Author Archives: Jeremy

Simple, Tasteful: La Perla takes pizza back to basics

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What can you do in 90 seconds?

Make a phone call? Do 20 push-ups? Take an elevator to the 10th floor?

You will be amazed what the people at La Perla Pizzeria can do in 90 seconds.

The authentic Italian pizzeria can cook a delicious pizza in just a minute and a half.

La Perla makes its own mozzarella and hand-tossed dough.

The restaurant also uses imported ingredients and cooks in a wood-burning oven.

La Perla offers a variety of traditional pizzas, including margherita, Napolitan and marinara.

Toppings include sausage, marinated mushrooms, artichokes and ham, among others.

Located at 1313 Pearl St., La Perla replaced the Pearl Street Ice Cream Parlour.

Gianni Barofsky, owner of La Perla and Beppe & Gianni’s Trattoria, said the restaurant aspires to become Verace Pizza Napoletana certified soon.

Verace Pizza Napoletana is a movement to protect the Napoletana style of pizza that is a tradition in Naples.

A representative from Naples will come to the pizzeria to declare it official, and if the restaurant passes, it will be one of only 25 VPN pizzerias in the U.S.

Barofsky said he wanted his business to have an open, airy atmosphere with lots of space, windows and a new awning.

La Perla definitely feels open and airy with its huge windows and skylight.

Barofsky said the history of the location played a large part in the design of the business.

For Barofsky, it was important to send the message that La Perla was an entirely new and unique establishment.

“We didn’t want to put a pizza oven in (Pearl Street Ice Cream Parlour),” he said.

Barofsky said the pizza is the best thing on the menu.

“No one’s had a pizza like this,” he said. “The pizza is the star here.”

He said that the folks at La Perla are “excited to bring a new concept and taste to the West Eugene area.”

La Perla Pizzeria is open seven days a week, from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., although Barofsky said differently.

“We’re open for dinner from 5 p.m. until … just five ’til,” he said. “Maybe until we run out of dough.”

New Chapter for Bookmark

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Hugh Duvall is a Eugene attorney, but now he can be called something else: a downtown developer. Duvall is renovating the former Bookmark building at 856 Olive St. to create a new office for himself and other lawyers. His building is a few steps from the two-block stretch of Broadway that has been considered for redevelopment during the past two years.

Duvall, a 46-year old criminal defense attorney, bought the building from Broadway landlords Tom Connor and Don Woolley in December for $350,000. Connor, Woolley and Opus Northwest, a Portland-based developer, once thought of using the property as part of a large retail, housing and entertainment project on Broadway. Those plans fizzled, but the city has acquired options to buy many of the same properties that were sought by Connor-Woolley-Opus, keeping the redevelopment idea alive. Duvall rents an office in the Citizens Building on Oak Street. He had looked for a year for a building to buy near the Lane County courthouse.

“I did have some reservations about buying the building because I did not want to stand in the way of a downtown redevelopment,” Duvall said. “But it’s not very often that a building within walking distance of the courthouse is available.” Duvall expects to pour $450,000 or more into a massive renovation of the 100-year-old building, originally called the Eugene Farmers Creamery. The building’s interior has been gutted to accommodate six law offices, one for Duvall and five for tenants. The buildings’ original window openings on the north wall, facing an alley and measuring about 4 feet wide by 7 feet tall, have been uncovered. They will be refitted with glass and glass blocks to let in light. A mezzanine will be constructed for storage space. Other interior treatments will include a vaulted ceiling above the lobby, Douglas fir beams, and steel and cable staircase railings.

“It’s going to be a dramatic renovation,” Duvall said. The building’s purchase and redevelopment shows there is demand for small, reasonably priced downtown office buildings, said Sue Prichard, the commercial real estate broker who handled the sale for Connor and Woolley. Such buyers typically remodel the buildings and occupy them, she said. Recent examples of that trend include the owners of the Oveissi & Co. building at Broadway and Willamette Street, the Ulum Group building on Oak Street, and the KLCC building on West Eighth Avenue.

2006 People’s Choice Award (Commercial)

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2nd Place – Commercial

Featuring: Imagine Graphics

In this competition which takes place annually during the Eugene Celebration weekend, local architects and landscape architects present their featured projects in various categories, and the citizens of Eugene cast their vote for the best project in each category.

CELEBRATING OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY IN THE WORKPLACE

Project:

Imagine Graphics Headquarters Remodel
990 Garfield, Eugene Oregon 97402
(Formerly the Miller Paint Building)

Architect:

Nir Pearlson Architect, Inc.

Landscape Architect:

Kate McGee Landscape Architect

Structural Engineer:

Hohbach-Lewin, Inc.

Marketing, Displays, Finishes:

Funk/Levis & Associates

Contractor:

Schar Construction

 

Client’s Vision

A new home for Imagine Graphics: a building that reflects and supports the company’s commitment to vibrant creativity and open communication

Architect’s Charge

To transform a non-descript warehouse into an inspiring work environment: an attractive domain of creativity and commerce

Design Concept

To reveal and enhance the original modernist structure of the 1960’s building through a series of de-construction moves:
Removal of a section of the low ceiling so the volume reaches upwards to the tall roof
Replacement of the 2nd floor corridor wall with a transparent railing, spatially joining the two floors via the new double-height volume

Removal and replacement of a massive 1980’s canopy with a slender structural steel colonnade

Opening of new clerestories and windows to fill the interiors with abundant daylight

Minimalist Design Strategy

  • Fabricate canopies, stairs, railings and partitions with off-the-shelf components: structural steel, dimensional lumber, particle board, and stainless-steel cable
  • Expose and treat architectural materials such as wood, steel, concrete block, and aluminum to reflect their distinct nature in form, texture, and color
  • Landscape planting areas with a select inventory of elegant plants set amongst rough stones in a range of sizes

Sustainability Measures

  • Re-claimed boards, sustainably-harvested lumber and straw-board sheets compose the casework, trim, trellises, railings and paneling
  • Natural linoleum and replaceable carpet tiles cover floor surfaces
  • Low-VOC paints used throughout
  • Increased insulation and double-glazed windows substantially reduce heating and cooling needs
  • Added windows minimize the need for artificial lighting
  • High-efficiency HVAC and electrical systems replace aging equipment

Imagine Graphics’ Philosophy of Openness and Transparency Expressed in the Work Place

  • All departments – management, sales, graphic design and production – are directly linked, supporting interactions and a creative flow of ideas
  • The exterior and interior realms communicate, reflect, and inform each other
  • The porous boundaries between the showroom and the production area offer clients and employees the opportunity to witness, and participate, in the transformation of imagination into graphics