Both Arciform's work and workplace have been the recipient of prestigious awards from area publications, with Arciform itself being awarded the 100 Best Companies in 2006 and the 100 Best Green Companies in 2009, 2010 and 2011 by Oregon Business Magazine. Its work has received numerous awards, including the Root Award in 2009.
Oregon Business Magazine
Winner of 100 Best Green Companies
Arciform Named One of 100 Best Green Companies to Work For in Oregon
Sustainability is an important value and sustainable industries are a critical sector in Oregon. And green practices also are key to being a great place to work, according to a new survey by Oregon Business Magazine. To honor that, Oregon Business launched its first annual 100 Best Green Companies project this year.
Based on its widely recognized 100 Best Companies to Work For in Oregon project, the 100 Best Green Companies were determined by an anonymous employee survey and an independent assessment of the employers' sustainability practices. This survey then gives companies useful and credible information to help guide their workplace practices.
There were 372 companies that participated in the project. The 100 Best Green Companies will be announced in the June "Green Issue" of Oregon Business and at the Gerding Theater in Portland on June 1 at 5:30 p.m. The Gerding is the first National Register-listed building in the country to receive a LEED platinum certification.
The 100 Best Green Companies were determined by satisfaction and importance ratings of sustainability statements from the 100 Best Employee Survey as well as answers to 10 sustainability questions in the 100 Best Employer Benefits Survey. Both surveys were conducted in the fall of 2008. The 100 Best Employee Survey included questions on the organization's support for waste reduction; reuse and recycling; renewable energy and conservation; alternative modes of transportation; use of nontoxic materials; environmental stewardship; and employee recognition and rewards for meeting or exceeding energy and waste-reduction goals.
The 100 Best Employer Benefits Survey asked the organization about recognizing employees for reducing energy; helping subsidize employees' public transit passes; allowing for green means of transport; using energyefficient lighting; purchasing of renewable energy; recycling office waste; using nontoxic materials; making business decisions based on sustainable values; reducing energy consumption and pollution; and commitment sustainability as part of the organization's core business strategy.
Portland Spaces
The Root Awards Recipient
Category: Home / Interior Ð 1st Place Winner
for the whole home remodel of the Ranchel Residence
Winning Project Overview: Determined to incorporate the greenest design principles possible, Anne DeWolf spent six years gathering antique fixtures, re-cycled materials, and green building products to produce a vibrantly offbeat residential remodel of a 1978 two-story home. Each room showcases surprising uses for salvaged goods: Wooden pickle-barrel slats stretch across the living-room floor; a molded piece of wrought-iron fence is reincarnated as a bathroom towel bar; antique glass doorknobs adorn the retractable attic staircase. A herringbone pattern on the high ceiling, made of Kirei board and bamboo planks, visually links the lofted upstairs bedroom to the main living space.
The master bedroom's highlight is a custom-built circular bed, perfectly fitted above a bamboo lazy susan for shoe storage. Clothing hangs on S-hooks fashioned from antique socket wrenches, which partially conceal the room's wall of open shelving. Warm leather tiles, culled primarily from landfill-bound BMW automobile seats, cover the floor.
The staircase risers' mosaics include glass marbles from DeWolf's childhood. Saw blades, old metal treads, and tin ceiling parts, all found in junkyards, were welded together to make the railing, which is topped with a hand-carved cherry handrail. A few of the salvaged items retain charming remnants of their past lives: A door from the 1900s has both its original layers of paint and a mail slot; a rubber wall protector made of reused tires still has rocks wedged between its treads. The final effect exemplifies DeWolf's tireless attention to detail and her ability to transform heaps of recycled materials into a funky yet cohesive aesthetic.
The Architectural Heritage Center/Bosco-Milligan Foundation
Preservation in Action Award Recipient
for the restoration of the JS & Melinda Waggener Farmstead This project was recognized for demonstrating "the cultural, historic, and economic value of historic preservation in our communities, and thereby inspire others to do the same."
Winning Project Overview: The Waggener farmstead is a late nineteenth century farm sited on Firdale Road in Washington County. The remnant 7-acre farm includes the original home - constructed in 1885 with a two story T section added in 1912, dairy barn, milk house, shop, storage shed, privy, chicken house, wood shed, pump house, and garage. Besides being an excellent example of a nearly intact, average late 19th and early 20th Century farmstead, the farmhouse is the oldest residence in Washington County, as listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and has the only officially recognized and registered W.P.A. privy projects in the State of Oregon.
The farmhouse, situated on an easterly facing slope, had for decades been slipping and twisting down the hillside, being pulled off its original foundation of hand-hewn logs on timber posts and rock footings. Structural collapse was eminent and the homeowner contracted Arciform LLC to restore this historic structure. ArciformÕs project scope included raising the home, laser leveling both the 1885 & 1912 sections, pouring new footings and building a new foundation with the incorporation of structural steel beams while maintaining the appearance of the original log foundation. Additionally, the scope included replacing rotting shiplap around the base of the structure, rebuilding the porches, adding new skirting, replacing the roof and adding gutters.
Oregon Business Magazine
Winner of 100 Best Companies 2006
This award recognizes and celebrates the top 100 Oregon companies for their commitment to creating great places for their employees to work.
Remodeling Excellence Awards Ð Home Builders Association 1st Place Major Remodel $375k to $499k
Oregon Remodelers Association Ð Outstanding Remodeling Achievement
Winner of Interior Remodel Award (Basement Remodel/2nd Floor Laundry Center)
Oregon Remodelers Association Ð Outstanding Remodeling Achievement
Winner of the Historic Renovation/Restoration Award
City of Portland BEST (Business for a Sustainable Tomorrow) Award Ð Waste Reduction Category
Honors companies for their commitment and innovation in environmental practices.
As published in the The Business Journal 4/19/02:
Interestingly, the greenest of green buildings often begin on brownfields. Validating this adage, a small Portland design-remodel firm called Arciform LLC has brought new life to a once-contaminated gas station site at the corner of North Interstate Avenue and North Skidmore Street.
Richard and Anne DeWolf's three-story, 5,000-square-foot office building was erected among mature trees and on soil that was cleaned up through Portland's Brownfield Demonstration Pilot Program. The structure includes retail space, office areas and a showroom for Arciform, the DeWolfs' design-build company specializing in the restoration and remodel of pre-World War II homes.
The young couple hopes their building will play an integral role in the revitalization of North Portland, an area that continues to muster scrutiny for complex gentrification issues. Now that the building is complete, the DeWolfs say the only construction waste was a 30-yard load of recycled wood and three Dumpsters of garbage.
Kitchens
