Otak welcomes the leadership of Dan Kessler as its new director of architecture.
We’re excited to announce the appointment of Dan Kessler as director of architecture, leading the firm’s direction in design as well as the growth of our people and projects.
Bringing nearly three decades of design leadership to guide the firm’s architecture practice, Dan’s career includes leadership roles at organizations ranging from DLR Group to Fentress Architects, as well as the founding of his own practice, Element Design Works. His portfolio spans a wide breadth of project types and scales—from the complexity of LAX Airport to the refined detail of multifamily housing.
“I’m excited for our teams to collaborate around and leverage Dan’s extensive multi-family and mixed-use experience on current and future projects.”
– Chad Weiser, Executive Management Team
In addition to his professional work, Dan served for 11 years as an Honorarium Instructor at the University of Colorado, his alma mater. His ongoing engagement with higher education has allowed him to stay connected to emerging trends while mentoring the next generation of designers.
At the core of Dan’s leadership philosophy is a commitment to helping others succeed. He believes in empowering individuals with the knowledge and insight gained from real-world experience, encouraging each person to define their own professional path. “It’s about balancing ability with desire,” Dan says, “and recognizing that every individual brings something unique to the table.”
Dan’s arrival signals a deepened focus on Otak’s integrated, multidisciplinary approach—particularly in the public sector. He is eager to collaborate across teams to deliver thoughtful, community-centered design solutions that reflect the diverse needs of the people they serve.
“We’re delighted to have Dan become part of Otak’s leadership team and to help grow our multidisciplinary practice both in Colorado and firm wide.”
– Nico Vanderhorst, Executive Management Team
With Dan’s passion for mentorship and a commitment to cultivating a creative culture, Otak is poised to further elevate its design impact—both through the architecture projects it delivers and the people it empowers.
Redevelopment of the waterfront in downtown St. Helens, Oregon, took a significant step forward with a recent ribbon cutting that opens the area to improved public use and future growth. Members of the community gathered alongside project partners to formally introduce the greater accessibility, functionality and public amenities this work delivers.
From left to right: Amanda Owings, Keith Buisman, David Breneman, Mandy Flett
From left to right: Scott Nettleton, Sean Clark, Mandy Flett, Keith Buisman, Amanda Owings
About the Rejuvenated St. Helens Waterfront
In an area that includes several public buildings, like City Hall and the courthouse, the waterfront of downtown St. Helens represented a great opportunity for future growth and expanded public use. After a planning effort led by Otak outlined concept options that include redevelopment of an old mill site, work began on two projects aimed at rejuvenating the area.
The city moved forward with a proposed concept that led to the new riverwalk and its adjacent 1st and Strand roadway. Review of the recommended plans and concepts included input from the community and potential developers to best position the area for both immediate and future use.
Anchored by a circle turnaround that provides a point of interest along the river, the roadway design of 1st and Strand improves access for pedestrians and motorists alike. This includes direct connection to the new riverwalk where Otak worked as a subcontractor to Mayer/Reed to create a new public space ready to host a variety of events.
A number of aesthetic and functional improvements were part of the roadway design, from concrete treatments and bulb-outs with planters at intersections, to a new multiuse path and more clearly defined parking. With an eye on the future, an extension of utilities positions the old mill site for shovel-ready development.
As an aspiring architect, what options are there to pursue after licensure, and how do you reach the point of earning it in the first place? These central questions were explored during a recent panel hosted by the Oregon chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) as part of their Emerging Professionals series.
The event—titled, Paths After Licensure—brought together five accomplished architects from across the region to share their journeys, challenges, and insights with a room full of early-career professionals and students.
Hosted at the Otak headquarters in downtown Portland, the panel provided young professionals in the architecture field with personal insights on the path toward professional licensure and the many career options that follow. A diverse set of professional backgrounds on the panel touched on topics across the full journey of professional development as an architect, from first interest through lasting ambition.
Including a Q&A with the live audience, the conversation covered several key areas:
Initial interest and first steps
Focus on sustainability and mitigating climate change
Celebrating their 24th year, the annual DJC Oregon Awards took place this June, recognizing 53 ‘Top Projects’ from across the Pacific Northwest. Among the honorees were four Otak projects whose improvements to their community ranged from water quality and public facilities to affordable housing.
This year’s recognized work showcased the breadth of our multidisciplinary expertise, with contributions from our architecture, structural, survey, and owner’s representative teams. Learn more about the new additions to our collection of award-winning work and their broad benefits to the region below.
Wecoma Place
For a community displaced by wildfires, Wecoma Place is an affordable housing project that adds 44 residential units to the community of Lincoln City, Oregon. Our architecture team designed the building to emulate the enduring nature of the area’s coastal landscape.
After nearly 55 years of service, an outfall to the Columbia River from the Salmon Creek Water Treatment Plant was decommissioned and replaced. The new outfall was designed to cross numerous obstacles including infrastructure, property, and natural barriers. The survey and mapping team utilized a comprehensive set of tools, from traditional ground surveying to UAV aerial photogrammetry and a bathymetric drone to make construction of this essential public asset possible.
As part of a larger bond program, the Multnomah County Holgate Library triples the size of the original facility while also representing the most energy-efficient library ever built in the county. Supporting one of the most culturally diverse areas in the region, extensive public engagement led to a design that reflects those diverse communities through a variety of features including signage, color patterns, and art installations throughout. Our owner’s representative team has led overall program management for the entire $380M program.
The Leiser Road Overpass crossing State Route 14 in Vancouver had a history of vehicle impacts on the low chord of the bridge girders. After an oversized load hauling a wind turbine struck the overpass causing significant damage, Tapani partnered with Otak’s structural group in working with WSDOT to repair the bridge. That work included replacing one girder, repairing 5 others, and repouring the deck and guardrail over the replaced girder. Otak provided a shipping and lifting analysis for the precast concrete girder, as well as designing temporary shoring for the girder and deck forms.
Matt Neish (far right) speaking during a panel on affordable housing solutions at the 2025 Bisnow Multifamily Summit in Portland, OR.
The 2025 Portland Multifamily and Affordable Housing Summit took place this April, exploring topics ranging from the current state of Portland’s real estate market and capital development to the impact of cost of living relative to rent setting. Otak’s Matt Neish, architecture studio leader, participated in a panel focused on innovative solutions to address the region’s affordable housing needs.
“As always, we’re proud to be at the table, contributing our expertise and working with partners who are not only invested in the future of Portland, but are actively shaping it.”
– Matt Neish, Otak Architecture Studio Leader
A Panel on Housing Supply, Wage Gap, and Development Cost
Matt was joined by a diverse group of voices deeply engaged in this critical sector, including Margaret Salazar (REACH Community Development), Ernesto Fonseca (Hacienda CDC), and Madeline Kovacs (Adre), with moderation by Scott Rosenthal (Stoel Rives). The discussion highlighted the growing disparity between housing supply and the widening wage gap, with panelists pointing to rising vacancy rates as a symptom of income-based rent setting models that are misaligned with actual tenant earning capacity.
Impacts from Income and Cost of Living
Although recent state and local bond measures have helped bring more affordable units online, panelists noted that the persistent vacancy issue is influenced by rents being tied to area median income (AMI). As AMI is impacted by higher earners, rent rates are often inflated beyond what many households can sustainably afford. This is especially true as the cost of living continues to rise faster than wages. As a result, developers are seeing more tenants experiencing missed rent payments despite qualifying for initial income requirements.
The panel also covered the complex funding and regulatory structures of affordable housing projects—which often cost up to 30% more than comparable market-rate developments. Factors contributing to this gap include extensive documentation requirements, prevailing wage and labor standards, and increased capital costs associated with layering multiple funding sources. Developers also face significant financial strain during the pre-development phase, often shouldering substantial upfront costs unless they can secure highly competitive pre-development grants.
Collaborating for Long-Term Solutions
Echoing broader themes at the summit, panelists agreed that addressing the region’s housing challenges—both in terms of affordable rental units and pathways to affordable homeownership—will require a collective, coordinated effort from public, private, and nonprofit sectors alike. Our architecture group continues to work closely with development partners to deliver affordable housing that not only meets critical demand but upholds high standards of design, functionality, and community cohesion.
Overall, the event served as a powerful reminder of both the complexity and urgency of the housing challenges facing our region. From market-rate development to deeply affordable housing, the conversations underscored the need for alignment and sustained collaboration across sectors. Otak remains committed to being part of the solution—leveraging design excellence to help expand access to housing and building more equitable communities across the Portland region.
In recognizing some of the Pacific Northwest’s most impactful projects, DJC Oregon hosted its annual awards event. Among the ‘Top Projects’ for 2024 were eight from Otak, and our teams were in attendance for the honor.
Left: Margaret Steinhilber, Martin Munguia, and Matt Neish with the award for the Hardeson Campus Service & Operations Building; Right: Ralph Mocerino, Nick Brown, Mike Day, Kathy Kianunis, Martin Munguia, Matt Neish, and Brian Hardebeck sit together at the event
The collective celebration of industry excellence covered a wide range of project types and included the selection of a ‘Project of the Year’ from the year’s winners. There was also a new award for ‘Subcontractor of the Year’ as well as ‘People’s Choice’. Adding to our list of award-winning work, more detail into those eight Otak projects can be found below.
Hardeson Campus Service & Operations Building
Representing a unique opportunity for adaptive reuse design, this project converted a two-story concrete tilt panel office building into an operations hub for the busy transportation organization, Community Transit. Take a closer look at how this multidisciplinary effort between Otak architectural, structural, civil, and landscape teams revitalized this existing building with holistic improvements that place an emphasis on employee wellness.
Originally constructed in 1953, the deck of the steel-truss-cantilever Dalles Bridge on U.S. 197 had degraded to the point of needing to be replaced. Safety improvements to this vital transportation connection over the Colombia River utilized accelerated bridge construction techniques to avoid long term closure and disruption to regional commerce. See how the Otak structural and construction management teams were part of a unique hybrid management system to efficiently complete this work.
One of three bridges creating safe pedestrian passage along the Willapa Hills Trail system, the Littell Bridge addresses a previously dangerous at-grade crossing with SR 6. The 250-foot, sinuous bridge provides a final link in the western 27 miles of the trail. Check out how Otak’s structural engineering and environmental teams combined to add safety and resilience to these trail crossings.
Art Rutkin Elementary School: Tigard Tualatin School Bond Program
As part of broader improvements to the Tigard Tualatin School district from a successful bond program, the new Art Rutkin Elementary School adds 75,000 square-feet of space for the community’s students. Learn more about how the district, with Otak as owner’s representative, implemented technology upgrades and new sustainable features across its growing facilities.
After nearly a century of service, Monmouth City Hall would be replaced with a design focused on sustainability, safety, and operational efficiency. Read more into how the Otak owner’s representative team joined the project to resolve cost issues while initiating a highly collaborative value engineering process.
Nestucca Valley High School Career Technical Education Center
In addressing the gap in diverse and accessible education opportunities for youth faced by many rural areas, the Nestucca Valley High School Career Technical Education (CTE) Center was developed as part of a school bond program for the communities of Coastal Oregon. Get a more complete view of how as owner’s representative, Otak helped guide to completion the flexible design of a facility that will provide long-lasting benefits to the surrounding community.
With a unique shared post-tension podium deck, the BRIDGE Waterleaf Building adds 178 affordable housing units to the River Place neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. Take a more in-depth look at the Otak owner’s representative team guided this project through a number of challenges to make this community-focused building a reality.
In a major transformation across its facilities, Multnomah County Library is expanding spaces and upgrading technology to benefit the community through a capital bond program. See how the $380 million bond program is being applied to these public assets with overall program management from Otak.
With many disciplines working together on a variety of projects, perhaps the best way to get a feel for a firm’s impact is simply, a coffee with… the people doing the work.
This video series features experts sharing insights gained during their time in the AEC industry, with an emphasis on the importance of collaboration to meeting a common goal of creating better communities.
In this edition of ‘a coffee with…’, we learn from a landscape architect and a senior designer within architecture about the importance of designing and placemaking for people’s lives. Find out in the video and its transcript below:
Improving People’s Lives through Impactful Design
I think we’re changing lives, making them better.
One of the things that I love to see is when I go to one of these places that I’ve designed and there’s a family out there or kids swinging on the swing set. You’re seeing this idea you had in your brain come to fruition and being enjoyed by the community… it’s one of the best things.
My name is Chris Maykut. I’m a senior designer here at Otak working on the architecture team and I’ve been here for five years.
I’m Gabriel Kruse, I’m a landscape architect. I’ve been with Otak for almost nine years.
What is the Importance of Collaboration between Disciplines on Projects?
I really do believe this that there’s, you know, there’s no “I” in team… that collaboration is very key to a successful project.
He’s in landscape, I’m in architecture, I’ve got the built form, he’s got the natural form, but we also kind of come together and there’s this blended area.
So, I think we both have a job of imagining, creating, and developing places for people to inhabit. And I think that’s, you know, really important, and I think collaboration makes that a much stronger end result.
We meet, like, what’s it at 5 feet outside, 5 feet outside the building? Yeah.
But you know I think on the bigger projects we have multiple buildings… we create the space in between the buildings together.
I think for me as a landscape architect and working with Chris and architecture, we’re trying to make really great places for people to live. Going home to a great piece of architecture, going through that landscape experience, also just having all those all those pieces working together in harmony is a real goal of ours.
How Does a Multidisciplinary Environment Create Unique Opportunities to Work Together?
I think of Otak as a family, it’s kind of corny. But I have one project that the landscape consultant is outside of Otak, and another project where the landscape is Gabe or someone else on this team… I can coordinate and communicate with in in both situations quite well. But I feel just the family atmosphere of Otak, I feel like I can be more open and more responsive in communicating back and forth.
We both use a 3D modeling software and we’re both pretty good at using that software. So, we can exchange models together and say what do you think of this?
You know, he’s got this big building model and a lot of things going on in there.
And then I’ll take a piece of it and say, ‘hey, give me that model,’ and I’ll take it and then I’ll put my landscape design in there and I’ll send it back to him… drop that in there see what you think and then Chris [and I] we’ll just kind of work together back and forth that way massage it back and forth, massage it back and forth.
Not everyone designs that way, but I think Chris and I both have that. We’ll use that 3D modelling as a tool, as a design tool, not just a presentation tool. I think that, yeah, that is one way I think we really work together well.
What is Most Exciting about Working in the Design Industry?
Making someone feel like they have a home and it’s just not a place that they’re sleeping at. They’re having birthday parties. They’re, you know, sharing fun times with friends and family.
And, you know… we’re helping them create memories for their lives here at Otak.
We do a lot of multifamily and specifically affordable right now. I really enjoy that as opposed to doing, you know, high end condos in downtown Portland. There’s more meaning to it and… that gets me excited to come into work everyday.
Designing a park, then going to see it afterwards and seeing people use it; enjoy it; and then talking to the neighborhood and [seeing] just how much people appreciate open space… It’s a really important part of neighborhood design and community design.
There are a lot of when that’s where, you know, all the kids spend a lot of their time and that’s what I really look forward to.
With a unique approach that blends historic renovation with new construction into a cohesive structure, the Buckley adds mixed-use space and affordable housing to the growing outer Southeast District of Portland, Oregon. In leading the design, Otak incorporated elements from the original structure while expanding its space and access to light rail, contributing to the city’s broader goals for transit oriented development.
Adaptive Reuse Adds a Unique Mixed-Use Building to a Growing Urban Environment
The adaptive reuse design of the Lents Building incorporates three, two-story loft units, trusses, artwork, and other features into its character that date back to 1913 while also adding a new structure that replaces an adjacent parking lot. The renovation of the historic building required creative problem solving (including a structural brace frame) to maintain and enhance the original architectural character of the Lents Neighborhood while also incorporating modern design elements. With five floors, the building adds 47 residential units that meet average median income (AMI) requirements and a ground floor with commercial space. The complete design also includes a community room and a green roof that improves heat absorption and water runoff. Despite a tight site, the design maintains an active streetscape and setback that’s fully integrated with its urban setting.
We’re delighted to share some additional award wins – this time for our project work in the Puget Sound region. The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) Washington has awarded two projects from our bridge engineering team with Silver and Gold-level recognition!
ACEC Washington represents the gold standard for the business of engineering in Washington state, creating an environment that encourages quality, safe, impactful, and sustainable solutions for both the built and natural environments. They are the leading organization for promoting engineering companies through professional knowledge and exceptional services for communities across the state, and we’re grateful to be recognized on behalf of our teams who accomplished this award-winning work.
Learn more about each winning project on their respective project pages, and hear directly from our clients on what makes these wins so special.
Dungeness River Bridge – Best in State Gold Award: Social, Economic, and Sustainable Design Considerations
As the firm providing lead design consulting services, bridge engineering, architecture and landscape architecture, and building structural engineering, our approach to this project was creating a space where critical infrastructure and the environment’s natural surroundings intersect. This created a meaningful and useful finished product for the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe based on their input and desired outcomes:
“Aesthetically and functionally, the bridge is superb. We are thrilled with the innovative wishbone design, and the flow of traffic merges and splits seamlessly. The Tribe routinely receives rave reviews about the bridge from trail and Nature Center users.”
– Randy Johnson, Habitat Program Manager for the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe
Willapa Littell Bridge – Best in State Silver Award: Successful Fulfillment of Owner/Client Needs
As prime consultant on this project – Otak performed a variety of essential services including project management, survey, environmental services, bridge and civil engineering, landscape architecture, stormwater management, and CMI work. The challenge for the client was mitigating safety hazards thanks to a highly popular trail combined with a dangerous at-grade crossing on a high-speed state highway while addressing aesthetic concerns among community members. With special thanks to our partners in overcoming speed bumps on the way to final delivery, the project now stands as a testament to innovative engineering that not only functions well, but is also a sight to behold:
“Constructing a 250’ span bridge over a busy highway with little to no lay down/staging area was a challenging endeavor. Otak produced a design that satisfied permit requirements, design requirements, and was aesthetically pleasing, definitely exceeding our expectations.”
– Tim Bell, Project Manager for the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
View the rest of the winners on the Seattle DJC’s official website here, along with their write up on the Dungeness Bridge and river restoration here!
More award wins at Otak! We’re happy to share that this fall the Wade Creek Restoration project was the recipient of two awards!
Otak would like to thank the City of Estacada, Greenworks, and Pacific Habitat services for their partnerships on delivering this project to the benefit of the community of Clackamas County.
Read more about the project and the awards below!
What Were the Awards?
State Land Board Award – Stream Category
Led by Greenworks, the restoration of Wade Creek was at the heart of the city’s multi-year effort to address problems with the pond while also creating better connection with the surrounding community. Work included restoring the historic course of the creek to provide improved passage for salmon species throughout their life cycle, adding native plants along the bank to shade and cool the creek, and eliminating steep slopes to create a working floodplain.
The restoration project also added accessible walking trails and a boardwalk to the adjacent park and public library, an amphitheater and community gathering space, stormwater rain gardens, and a pollinator garden. Along with benefiting the environment surrounding the creek, these crucial additions and improvements to accessibility increased the area’s overall sense of community.
John Van Staveren of Pacific Habitat Services was integral to both the completion of the project and the submittal of the Land Board Award, so we would like to extend special thanks to him and the greater firm for all his work advocating for the project.
You can read the press release on the Land Board award win from the Oregon Department of State Lands here.
Oregon ASLA – Honor Award
Also submitted and led by our partners at Greenworks, architects tapped Wade Creek as a Project of Honor at the annual Oregon American Society of Landscape Architects awards banquet for the collaborative and environmentally conscious What method in which it was delivered..
Read more about Wade Creek on our project page, and we’re pleased to have worked on such a transformative and community-driven project.
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What Were the Awards?