Portland, OREGON (April 9, 2019) – Holmes Structures, a structural engineering firm with a reputation for creative and seismically resilient designs along the West Coast, has opened doors to its new Portland office. Holmes Structures Portland now occupies a suite on the second floor of Albina Yard—a creative workplace in the Albina District of North Portland. The Portland office is backed by Holmes’ existing US locations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle, with over 70 employees dedicated to realizing optimal solutions for clients. Led by Principals and locals Jennifer Eggers and Eric McDonnell, the Portland team brings expertise in seismic strengthening, historic renovation, and mass timber ingenuity to the region.
With his previous firm, Eric McDonnell worked alongside fellow tenants Lever Architecture on multiple mass timber projects, including Framework, the Adidas North American Headquarters Expansion, the Oregon Conservation Center, and Red Fox Commons. Eric also had a hand in the design and construction of their new home, Albina Yard, the first structure to integrate domestically produced Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT). Albina Yard is just the type of building that aligns with Holmes Structures adaptation of sustainable building materials, including mass timber, and will serve as a daily inspiration of the type of work Eric will continue to take on with Holmes: “Mass timber projects require a lot of teamwork and collaboration which I really enjoy, and they result in some truly beautiful buildings,” he stated. “We want to do good creative work, develop strong relationships with our clients, and create a fun, positive work environment. If we can do those three things, the rest will take care of itself.”
From the new office, Jennifer Eggers looks forward to working on more historic retrofits of iconic Portland buildings and making Oregon more seismically resilient. “It’s a lot of fun preserving a piece of Portland’s history—making a building’s use relevant in modern times, while preserving the elements which make the building historic. Our solutions offer resiliency, provide safety for building occupants and in some cases create shelter for the community at-large in the event of an earthquake.” Jennifer previously engineered phases of Portland Union Station and many educational facilities to further Oregon’s resiliency. By and large, Jennifer noted, “We’re excited to bring Holmes up to Portland and work with the firm’s great resources across the West Coast and around the world while merging with our local experience.”
Holmes Structures’ Portland office is located at 4713 N Albina Avenue, Suite #201, Portland, Oregon 97217.
Holmes Structures is a part of Holmes Group—an organization of engineering and design specialists, each independently expert in their fields, that work together as an integrated whole. Founded over 60 years ago in New Zealand and now spanning the Pacific Rim, its 300+ professionals deliver creative and practical solutions to clients’ most exacting and dynamic challenges.
