Bybee Lakes Hope Center

At Knot Studio, we strive to positively impact environmental justice via design. During 2020, we donated 700+ design hours to community benefit projects, including placemaking work at Bybee Lakes Hope Center. Serving the Portland Metro area, this Helping Hands reentry outreach center is creating access to trauma-informed, data-driven, person-centered homeless services. Knot Studio’s design expertise has helped transform the never-occupied, former Wapato Correctional Facility for its new mission.

In 2021, Knot Studio donated an additional $65,000 worth of design and raised $6,680 in cash through our annual “Share the Love” event, with the goal of finishing our work at Bybee Lakes Hope Center. This effort inspired a Beaverton-based sign fabricator, Center Pointe Signs, to also donate $65,000 worth of material and labor to complete the transformation.

Promoting a sense of welcome, safety, and empowerment was a priority at Bybee Lakes. Knot Studio’s team created a seamless experience of place accessible to all and responsive to what people need while containing only the amount of information one can assimilate at each decision point along the journey through each unique situation and location. With Knot’s approach, residents feel supported in their path and confident in the knowledge they can find the needed amenities and services. Knot Studio was mindful of scale, proportions, materials, finishes, effects of color, lighting, and other elements that can support comfort within spaces and along paths. A well-designed and thoughtfully integrated site and building unify the entire project while never leaving a visitor feeling lost or wanting, overwhelmed, or fearful.