Think Wood: Salem, Oregon public works building provides a welcoming workplace

November 2024

Think Wood

Salem, Oregon public works building provides a welcoming workplace

Designed by Portland-based Hacker Architects, the city of Salem, Oregon’s new public works facility is a municipal operations center with an unusual cross-section of users.

The two-story-tall, 50,000-square-foot structure accommodates desk workers such as planners and administrators as well as people who work mostly in the field that come to the City of Salem Shops Public Works to receive work assignments. The field workers maintain the sewer, fire, water, trees, landscaping, and parks systems throughout the city—not your typical office clientele. “We called it a mix of typical modern workplace, but also muddy boots—a lot of people coming and going from the field,” Hacker Design Principal David Keltner says. “Figuring out how to make a space that was conducive to both was really important.”