Harka Architecture

Incoming Energy Efficiency Upgrade Requirements for Oregon Building Owners

Oregon wrapped up its 2023 legislative session by passing two major climate change bills containing well over a dozen proposals to tackle greenhouse gas emissions across the state. One proposal in House Bill 3409 will mean big changes for commercial building owners in the coming years. The bill outlines the creation and implementation of a building performance standard (BPS) for existing commercial buildings, making Oregon the fourth state to adopt such a standard.

Material Spotlight: Let's Talk Cork Siding

What comes to mind when you think of cork? From wine bottle tops and tack boards to flooring, cork is a popular material for a wide range of products in our daily lives. At Harka, we’re all about exploring the latest in sustainable and non-toxic materials. So, let’s talk about what cork siding can do for you.

Daylighting 101: Controlling Daylight

In this article, we will focus on strategies to control how daylight enters the building. Generally speaking, we want to filter light as it enters a building to maximize bright, ambient light suitable for the function of the space while also considering other factors, from energy efficiency to more subjective qualities such as how light moves throughout the day and interacts with textures and forms.

“Unprecedented” Weather: Is This the New Norm and How Can You Make Your Home Climate-Safe?

To ring the new year, Portland experienced an unprecedented storm resulting in more than a week of wind, snow, ice, and record breaking temperatures. We are seeing extreme rain events causing mudslides and floods, and extreme heat and drought periods causing never before seen wildfires. It is not hard to image that what we call extreme weather now, we will eventually just call weather. How will we adapt? Well, one way will be through changing the way we build and adapt our shelters.

Featured in Fine Homebuilding

We are excited to announce that a Harka project was recently featured in Fine Homebuilding Magazine. The piece focuses on how we creatively created a legal loft space inside the ADU while overcoming the challenges of the building codes.

Bar Diane featured in PDX Eater

Bar Diane featured in PDX Eater

We are so excited about our latest interior creation: a super cool wine bar in the Pearl! A huge thank you to the owners of Bar Diane for making this happen. They are amazing people that were TRULY a pleasure to work with. As you can see from the murals, Sami is an extremely talented artist which helped take the space to the next level. Congrats to Joshua Jewett in our office for a job well done. Insider Information: If you peek through the slats in the fence outside, you can still see the parking sign painted on the concrete wall from the long lost Gypsy Lounge. Go check out their amazing wines and food!

See the feature in PDX Eater