Project Category – Project in Progress (November 2001)

Facility Contact – Kathy Oliver, Director, (503) 223-4121

Firm – Clark/Kjos Architects, (503) 224-4848

Design Team – J. Thomas Clark, Jr., AIA, Principal-in-Charge; Corey Morris, Associate, Project Manager (Clark/Kjos Architects); Gary Lewis, Principal, Structural Engineer (Lewis & Van Vleet, Inc., Engineers); Linda Czopek, Interior Design (Czopek & Erdenberger, Inc.)

Patient/Bed Capacity – N/A

Total Building Area (sq. ft.) – 32,000

Total Land Area (acres) – 0.3

Total Cost (excluding land) – $4,500,000 (construction)/$5,500,000 (budget)

First Floor


Outside In is an extraordinary nonprofit agency serving homeless teens and early-20s youth. Its goal is to get clients off the street, and it succeeds 80% of the time. Outside In provides varied health services, mental health counseling and needle exchange programs for sexual minorities and youth with HIV, as well as case management, day programs with meals and temporary housing. So that Outside In would not lose its public image, the new building’s goal was to keep a gritty oddness and identity that welcomes disenfranchised youth. This led to an L-shaped building with housing atop service floors; a huge sunscreen/wall mural, allowing distant identification; and a courtyard with youth-oriented street-art panels.


The designers selected a raw exterior character of metal siding above first-floor brick laid in irregular forms. To complete this “loose fit” enclosure that welcomes clients and meets the low budget, the red structural frame is pulled outside.
Second Floor

The two-story, open lobby creates sightlines to client encounter areas, brings in exterior finishes, and exposes ducts and industrial fixtures turned upside down for indirect lighting. To reinforce “this is your place, not an institution,” the interior has colorful carpets, tiles and paints, many of which were donated.