santiam control house

Located in the western foothills of the Oregon Cascades, the equipment in Santiam Control House was sitting within a temporary interior tent structure. The whole of the building structure had recently been stripped bare, a rough concrete cave, to eliminate all the hazardous materials common to mid-century construction. In addition the building was difficult to heat and cool and would not survive a potential earthquake, a weak link in this vital infrastructure.

The electrical transmission network for the Bonneville Power Administration was built out during the 1940s to 1960s and extends across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Western Montana into the edges of California, Nevada and Wyoming. This represents over 15,000 miles of high-voltage lines including intermittent substations for delivering power to customers. These control houses encompass a wide range of architectural styles and because of the historic importance of this federal agency, all its early buildings are registered as historic structures.

Without changing the exterior appearance of the building, all portions of the structure needed replacement except for the superstructure of cast concrete floors and walls and roof joists and deck. New work included steel bracing for lateral support, insulated industrial sash windows, aluminum storefront entry with controlled access, rigid insulation behind drywall at exterior walls, suspended ceiling with energy-efficient lighting, quartz tile flooring, bathroom fixtures and kitchenette casework and fixtures.

The result is a new clean working environment for the substation workers while maintaining the original mid-century industrial appearance of the building. This is gives the building another half century of life and maintains an important element to providing power to the Pacific Northwest.