(18th & Empire Mixed-Use, Bend | Photos Courtesy of LRS Architects)
LRS Architects is pleased to announce that the firm is opening a new office in Bend to further support the firm’s clients and projects in the area. The firm has acquired GL3 Architects, whose owners, Mike Gorman and Jim Landin, have been serving the Central Oregon market for over 20 years. Over the past few years, LRS and GL3 have been working together on a handful of mixed-use and multifamily housing projects in Bend. Both firms have experience in mixed-use, affordable housing, multifamily housing, retail, commercial office, public and auto dealership projects. The Bend office is located at 1693 SW Chandler Avenue, adding seven staff members to the firm’s current count of 115.
“We are excited to have GL3 join LRS. Gorman and Landin’s accomplishments and experience with high-profile projects in Bend, combined with our existing projects in the area, makes this a perfect opportunity for the ongoing success of LRS,” said LRS President, Trish Nixon. “LRS brings to the local market the breadth of diverse project experience that, until now, was solely available from outside Central Oregon. The firm’s holistic design approach, as it relates to designing for the local community, is crucial as Central Oregon continues to grow,” said Gorman. Landin adds, “Many high-profile projects in Central Oregon have required teaming with larger, non-local architecture firms — a provision for many private developers and publicly funded capital projects. By joining LRS, we are now able to fulfill this need, locally.”
Past Connections
Principals from both firms have a long history together that go beyond collaborations on various projects. Gorman was an associate at LRS prior to moving to Bend in 2001. “I’ve never lost my personal connection with LRS and each of their principals over the past 30 years. Going back as far as the early 1990’s, we’ve watched each other succeed in our professional and personal journeys, like a family. It’s quite special to have this deal bring it full circle,” said Gorman. “Although Jim and I have extensive and successful experience in many local high-profile projects, bringing LRS on board was an added bonus for specific opportunities,” Gorman added. Gorman and Landin’s recent projects include 65 & 69 Newport and Subaru Bend. Previous projects, while at other firms, include The Oxford Hotel, Mill Quarter, Fraser Building Discovery Park Lodge (projects while with GGL Architecture); and Bellevue Crossing, Barnes Butte Elementary, Cook Crossing and The Hixon @ Westside Yard (projects while with BLRB Architects).
About LRS Architects
LRS Architects is a forward-thinking, women-owned, architecture and interior design firm based in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1976, the award-winning practice is driven by a passion for good design that goes beyond aesthetics to create vibrant communities and spaces that support the wellbeing of those who inhabit them. Recognized for marrying great design with an efficient, collaborative process — has significant work across a broad range of project types, including: senior living and multifamily housing, commercial office and workplace, retail and auto, civic buildings and industrial projects. LRS is committed to partnering collaboratively with clients to positively shape the human experience through the physical environment. The diversity of the firm’s project experience provides a broad perspective and proven expertise in design, problem-solving, documentation and project delivery methods. Named “Top Places to Work” over the past four years by The Oregonian, the firm’s work, while centered in the Pacific Northwest, is found throughout the United States in over 30 states, as well as in China, Canada and Nicaragua.
LRS has been working in the Bend area on projects including the Solis at Petrosa, a ten-acre multifamily housing development in Northeast Bend; The Bend Transitional Care Skilled Nursing Facility, along with several studies for mixed-use projects.
Recent Portland area senior housing and multi-family work includes the 256-unit, resort-style Touchmark in the West Hills senior living development, and Grant Park Village II, a multi-family development that helped transform a former industrial site into a thriving community. Notable commercial and retail projects include: the $15 million, mountaintop Sahale Lodge at Mt. Hood, Oregon; the rebranding and expansion of over a dozen New Seasons grocery stores at various locations in Oregon; as well as more than 80 auto dealership projects located throughout Oregon and Washington. With dozens of commercial buildings and over 15 million square feet of workplace tenant improvements, commercial and workplace projects constitute a significant portion of the firm’s work. The firm’s civic work includes the recently completed Wingspan Conference and Event Center in Hillsboro, Oregon.
