Environment

A Permanent Home for a Growing Company

In October, 2014, Krownlab moved into a building in the NW Industrial neighborhood of Portland. Previously, the building housed everything from a manufacturer of steel braided cables to a ukulele maker. Firmly in the heart of the Industrial Northwest, but steps from trendy NW 23rd, the building was a diamond in the rough—though admittedly the rough was very thick. Still, the building could be easily divided into multiple spaces with a common core for shared amenities and resources. Lots of thought went into renovating the building to make it a flexible-use space that mixed the rawness of the original timber and concrete with clean new surfaces.

Now the building is both a practical, functioning manufacturing hub, and a beautiful, inspiring workplace that helps spark ideas for new products. The shared, glazed-in conference room, and many nooks throughout the building let people find the space that best fits their current task. A shipping container was brought in and retrofitted to be a closed off space for dusty and loud manufacturing and prototyping processes. This container can be easily moved when the spaces within the building need to be reconfigured. And recently, Krownlab acquired the building that shares its wall—this means that even as business increases, Krownlab can grow in place.

Only As Good As The Company You Keep

We are lucky to have amazing companies we admire share our building. Not only does this encourage collaboration and let us share resources, it inspires new ideas. Our building-mates are a collection of designers and makers that are pushing their fields by doing incredible work.

Quartertwenty is an architectural hardware and furniture company that crafts a full line of wall-mounted solutions, and a collection of seating elements in metal and wood for both residential and commercial interiors.

Osmose Design is an interior design firm with both residential and commercial clients and experience spanning project management, design/build, furniture and lighting design, and creative branding direction.

JHL Design is a multi-disciplinary design studio just as comfortable and capable designing a modern, urban spa as a country farmhouse.

Dave McLaughlin is a graphic designer specializing in brand identity, campaign development, and print and digital communications.

PDX Industrial is a design company specializing in generating advanced concepts across a wide spectrum of user groups, industries, and brands.

Mostar Studios is a product design company with experience in consumer immersion, design, prototyping, and validation.