Abstract:

Newport, Oregon’s Bio-Regional Activity Center (REELBAC) aims to spark a new industry in a forgotten port community by researching, developing, and showcasing bio-regional products. Taking inspiration from contemporary ocean technology, REELBAC creates a space in which the ocean can pull Newport’s community back towards its resources and beauty. The building combines professional laboratories for material study with public exhibition spaces to present emerging technologies to residents and investors. Integrated classrooms engage younger generations, fostering a multigenerational approach to building a new local industry.

REELBAC features an experimental structural system that honors Newport’s maritime past by repurposing retired gantry cranes to lift the building off the ground, minimizing its footprint. Elevating the structure allows native vegetation to reclaim the site, forming a natural garden for visitors. Decommissioned fishing nets wrap circulation paths in a permeable façade, creating moments of exposure and enclosure. Evenly spaced timber strips on CLT panels reference commercial shipping containers, reimagining their spatial logic with local bio-regional materials. Common steel shipping containers are an unsustainable construction typology, so reimagining the space they create using Newport’s bio-regional resources creates a polarizing atmosphere between the wooden modules and the steel cranes.