Block 216

skyscraper
contemporary
OR
Portland

About the Block 216 in Portland
1. Prizes & Awards
Architect and team
Architectural style
Spaces and uses
Structure and materials

The Block 216 is a Contemporary skyscraper designed in 2018 by GBD Architects, and built between 2020 and 2023 in Portland, OR.

Block 216 is not the only name you might know this building by though. The building is, or has also been known as The Ritz Carlton Portland.

Its precise street address is 900 SW Washington Street, Portland, OR. You can also find it on the map here.

The Block 216 has received multiple architecture awards for its architectural design since 2023. The following is a list of such prizes and awards:

Development of the Year by the Commercial Association of Brokers (CAB) in 2024
MICHELIN Key in 2024
Gypsum Trophy in 2025

Building's timeline

Design completed

2018

Construction begins

2020

Construction completed

2023

years ago

2025

Architect and team

GBD Architects was the architecture firm in charge of the architectural design.

That being said, architecture is a complex discipline involving many professionals from different fields, without whom this building would have not been possible. We will surely be leaving out a lot of names here, but here is a list of the people we do know also played their part in making the Block 216 a reality:

KPFF Engineering in charge of Structural Engineering
Howard S. Wright as the Main Contractor
BPM Real Estate Group as the Main Developer
Place Landscape Architects in charge of Landscape Architecture
HKS Architects in charge of Interior Design

Architectural Style

The Block 216 can be categorized as a Contemporary building.

Contemporary style architecture builds on top of the principles of Modernism and Postmodernism, but incorporates other variables which might not have been that important in the past, but certainly are today, such as technology, sustainability, inclusivity, and others.

From a historical point of view, it is hard to categorize things from a not-so-distant time, and therefore we choose to categorize most buildings built after the year 2000 as "Contemporary". It is possible that as time goes by and we, as a society, gain perspective on the things happening today, we'll be able to look back and recategorize all these buildings into more concrete subsections, some of which might not even exist today.

Spaces & Uses

The Block 216 reaches an architectural height of 463ft (141m). It has a total of 40 floors, 35 above ground and 5 basements.

Ever since opening its doors to the public in 2023, the Block 216 has been a mixed use building. It incorporates 3 main uses, which are residential, hotel, and commercial spaces.

The building features:

5 underground parking levels.
The first two levels, above street level, house a conference room, event space, food establishments and retail stores.
The next 5 levels provide 14,679 m² of Class ‘A’ office space.
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel occupies the following 11 levels, offering luxury rooms.
Levels 19 and 20 are for the restaurant and spa. This space is shared between the hotel and the residents.
The top 15 levels are dedicated to condominiums.

About the Hotel

The hotel is a 5 stars category hotel, with a total of 251 rooms available to the public. The name of the hotel is The Ritz-Carlton. You can learn more about the hotel by visiting their website here.

About the residences

The Block 216 has a total of 132 residential units throughout its 35 floors. If you are interested in learning more about the residences and their availability, you can check the Block 216's website.

Materials & Structure

The Block 216 uses a framed tube-in-tube structure , with reinforced concrete columns and beams.

A framed tube-in-tube structure uses a central core, known as inner tube, which usually holds stairs, lifts and installations, and a perimeter of columns around it, which form the exterior tube. The interior tube is tipically more massive (often made of reinforced concrete), and the exterior tube is "lighter" (made of steel or concrete columns). Both tubes are conencted via horizontal elements which make up the floors and also transmit any horizontal froces from the facade to the core.

The facade employs a non-load bearing curtain wall system. This means the curtain wall modules are anchored to the building's structural frame at the edges of the floor slabs. The perimeter columns are set back slightly from the facade, allowing them to remain independent of the curtain wall system.

This configuration enables a completely free design of the curtain wall, unencumbered by structural elements, thus providing greater flexibility in aesthetic choices and maximizing the visual impact of the exterior.

From an aesthetic point of view, the facade features blue-tinted, high-eficiency glass.

The first 7 floors are clad with sculptured precast white concrete panels framing large vertical windows, giving the triple-height podium a more high-end retail style finishing.

Sources

www.block216.com
gbdarchitects.com
www.ritzcarlton.com
en.wikipedia.org
www.rcrportland.com
www.usgbc.org
www.homes.com
jllus.weeblycloud.com
www.lerchbates.com
celloexpressions.com
www.conconow.com
www.refainc.com
www.linkedin.com