Portland OR Power + Light Building, formerly known as Oregon’s Public Service Building, was built in 1928 and designed by renowned West Coast architect A.E. Doyle. Once the home of the city’s main power station and on the National Register of Historic Places, it has recently been renovated by New York City-based experience design studio ESI Design.
To reflect the building’s transformation while paying homage to its origins, ESI created a new visual identity. The logo, installed prominently above the main entrance, features a custom font taken from details original to the Italian Renaissance-style building and a positive/negative motif, inspired by electricity.
ESI carried the “power and light” theme into the interior with a design motif of connected electrical circuits that appears in the custom-designed carpets, light fixtures and railings, as well as accent walls and wayfinding. New tenants have recently leased 70,000 square feet, almost half of the building.