, Chef Gusteau’s motto was “Anyone can cook.” Food critic Anton Ego initially viewed that sentiment with disdain but eventually came to the conclusion that “Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.” In the architectural world, there are a number of barriers preventing […]

JADE Affordable Housing: A Q&A with the Project Team

by | November 2, 2017 9 Architecture, Ideas

Today, we break ground on the ROSE/APANO Affordable Mixed Use Development in Portland’s Jade District! The project is the culmination of a thorough public engagement process, with project manager Gauri Rajbaidya and lead designer Travis Dang acting as facilitators for the development team. Next year, the project will bring undersupplied one-, two- and three-bedroom units, […]

Support ROSE CDC through this year’s Give!Guide

by | 0 Ideas

This year, we’re excited to partner with ROSE Community Development for Willamette Week’s Give!Guide. Give!Guide makes donating to outstanding Portland nonprofits simple – with plenty of great perks for donors! SERA shares ROSE’s mission to revitalize outer Southeast Portland through the development of homes and economic opportunities. Just this month, SERA and O’Neill/Walsh Community Builders […]

SERA-designed piano finds home at The Dougy Center

by | September 19, 2017 0 Ideas

Earlier this summer a group of SERA volunteers made-over a piano bound for the junkyard for the program Piano.Push.Play. Our piano and eight others were stationed throughout the city all summer for the public to enjoy. Now that summer’s over, we’re happy to hear that our piano has found a permanent home at The Dougy […]

What it means to be an employee owner

by | August 18, 2017 2 Ideas

Here at SERA, we’re a 100% employee owned and operated firm. So what does that mean? Funny you should ask. Many years ago, SERA’s founders, Bing Sheldon and Don Eggleston, looked ahead to their retirement and realized that they didn’t want the traditional transition of the firm to take place, whereby a few employees ‘buy […]

Building a sleeping pod at the Portland Art Museum

by | July 27, 2017 1 Architecture, Ideas

Late last year, a team of volunteers at SERA unveiled a designed-and-built sleeping pod as part of a larger effort to address homelessness in the city. This year, SERA accepted second challenge – this time designing a pod with a focus on simplified assembly and replication. On August 20, the pod will be built live for […]

News Release: SERA-Designed LinkedIn Campus in Silicon Valley Goes Live

by | June 15, 2017 0 News + Announcements

LinkedIn employees in Mountain View, Calif., have a new 24-acre campus to call home – and it was designed by local firm SERA Architects. More than two years in the making, the project by SERA’s Workplace studio unifies three existing, disparate office buildings and their asphalt surroundings into an intuitive, cohesive and environmentally-conscious campus. The […]

Equity is Action

by | June 8, 2017 8 Ideas

Suzanne Blair and I recently attended the biennial AIA Vision Future Symposium on The Value Proposition for Equity and ended the week on a high note. Not only was the sun out (finally!); not only did we spend the day with some talented Portland business women; but we were re-inspired and challenged to improve ourselves, […]