Sustainable Mass Timber Hotel & Spa Built with Mass Ply Panels
Photo provided by Freres Engineered Wood
Cascada, a luxury hotel and spa, is joining Portland, Oregon’s, lively Alberta Arts neighborhood. The building features a three-story spa and fitness facility, including vitality pools, a salt therapy room, a sauna, a steam room, and most notably “Portland’s first underground thermal springs.” It also offers 100 hotel rooms, a juice bar and coffee shop, a restaurant with Japanese-Portuguese fusion cuisine, several retail outlets, and multiple workspaces and conference rooms.
LEVER Architecture, the building’s designer, focused on locally-sourced, energy-efficient materials for the project to minimize environmental impact. These sustainable design choices include green roofs, solar panels, stormwater reuse, and low-carbon concrete. “Everything in the project reflects the spirit of innovation,” said Thomas Robinson, founding principal architect at LEVER, in an article from The Oregonian. Paired with these eco-conscious materials, LEVER selected Freres Engineered Wood’s Mass Ply Panels (MPP) to create exquisite exposed ceilings in the lobby and on the second floor.
Photo provided by Freres Engineered Wood
The building’s real estate developer and general contractor, SolTerra, dubbed Cascada “a sanctuary where wellness and sustainability meet.” Cascada’s biophilic design elements aim to connect the occupants to nature and each other. They include a living green wall that spans the hotel’s first two floors, complementing the mass timber ceilings overhead. “This is kind of a culmination of everything that we’ve learned along the years,” said Brian Heather, SolTerra CEO. “We did some really cool sustainable projects for the Earth, but had never really done something that was amazing for people.”
Thanks to a series of energy-efficient design choices, the state-of-the-art hybrid mass timber development will achieve LEED Platinum certification, the highest sustainability ranking available from the world’s most recognized green building rating system.
“We at Freres Engineered Wood care deeply about the environment, and respect for the forest and the wood it provides informs every aspect of our business, from harvesting and manufacturing procedures to product development,” says Tyler Freres, the company’s Vice President of Sales. “It’s an honor to contribute to so many recent, local projects like Cascada and the Port of Portland terminal, and to collaborate with builders, contractors, and designers who value sustainability. We believe there is no better sustainable building product than wood.”
Download a PDF of the Cascada, Portland’s New Luxury Hotel and Spa, Features Freres Wood Mass Ply