Thank you to Metropolis Magazine for featuring Cascada Hotel and Spa. Designed by LEVER, the project is located in Portland’s Alberta Arts District and incorporates biophilic-centric interiors and natural materials. Its hybrid mass-timber and low-carbon concrete structure is described as reducing embodied carbon, and mass-plywood panels are erected with minimal on-site labor. Limestone plaster, Portuguese cork, photovoltaic-embedded triple-pane glass, and planting irrigated with water from a 10,000-gallon cistern contribute to the interior environment.

Guest rooms include double-height and loft-style configurations with kitchens, reflecting residential features maintained through the project’s shift from housing to hotel. The spa contains five pools supported by a high-efficiency water-heating and cooling system connected to HVAC heat recovery, and the pools are filtered without chlorine. Mass plywood sourced from nearby Oregon forests, including trees salvaged from the 2020 Santiam fire, is used throughout the hotel as both structural and finish material.