Fort Vancouver West Barracks

Vancouver, WA | Public Works | $6.4M | Four Campus Buildings on the National Register of Historic Places | 2015 - 2017

Former European trading post and origin of the city of Vancouver, former site of prison for Indigenous people and Indigenous burial site, turned US military base, now owned and operated by the City of Vancouver. Buffalo Soldiers lived in the Infantry Barracks, one of the four buildings in the scope of work. The Buffalo Soldiers, a members of the US military of African American descent, charged with keeping Indigenous People and Nations at bay at the direction of the military leaders. Their involvement with tribe removal is a contentious period of history between African Americans and Indigenous People and Nations.

The project required oversight by historic preservation and archaeology agencies because the US military built one of the buildings on the site of a former Indigenous burial site. Scope of work included an adaptive reuse of the Infantry Building into 12 market rate apartments (one ADA compliant apartment), and a historic renovation of the Dental, Quartermaster, and Artillery Buildings into commercial rentals.

Services Provided as Intern + Project Architect for Bassetti Architect

Completion of schematic through construction documents of two out of the four buildings

Construction administration for all four buildings - on-site contact for weekly construction meetings representing the architect

Coordination with Project Team of engineering consultants from schematic design through project closeout

Coordination with state and local agencies for project changes and approvals: National Park Service, Washington State Department of Archaeology + Historic Preservation, and City of Vancouver