$130 million steel-clad design combines five Oregon public works facilities

by hanna_kowal | July 8, 2026 2:23 pm

[1]Five public works departments were consolidated into one campus in the City of Bend[2], Ore. Initial planning for this $130 million project began in 2015, and now, over a decade later, the engineering, facilities, fleet, transportation and mobility, and water services are conveniently located together.

Camilla Cok, AIA, principal at Hennebery Eddy Architects’[3] Bend studio, highlights the project’s benefits. She explains that occupants are “fostering cross-department efficiencies, experiencing a healthy and flexible workplace that is resilient, energy efficient, and enhances well-being.”

Beyond ease of collaboration, the project provided extraordinary opportunities to work with the facility’s beautiful natural environment: a desert location with views of the Cascade mountains.

102,360 sf (9509.6 m²) of 22 gauge A606 weathering steel from The Bryer Company[4] pulls the design together with a natural synergy spanning the exterior walls. These vertical box rib panels will withstand the harsh desert climate.[5]Delivered through progressive design build delivery, Kirby Nagelhout Construction Company[6] served as the general contractor on the project. As rainfall is limited in the area, the metal installer, Skyline Sheet Metal[7], developed a pre-treatment process to accelerate the weathering of the material for a consistent finish.

“The siding’s rich rust color and repetitive vertical lines create dynamic ‘shadow play’ in the desert sun and become a beautiful backdrop to the dusty sage brush and desert landscape,” Cok says.

—with files from The Bryer Comany

Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/news/daily-news/130-million-steel/

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