The City's "year in review" slides didn't have much surprise, but one slide was of particular interest here. The slide on the Public Works Shops Complex showed what are, I think, the first concept drawings made public.
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| Public Works Shops Complex - City "year in review" |
Back in Sept 2020 Council approved a Design-Build bid process. Since then the City has not said much about design. A Salem Reporter piece from a year ago very briefly mentioned that Hacker had been selected, and in notes about the public art selection committee Hacker was mentioned incidentally.
But there hadn't been very much said publicly about the design process or early stage design concepts, so it was interesting to see the picture in the slide deck at Council, just kinda slid in off-hand. |
| Site plan concept for entries and phasing |
It turns out Hacker has a project page, which shows two buildings linked in the center, and separated into phase one and phase two.
With the Library seismic and remodel, this is the second project they will have in Salem.
I like the stripped-down gabled concepts. They are inviting and warm - in stark contrast with the brutalism of City Hall. The gable forms also look at like a little like those at Mahonia Crossing, though less blocky and more elegant, and maybe this is a new trend in design.
It will be very interesting to follow in 2023 and beyond. The Hacker site lists 2025 as the planned completion date, so things are out a ways yet. Hopefully cost escalation will not cause too much subtraction to the plans.
(For more on Hacker see this 2015 retrospective on founder Thomas Hacker, "Hacker on Hacker: THA Architecture's founder looks back.")
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