DRO converted the former home of The Skanner newspaper into medical offices for independent bodywork practitioners. The renovation preserves the North Portland building’s midcentury character while adapting its interiors for private treatment rooms and shared teaching space.

Built in the 1960s, the building originally housed the headquarters of a funeral home company. It later became home to The Skanner, the Black-owned newspaper founded by Bernie and Bobbie Foster in 1975. For five decades, the paper covered Portland’s Black communities and advocated for civic change. The building retains The Skanner name in recognition of that history.

The design works with the building’s generous windows, central stair, and skylit upper floor. Treatment rooms occupy the perimeter, with shared spaces connecting the individual practices. White walls and wood-toned flooring carry through the interiors, and curtains soften the daylight while providing privacy. A larger classroom accommodates group instruction and continuing education.

Outside, the distinctive masonry fins and façade-mounted photovoltaic panels remain part of the building’s familiar presence on Killingsworth Street.