Wilsonville Public Works

Public Works campus promotes connection, elevates utilitarianism

The Wilsonville Public Works campus applies forward-looking design in service of the City’s vision for this vital center of operations. The campus includes multiple buildings, one for administration and several others supporting field crews, and Scott Edwards Architecture’s approach balanced functionality and aesthetics to create a cohesive experience across spaces. A sense of place and the work performed here inspired the warm industrial materiality and the architecture and interior design cultivate opportunities for connection between people and the outdoors. Resiliency and sustainability informed each design decision, ensuring the campus's longevity and the ability to adapt in the case of an emergency.

Client
City of Wilsonville

Location
Wilsonville, OR

Size
24,000 sf

Year
2023

The Wilsonville Public Works campus locates the entirety of the department’s operations group—including managers and field crews—in one place. SEA collaborated with the City of Wilsonville to understand how these groups worked together, and how design could support processes while also creating a comfortable environment for staff and visitors. Through this collaboration, it was determined that separate buildings best served the City’s needs and that the building housing the administrative office would also house shared spaces, like conference rooms, the breakroom, and the all-gender locker room. This approach to placing all campus communal spaces in the administrative building presents organic opportunities for public works staff to connect throughout the day, strengthening the shared culture.

elevation shot of wilsonville public works

The administrative building is oriented at the corner of the site, maximizing its presence along the main road and its purpose as the public-facing area of the campus. When visitors arrive, they enter through a transparent vestibule that leads into a bright and open front lobby. An adjacent conference room connects directly to the lobby, placed here within the floorplan to facilitate gatherings between public works staff and external collaborators. An additional layer of security separates this area from the rest of the office due to the nature of the operations work performed within.

wilsonville public works lobby with woman walking past modern reception desk — The interior’s meticulous attention to detail is evident in high-use areas like the lobby, where the reception desk’s wood, glass, and concrete edges expertly align to create a representative moment.

wilsonville public works crew using tv in meeting room

SEA’s approach balances the office’s adjacencies to streamline efficiencies and promote connection. Each of the four crew rooms includes desks for crew members, an open meeting space, and the crew lead’s office, and throughout the building private offices are oriented around or placed near open collaboration areas. Two large conference rooms are separated by an operable partition wall that can be retracted to create one large space. This adaptability, plus the decision to design the building to Seismic Level IV resiliency, supports the City’s intention to use this space as an Incident Operations Center in the case of an emergency.

woman moving partition to make one conference room into two

The interior design and architecture create a cohesive design language through a warm industrial materiality, simple geometry, and an elevated utilitarianism that implies and celebrates the important role public works serves in the Wilsonville community. The interior palette takes cues from the exterior by applying metal, wood, and concrete elements throughout. Wall treatments mimic textures and colors found in nature, and surfaces and furniture were selected to be durable and easy to maintain while still adding aesthetically to the space.

large conference space with tv and sink for water

The site’s slope presented an opportunity to design the administrative building to be two stories while remaining responsive to the neighborhood’s one-story context. At the main street's level, the building appears to be one-story, and only as you move further into the building and to the communal breakroom does the lower level reveal itself. The large breakroom is bright and inviting and offers seating and gathering spaces for staff to congregate. Large skylights and a windowed accordion door allow ample natural light to fill the space, and when opened, the door connects the breakroom directly to an outdoor balcony that overlooks the landscaped courtyard below.

crew members in breakroom with balcony — The breakroom’s design responds to the City’s need for a space that can accommodate many types of gatherings and offers amenities that can support the sometimes extended hours staff will be at the facility in times of incident operations.

crew member at desk with glass partition

wilsonville public works administration building — The administration building’s first level has an all-gender locker room, emergency supply storage, and an open parking garage.

Across the courtyard is Building B, which houses the sign and wood shops, crew storage areas, and fleet maintenance vehicles. By using a shed roof, the building’s architecture accommodates a mezzanine for additional storage and positions it to support a considerable PV solar array. Building B is climate-controlled both for staff comfort and to ensure vehicles are never too cold to hinder deployment. Other campus buildings include a fleet vehicle wash station and a decant building, each taking cues from Building B’s industrial materiality.