t e r r a . f l u x u s

22nd Sep2010

Vegitecture Visualizations 2

by Jason King

Following up on the work at Washington Medical Center in Oakland – more Vegitectural Visualizations to provide clients with ideas of what green roof installations will look like. Working again with Tremco Sustainable Solutions, these images depict the simple installation of extensive ecoroof on one of the buildings at the Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. The views below show the entire building roof with extensive sedum vegetation – taking from a taller adjacent building – in a set of before and after shots. The difference is dramatic, and would have a huge impact in the heat of southern California, where the green roof would reduce ambient temperatures, reduce reflectivity, and provide additional cooling for the building.

A large factor in this project was views from adjacent patient rooms, so an additional image showed the difference between the existing views down onto the gray roof and the proposed installations. By utilizing these views of nature, the design taps into deeply rooted connections to nature, the cornerstone of Biophilic Design. This is vital to medical facilities in urban areas, as views of nature have been proven to reduce stress, lessen recovery times, reduce demand for medication, and improve health outcomes.

Category : biophilic design, ecoroofs, environmental, graphics, heathcare, images, landscape, los angeles, presentations, projects, sustainability, vegitecture

1 Comm

13th Sep2010

Extreme Makeover Gets Ecoroof

by Jason King

There’s been a good amount of buzz in the last couple of weeks in Salem as Extreme Makeover Home Edition mobilized the local design and construction communities throughout the region for a transformation of facilities for the Oregon School for the Deaf (read more about the whole project here). The project was led by Salem-based Rich Duncan Construction and included renovation of a building basement, plus new facilities including a dorm – seen after ecoroof installation below.

Image via Statesman Journal

TERRA.fluxus, along with design-build partner Teufel Landscape were brought in at the last minute to tweak the design and specifications, track down materials, and figuring out irrigation for the vegetated portions of ecoroof. The materials plans showed simple layout of elements quickly developed using existing architectural drawings by Studio 3 Architecture as a base. The resulting pro-bono designs were turned around in a short timeframe to accomodate the fast-paced schedule of construction… going from initial design to completion in a little over a week.

The roof plan was dynamic, but relatively simple, incorporating minimal edging and soil separation at the end of the roofs and edges. Jason King, landscape architect from TERRA.fluxus, recommended detail modifications for a slightly raised parapet (to allow soil to go completely to edges) and for custom perforated edging and debris screens above scupper drains (seen below) allowing water to drain easily through while keeping soil and plantings in place.

Designed to go atop a TPO membrane supplied and installed by Pfiefer Roofing and Snyder Roofing, the design included 1300 s.f. of area, including 3″ of donated growing media from Pro-Gro Mixes laid on top of a donated drain mat from HD Fowler who also donated materials for efficient spray irrigation using stream rotors. Collectively, the vegetation, along with custom edging, irrigation, and drainage is a simple residential example of a small-scale roof with a shallow slope (1.5 to 12) that could be replicated on many structures.

Image via Statesman Journal

The instant greenery (a necessity) came from Sempergreen USA, who donated all of the pre-vegetated mats that made for easy installation and full coverage. Due to a short timeline, there was a big assist from Rana Creek Nursery to get materials delivered from the SF bay area in less than a week – no small feat. Early on Day 5 of the roof was on, and Teufel Landscape was given a 12 hour window to install the entire ecoroof. No sweat, they cranked it out by finishing the task in a little over 4 hours. Some shots of the installation:

Image via Statesman Journal

The ecoroof was just one part of a monumental undertaking to do 3-months worth of work in less than a week’s time. TERRA.fluxus is honored to be a part of the project (along with our Green Above Ground partners) and contribute to the students at the Oregon School for the Deaf in a positive, green, and visible way. Additional photos of the ecoroof from the VIP event last night (additional images below by Jason King) show off the completed project. The episode will air sometime in October – more to come.

Category : announcements, community, ecoroofs, environmental, images, installations, landscape, planting, projects, publications, sustainability, vegitecture

3 Comm

27th Aug2010

OHSU CDRC Ecoroof Takes Off

by Jason King

An acronymic mouthful (but less tongue-twisting than the full name) – we’ve been hard at work on the ecoroof for the OHSU CDRC (that is, the Oregon Health Sciences University Child Development & Rehabilitation Center). The project is associated with new roofing for the entire building, and is being designed by TERRA.fluxus along with Teufel Landscape and Snyder Roofing, continuing the innovative design-build partnership work on Green Above Ground. The team is also working with OHSU staff under the guidance of Orange Wall Studios for architectural design project management of the project.

Overall scope includes around 6,000 square feet of extensive ecoroof along with layout of ADA egress pathways, small patio areas and roof terraces for adjacent offices. The re-roofing is well underway, and the vegetated portions of the ecoroof should be completed by mid-September. Look forward to some progress shots of the installation in coming weeks.

Category : ecoroofs, environmental, heathcare, images, landscape, planting, portland, projects, sustainability, vegitecture

1 Comm

24th Aug2010

Vegitecture Visualizations

by Jason King

A vital aspect of many projects is the ability to quickly visualize the impact of certain design strategies. TERRA.fluxus recently had the opportunity to pursue some creative visualizations, working with Tremco Roofing on a pair of projects in California. The first project is for Washington Hospital Healthcare System (WHHS) in the bay area of Central California.

PATIENT ROOM

BEFORE: As you can see, the existing roof condition shows a view from a patient room, focused on the myriad rooftop piping and other equipment which steals the impact of the distant vegetation and mountains.

AFTER: Inclusion of extensive green roof in the foreground, coupled with a vegetated screen panel, offers the opportunity for improved views and to direct the eye towards the distant view. This implementation of biophilic principles is even more important for medical contexts, where studies have shown improvement in healthcare outcomes due to views of nature.

EXTERIOR WALL

BEFORE: The second visual was for an existing building, containing a blank facade which will front a new building. Any monolithic wall, with minimal windows or other fenestration, is a great opportunity for an easily improved view.

AFTER: The visual incorporated an image of an existing living wall (in this case, Patrick Blanc’s Tacoma Goodwill Wall) to show what the transformation would be from the relatively sterile view. While not expressly aimed at showing an actual product or direction, these ‘designs without a design’ are just simple ways of putting strategies within the site context of a clients property.

There are obviously many ways to provide a snapshot of a design to a potential client. This variety is simple and easy – relying less on photo-realism than on collage to represent possible visions of the site.

Category : biophilic design, ecoroofs, environmental, graphics, heathcare, images, landscape, living walls, planting, presentations, projects, roof gardens, vegitecture

3 Comm

27th Jul2010

D.I.Y. Ecoroofs

by Jason King

A mere snippet of an article on the Tour de Coops last Saturday, where we had 250 or so folks come through on a hot, hot, hot, day. Via OregonLive: “It’s just like Street of Dreams , but smaller and with chicken wire’ offers some pithy quotes on the state of coop design. As I was talking non-stop for 4 hours, I didn’t have a chance to snap any pics myself, but anyone that did, feel free to shoot an email.

From the story by Steve Beaven:

“…several dozen people streamed into Jason King’s backyard in the first hour of the event, eyeing the coop that he and his fiancée designed and built themselves. They both admire modern architecture and they wanted something that was environmentally correct. So their coop includes an eco-roof covered in plants. There’s also cedar siding and a run made of chicken wire. The coop and the run cost roughly $1,000, King said, and took nearly three months to build. “It was more time-consuming than I was anticipating,” said SuSu Hunniecutt, King’s fiancée. “The chickens don’t really have an opinion about the coop. It was more for us, how detailed we wanted to be about it.”

While everyone was complementary of the coop and it’s style, there were definitely many good questions, particularly on the DIY Ecoroof… here’s a link to the previous post on Landscape+Urbanism that shows the steps for this.

These questions inspired me to collect pics of said steps…and as a resource, I have developed a quick ‘D.I.Y. Ecoroof Project: Guide for Small Ecoroofs’ – using the Chicken Cube as inspiration… (link to PDF here) and click the photo for a larger version.

(thanks to my neighbor Adam for snapping the front yard shot above)

Category : community, ecoroofs, graphics, images, installations, planting, portland, press, projects, publications, tours, vegitecture

0 Comm

21st Jul2010

Hope Garden – Mid-Year Plantings

by Jason King

I had the opportunity to venture up to the Multnomah County Building for a short presentation to the participants in the Oregon Sustainability Experience, and snapped a few shots of the Hope Garden in mid-year splendor. While we’ve had an admittedly strange weather year, the garden seems to be doing well, with early cool season plants phasing out and warm season plantings putting on some growth.

Some of the section of greens include lettuce and broccoli that’s starting to bolt – opening up some space for late summer and winter plants to come in.

The lasting beauty of some plants – even after their productive life is over, such as the vibrant yellow blossoms on broccoli.

Category : agriculture, ecoroofs, food, landscape, planting, portland, projects, roof gardens, sustainability, tours, vegitecture

0 Comm

19th Jul2010

Garden Time features Chicken Cube

by Jason King

This weekend’s episode of Garden Time featured the video on the Chicken Cube – as a prelude to this year’s Tour de Coops (happening this Saturday, July 24th). Check out the snipped as they interviewed myself and the chickens – and featured some details on the coop design. Purchase a guide book and see lots of inspiring coops this Saturday, and hope to see lots of folks there.

Category : agriculture, announcements, community, ecoroofs, food, portland, press, projects, tours, vegitecture

0 Comm

12th Jul2010

Chicken Cube Gets Its Closeup

by Jason King

Had a fun morning with the folks from local TV show Garden Time as they interviewed myself and the chickens – and featured some details on the coop design – for some upcoming coverage on the Tour de Coops (happening July 24th). The Chicken Cube will be one of the 30 or so featured coops this year, and should be a fun time to discuss urban chicken-keeping and ecoroofs as an added bonus. Not sure exactly what order, but episodes will air the next two Saturday mornings (July 17 and 24 at 8:30 am on KATU Channel 6 locally) and other locales around the state (check listings).

Also, you should be able to see snippets of the videos online at their YouTube page (I’ll post them as well once they are up). Here’s snapshot of them filming some promos.

This weekend offered some time to make some long-awaited upgrades to the coop, including a reconfigured nest box, widened access for cleaning, and the beginnings of the chicken run (framing seen in the photo above). To see the finished product, check out the Tour de Coops - taking place on Saturday, July 24th, from 11am to 3pm. The event offers an opportunity to visit a range of coops in Southeast, Northeast and North Portland. Check out the link to find out where to purchase guide booklets ($15) and get more info from and about great local group Growing Gardens.

Category : agriculture, ecoroofs, food, installations, landscape, planting, portland, presentations, projects, tours, vegitecture

1 Comm

09th Jul2010

BPA 905 Building – Rooftop Greening for Energy Efficiency

by Jason King

The green roof development for the Bonneville Power Administration’s 905 Building in Portland is progressing nicely – working with Green Above Ground partners Snyder Roofing and Teufel Landscape under General Contractor Allen-Bradbury Construction from Auburn, Washington. The project is coordinated by the General Services Administration, and is part of energy upgrades as part of the stimulus. The green roof scope include four roof levels that will transform existing terraces into semi-intensive green roof zones.

The transformation from terrace to green roof gave us the opportunity to build up soil areas, adding topography to create microclimates, absorb additional stormwater, and increase habitat. This creates a connected grouping of rooftop berms emulating a stream system.

The mounding and soil depth also allows for increased depth to incorporate native perennials, grasses, and small shrubs to add depth and seasonal variation without compromising the efficiency. The entire roof will be irrigated during seasonal hot/dry periods using captured rainwater, making this roof net zero in terms of potable water use. A rendering of one of the roof levels is found below (click image for larger version).

Construction is underway and will be completed by the end of this summer.

Category : ecoroofs, graphics, images, landscape, planting, portland, projects, roof gardens, vegitecture

2 Comm

06th Jul2010

BES Ecoroof Design-Build

by Jason King

The Green Above Ground team is pleased to announce that we have been selected by the City of Portland for their recent request for proposals for design building services for ecoroofs. On June 30th, the City announced the ‘Intent to Award’ the contract to Snyder Roofing, the prime consultant and lead for our team. Other team members include TERRA.fluxus, Teufel Nursery, Cascade Design Professionals, and Verde. Read more about our team here.

The team already has a long track record of current and past projects throughout Portland, and this project will allow us to expand our current marketing efforts through additional pathways that will increase the overall number of projects locally but also provide ongoing materials for the City to use. Our basic package of information in Phase I includes a number of current activities:

Development of materials (print and web) related to dispelling ecoroof myths and providing real examples of case studies with performance and cost data
Targeted advertising and articles in trade-related publications aimed at key market leaders and project decision makers, including publications and other outreach activities targeting minority communities
Further refinement of the Green Above Ground website (www.greenaboveground.com) to include project examples and information to possible ecoroof clients
Tours to showcase built work and address roofing, design, structural, installation and maintenance activities

We’re very excited about Phase II – which will feature the production of a documentary video that will follow the steps from evaluation, design, installation, and maintenance of a selected project, featuring many local area ecoroof projects in the process. An example of the type of informative video is found in this short film on the Vancouver Convention Centre rooftop – which shows design intent and construction elements. We hope to emulate great examples such as this to provide a range of resources.

There have been some short local resources in video format focused on residential scale, but we hope to capture the essence of the process from start to finish for a large-scale commercial project. Resources like those above will continue to inform and grow the local industry, making it possible for Portland to meet the goals of the Grey to Green initiative of installing 43 acres of ecrooof in 5 years. We’re happy to be a part of making this a reality.

Category : announcements, ecoroofs, environmental, landscape, planning, policy, portland, projects, sustainability, vegitecture

2 Comm

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Vegitecture Visualizations 2

Extreme Makeover Gets Ecoroof

OHSU CDRC Ecoroof Takes Off

Vegitecture Visualizations

PATIENT ROOM

EXTERIOR WALL

D.I.Y. Ecoroofs

Hope Garden – Mid-Year Plantings

Garden Time features Chicken Cube

Chicken Cube Gets Its Closeup

BPA 905 Building – Rooftop Greening for Energy Efficiency

BES Ecoroof Design-Build

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