Through a partnership between CDP, Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA), and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz, this project addresses Portland’s housing crisis by bringing much-needed affordable housing to a 0.41 acres site in Northeast Portland. Twenty of the 56 units offer preference for Native American households.

CHA delivered a program that aligns with the core values of community building, affordable housing for artists, and sustainability. The design prioritizes communal space with both a community room that includes a children’s play area and an art studio with gallery. In the spirit of the art the project celebrates, the building’s name means “to make beautiful” in the Chinook Wawa.  

The building’s design is inspired by the Native vernacular architecture of the plank house.  In translating this small, historic typology of simple, clear, demountable wood structure into a four-story, urban apartment building, the design acknowledges the substantial change in context, reinterpreting the language for a modern form. The exterior articulates the rhythms of the plank house structure—large posts supporting rafters, supporting smaller ties holding stacks of planks—into a visual hierarchy. The white/grey color of the upper floors float above the grounded cedar planks, melting into the Pacific Northwest clouds.

Mamook Tokatee offers five ground floor loft units (designed with artists in mind), six studios, 28 one-bedrooms, seven two-bedrooms, and 10 three-bedrooms. Sustainability goals focus on energy efficient design with low-VOCs, water conservation, air sealing, and thermal performance. The project is targeting Earth Advantage Platinum.