OregonBILDS (Building Integrated Livable Designs Sustainably) is a design-build studio program at the University of Oregon. OregonBILDS draws on the interdisciplinary skills of both students and faculty at the University of Oregon to offer exceptional design-build opportunities. Working as a cohesive team, the organization partners with the community to design and construct integrated, sustainable, and affordable housing.

OregonBILDS was developed through generous grants from the UO Meyer Fund for a Sustainable Environment and Lease Crutcher Lewis. This program, academically based in the Department of Architecture, is open for enrollment by students from architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture and other disciplines within the college and university. It is a dynamic collaboration of classroom instruction and practical, real-world application of design, construction, and community involvement.

Participating students collaboratively design and build one residence per year. Each project explores the nature of sustainable architecture in relation to affordable residential design. Students engage the fundamentals of residential design and construction as they conscientiously develop an appropriate design solution for a typical residential site.

OregonBILDS connects design students to each other and to building professionals, material vendors, city officials, public utilities and community service agencies. For a list of our working partnerships, see our Contributors page.

OregonBILDS projects are laboratories for student learning; they provide exploratory opportunities to understand the application of energy efficient design, the integration of building technology, and the relationship between interior spaces and the landscape.


Vision and Goals

OregonBILDS has the vision to become a leading and internationally influential collegiate residential design-build program. Having established a record of success, the organization plans to make its program model available to other colleges and universities. Eventually, OregonBILDS intends to cultivate and help to host a growing network of empowered students and faculty at national conferences and other conversational platforms for design-build programs. This collaborative opportunity will strengthen each program through a collective exchange of experiences and best practices.

Our goals are:

  • To teach students best practices in sustainable design, construction, and development
  • To provide exemplary affordable homes here in the Eugene community
  • To become a national leader in collegiate residential design build

Awards

$250,000 Lane County Housing Improvement Plan (HIP) grant with Homes For Good, 2019

Oregon Opportunity Network Golden Key Award for most innovative home ownership project, 2016

AIA/ACSA Housing Design Education Award (with M. Fifield and P. Keyes), 2016