Do you have a design living in your mind for that perfect bookcase, but don’t have the tools to build it? Or maybe you’ve always had a hankering for welding but you're not sure where to go to try it out? Portlanders now have a solution for their DIY conundrums: ADX! Located at 417 SE 11th Avenue, ADX is a brand new (grand opening party was June 3, 2011) facility hosting a membership-based community built to allow individuals and small businesses to realize their creative dream projects. ADX’s current members are extremely diverse, encompassing architecture firms, tattoo studios, artists, designers, robotics enthusiasts, and even a boat building school! One of their missions is to “build a community of thinkers and makers”.
Boasting a 10,000 square foot facility housing a fully equipped woodshop, metal shop, sewing machines, laser cutters, and a CNC Router (fancy!), ADX is fully stocked to service all your construction needs. They also have a digital media center for computer-related projects. And if you were given a heaping helping of creativity but you don’t have the technical skills to turn ideas into realities, ADX has a plethora of industry experts on hand to guide you through a project or even fabricate it for you! For large-scale projects, the Factory Floor portion of ADX offers 500 square foot areas for the renting. And if you need a place to show off your shiny new creations, they also offer a gallery space. All of this combines together to make a place where creative dreams CAN come true!
In our current world, where so much emphasis is placed on technology, ADX is helping people gain important hands-on, work-up-a-sweat, get-your-pants-dirty technical skills. Offering classes in woodworking, welding, and sewing, you now have a way of learning how to use a drill press even if grandpa never taught you!
Here are some incredible Portland-based individuals and small businesses that have already found ADX to be a chocolate-covered piece of creative heaven:
- Kate Bingaman Burt was just featured in Good Magazine as one of 25 female designers they love! http://katebingamanburt.com/
- Architecture Building Culture is an architecture firm that was selected by San Francisco Film Museum to conduct its facility needs study over the next 12 months. http://www.architecture-bc.com/news/2011
- Grizzly Tattoo…no explanation needed! http://grizzlytattoo.com/
- And last, Wind and Oar Boat School is working with ADX to help ten women of different generations build a St. Ayles Skiff, an historic boat descending from the waters of Scotland. Previously, this crew of intergenerational women had no woodworking experience. They now want to help build a fleet of St. Ayles Skiffs and compete both locally and nationally! http://wind-and-oar-boatschool.org/?cat=8. Below is a photo of their work in progress:
All photos courtesy of ADX
