Animation studio Laika Inc has selected Portland-based TVA Architects to design a state-of-the-art feature animation campus to house Laika's burgeoning entertainment division.

TVA Architects has begun work on a multi-phase master plan beginning with four buildings scheduled to open in late 2009. The Laika campus will be located on 30 acres of land in Tualatin, Oregon, some 12 miles south of Portland.

Phase One of the campus will comprise 245,000 square feet and accommodate 600 employees in four buildings devoted to core corporate services, fitness center, corporate offices and state-of-the-art CGI facilities, and stop-motion animation stages and support facilities. Laika chiefs expect to break ground in October.

'Our Laika campus will have the same strength of design, environmental sensitivity, and precedent-setting style that TVA brought to the Nike campus,' Philip H Knight, owner and chairman of the board, said.

'This project holds enormous implications, not only creating a world-class film and animation production studio in Portland, but contributing to the economic growth and cultural enrichment of the region,' Laika's president and chief executive officer Dale Wahl said.

With its first animated feature, Coraline, in production, Laika Entertainment's number of personnel is projected to expand to more than 600 within the next 18 months.