15th Jun2010

First & Main Grand Opening

by Jason King

Last week marked the grand opening of First+Main – the first new major office building in downtown Portland since the Fox Tower was completed in 2000.  Jason King was lead designer and project manager while at GreenWorks PC (the landscape architecture firm responsible for the work) and attended the event with Principal Mike Faha and Landscape Designer Maia Zampini, who was instrumental in the project success.  Amidst the revelry including views of the amazing lobby space, we took a tour of the fourth floor roof terrace and noted the progress through a wet spring growing season.

Some pics from the gray (but not rainy!) day last week showed off the diverse plant palette, here, the northern section of the roof show trees beginning to fill out, and woody material  is healthy and growing, along with the ornamental grasses.  Due to our wet spring, the irrigation system hasn’t been used to date, and the cistern is brimming and ready to provide supplemental watering to the plantings through the heat of summer.

Our strange weather has definitely confused some of the plantings, with Star Magnolias just ready to bloom, and other perennials definitely behind schedule on their flowering cycles.  The joys of landscape is it’s always unpredictable.

Another part of the roof that looked amazing were the extensive ecoroof sections (6″ soil depth) that were planted with a diverse mix of succulents and perennials for a vibrant tapestry of color and texture.  These areas have filled in substantially, and offer a wonderful groundcover to the spaces.

Congrats to everyone involved in the project, including Shorenstein, GBD Architects, Gerding-Edlen, PAE Consulting Engineers, HHPR (Civil), KPFF (Structural) and many others who made this project a reality.  Also kudos to Hoffman Construction, Snyder Roofing and Teufel Landscape and related trades for an amazing job with the detailed roof implementation.  I also ran into Zach Suchara from Luma Lighting Design, who said he would send over some nighttime pics showing off the array of LED accents.  Will post those soon.

Category : ecoroofs, images, landscape, planting, portland, projects, roof gardens, vegitecture
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07th Jun2010

Community Gardens Signing Ceremony

by Jason King

Earlier this month was the culmination of the process to address the shortage of area community gardens, working with the Oregon Solutions led-process involving a group of multidisciplinary partners.  Jason King from TERRA.fluxus was involved as the chair of the garden demand working group, and also worked on a map of community-gardens and gardening resources throughout the community.

The team celebrates after Wednesday night's signing ceremony

A recent announcement from Portland Commissioner Nick Fish highlighted the group accomplishments:

“We have some exciting news to report about community gardens!  Last fall, to address the growing demand for community gardens, the Mayor and I launched an Oregon Solutions project.  Working with dozens of community partners, we developed a plan to address several areas of need. Already, we:

  • Developed a Community Gardens Toolkit to help Portlanders connect with local resources.
  • Updated our maps to include school gardens, faith-based gardens, and the newest gardens in the City’s Community Gardens program.
  • Created a phone bank to better communicate with folks on the waiting list for plots.
  • Committed, as part of the Climate Action Plan, to adding at least 1,000 plots by 2012.

We are developing exciting new partnerships and securing new financial support, from organizations like the East and West Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation Districts.  I am passionate about community gardens: they foster a sense of community, encourage us to engage in healthy outdoor activities, and connect us to the food we eat in a truly meaningful way. And the surplus food goes to local food banks to help those in need.  Working with our community partners, and building on the blueprint we developed through the Oregon Solutions project, we are working hard to deliver more home-grown food to Portlanders than ever before.”

TERRA.fluxus earned a special recognition in the final product of the process, the Declaration of Cooperation (pdf file), which highlighted key elements of the process and contributions from all members of the team: “With technical assistance from Jason King, landscape architect, and Maren Murphy of Depave, and input from several Team members, mapping of community gardens and growing food needs and resources was begun and will be maintained within the city’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability.”

Check out a small version of the map below, or download the full version here.

Category : agriculture, community, food, mapping, planning, portland, press, projects, publications
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30th May2010

Green Above Ground

by Jason King

The evolving nature of the ecoroof industry has created a desire for a streamlined approach to providing design and contracting for projects.  This has been the impetus for Green Above Ground, a a network of design/build professionals who provide a single source solution for local ecoroof projects. Our network is designed to maximize the collective knowledge of our members and offer a full service ecoroof package to clients who will benefit from not having to purchase design services and installation separately. Our experienced project team recognizes the importance of ecoroof technologies, and ensures a high level of quality for every project.

GREEN ABOVE GROUND

The core team consists of Snyder Roofing of Oregon LLC, which will act as the main point of contact, and provide roofing and waterproofing services as well as general contracting. Design services will be provided by TERRA.fluxus LLC, a landscape architecture firm with a broad range of rooftop experience. This is complemented by Teufel Landscape, providing vast experience related to planting and ecoroof component installation, as well as ongoing project maintenance.  We have a team structure that promotes seamless communication and allows us to provide comprehensive and lasting solutions to your ecoroof needs.  We are currently at work on a pair of design-build projects, including retrofits for the BPA 905 Building which should be completed in summer of 2010.

A notable collaboration that really spawned thinking about this opportunity was with the Portland Building Ecoroof.  The design team for this 18,000 s.f. retrofit was led by Macdonald Environmental Planning (Jason King as lead designer & project manager while at MEPpc).  After a competitive bidding process, Snyder Roofing was selected to lead the construction, bringing in Teufel Landscape to provide installation for ecoroof system components.  While not design-build, this created a positive working relationship that has continued on many projects over the years.

image courtesy of BES

A more recent example was First+Main Building, completed in 2010, where the team members worked in tandem to create a 15,000 square foot roof terrace in downtown Portland.  Jason King* of TERRA.fluxus led the design efforts (while working at GreenWorks PC) providing design and project management for this terrace.  The team using Snyder Roofing and Teufel Landscape as subcontractors for waterproofing for the entire building and installation of the roof terrace walls, planters.

The site features our collective team experience with a number of collaborative projects.  A full listing of TERRA.fluxus ecoroof and rooftop garden design encompasses over 3 acres of vegetated roofing  over a span of 10 years, including projects completed by Jason King while at GreenWorks and Macdonald Environmental Planning.

• Van Ness Medical Office Building Green Roof (San Francisco, CA) – 10,100 s.f.
• BPA 905 Building Ecoroof Retrofit (Portland, OR) – 6,000 s.f.
• Multnomah County Rooftop Agriculture Demonstration (Portland, OR) – 200 s.f.
• The Chicken Cube (Portland, OR) – 20 s.f.
• First & Main Roof Terrace* (Portland, OR) – 15,000 s.f.
• The Beacon* (Portland, OR) – 7,000 s.f. (current)
• The Nines Rooftop Plantings* (Portland, OR) – 2,500 s.f. (unbuilt)
• Arnada Commons Condominiums* (Vancouver, WA) – 6,000 s.f. (unbuilt)
• Beranger Condominiums* (Gresham, OR) – 3,000 s.f.
• The Encore Condominiums* (Portland, OR) – 1,500 s.f.
• Independence Station* (Independence, OR) – 6,000 s.f. (unbuilt)
• PSU Urban Studies Annex (Portland, OR) – 1,500 s.f. (unbuilt)
• Orpinela Guesthouse Ecoroof*** (Portland, OR) – 720 s.f.
• People’s Food Coop Ecoroof*** (Portland, OR) – 270 s.f.
• Hawthorne Condominiums Ecoroof *** (Portland, OR) – 1,500 s.f.
• Sweeney Residence Ecoroof (Portland, OR) – 800 s.f.
• Refi Residence Ecoroof (Portland, OR) – 400 s.f.
• Stacey Residence Ecoroof** (Portland, OR) – 250 s.f.
• B33 – Albina Fuel Site** (Portland, OR) – 10,000 s.f. (unbuilt)
• Borealis Living Wall & Roof Garden** (Seattle, WA) – 1,200 s.f.
• Fifth & Lenora Green Roof & Terrace** (Seattle, WA) – 15,000 s.f. (unbuilt)
• Portland Building Ecoroof** (Portland, OR) – 18,000 s.f.
• Sky Lakes Medical Center Healing Garden** (Klamath Falls, OR) – 12,000 s.f.
• Village at Headwaters at Tryon Creek Ecoroof ** (Portland, OR) – 13,000 s.f.
• Multnomah County Building Ecorooof ** (Portland, OR) – 12,000 s.f.

Some projects completed with a firm other than TERRA.fluxus (designated below):
• GreenWorks PC * (www.greenworkspc.com)
• MacDonald Environmental Planning pc ** (www.mep-pc.com)
• With Ecoroofs Everywhere (non-profit)  *** (www.ecoroofseverywhere.com)

Category : business, ecoroofs, environmental, landscape, planning, portland, projects, roof gardens, vegitecture
0 Comm
26th May2010

Holding Pattern | Urban Void Matrix

by Jason King

A quick ‘competition’ of sort from Seattle fit nicely into some current thinking around the concept of uses for vacant properties (aka urban voids).  In this case, the focus is on ‘stalled’ building sites that are left partially finished due to economic or other factors.  The gist of the call for idea from the Holding Patterns ‘brief’ distributed by Seattle DPD:

“Have you noticed how many lots have been left empty or partially developed due to the stalled economy? These vacant project sites are all around us. Unattractive and unbecoming of our city, we pass by them every day: empty holes, barren plains of gravel, voids in the city fabric. How can we convert these eyesores to opportunities?

The Seattle Design Commission wants your ideas for Holding Patterns, interim uses for stalled project sites. We are seeking your concepts to transform the following types of stalled project sites around the city:

  • holes in the ground
  • surface lots
  • ongoing construction above or below street level

Whether a concert space or a bumper car track, basketball hoops or a fleeting performance stage, from temporary to semi-permanent, wacky, practical or both, the Design Commission is welcoming any and all ideas. Artists, designers, non-profits, businesses, developers, students, astronauts, everyone is invited to contribute ideas. Interdisciplinary teams are encouraged.”

OUR PROPOSAL

Our team, consisting of Kelley Roy (Sassafras Consulting), Kelly Rodgers (Confluence Planning) and Jason King (TERRA.fluxus) approached this from the viewpoint of ‘A Modular Approach to Building the Sustainable City’ that looks at the three typologies of the site, hole, and frame within a matrix of food, community, ecology, and materials.  This proposal seeks to use these sites as a way to create a compelling development model that is sustainable, mobile, and integrated. This proposal frames community uses for vacant parcels, providing options for the different needs of the community as well as by type of parcel. It does not suggest that one amenity fits all neighborhoods and sites, thereby providing the flexibility for the community and efficiency for developer.

The idea is that instead of site-specific solutions, solutions have the ability to 1) Roll in-Roll Out (mobility), 2) Be Integrated with Buildings (application to final project) and 3) Productive landscapes (generating income and material for food and building)

Rather than focus on one solution, we decided to apply the matrix to each of the typologies for stalled building projects:  site, hole, and frame.  This gives a snapshot of possible applications to real world conditions, using a generic site configuration.  Each project site would be evaluated for the best mix of interim use that fits the final building project.

SITE: One idea of a building integration strategy is to use vacant building sites as land for producing building materials.  Afforestation can consist of growing products that are sustainably harvested over the years and then used in the building construction.  In this case, groves of bamboo, fast growing trees, industrial fibers like hemp, and sheepswool can be ‘grown’ on the land with an eventual end use within the building cladding, insulation, carpet, and finish work.  Buildings literally grow from the site.

FRAME: using the partially constructed armature of a stalled building structure, the idea is to create temporary three-dimensional habitat through portable hanging habitat gardens.  These habitat pods occupy site for beautification, climate modification, air quality improvement – then move to next site to continue to contribute to urban quality.  Modular planters can be transported easily and placed on a viable partial structure.  Street-level planters keep people out of the site for safety.  Rooftop planters on structural grids give the opportunity to add trees and other habitat elements.

HOLE: taking advantage of the negative space left behind through stalled excavation, gives us an opportunity to create places for community gathering for theater, concerts, and events – amphitheater evolves into a building-integrated arts space.  Tiers of seating are sunken into the excavation to create seating, oriented towards a stage and screen at the low point for an immersive experience.  Temporary planters protect steep edges and generous at-grade elements accommodate passers-by to draw in community.  Modular elements can be repurposed in building or moved to a different site after usage – and allow for a proof of concept that can translate into arts and performance space in the final building installation.

Category : brownfields, community, installations, planning, projects, seattle, sustainability, theory, thoughts, urban voids, urbanism
1 Comm
16th May2010

Emerson Street Garden

by Jason King

An exciting project and local group that is worth of some attention is the Emerson Street Garden – a project from Groundwork Portland and the Oregon Sustainable Agriculture Land Trust (OSALT) who are developing a community driven agriculture installation with a twist.  The site is 100′ x 25′ making it a thin slice adjacent to an existing residential neighborhood.  Lead is presumed to have accumulated when the house burned down some years back, and the contamination is isolated in the top layers of soil.  The groups are “…working with the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on a unique experiment to determine if the lead can be removed or more thinly distributed with plants. The desired result is soil safe enough to support a community garden.” Areas of lead contaminated soil will be moved to the back portion of the site, and a number of phytoremediation techniques will be applied to these areas.

An aerial for some context:

In a recent update, Groundwork Portland Executive Director Cassie Cohen gave some latest news, including the commencement of cleanup activities:

  • Two weekends ago, the contaminated soil where the house sat was moved to the back of the lot by volunteers from OSALT and GeoSyntec.
  • Yesterday, volunteers from GeoSyntec took dozens of soil samples and sent them off to a lab.  Now, we will wait one to two weeks for the results to see if the remaining soil is safe to begin designing a garden.
  • In the meantime, some cover crop will be thrown on the soil to help rejuvenate the nutrients in the ground, and prepare for a garden.

CONCEPT DESIGN

After participating in the first workshop on April 17th, for the latest workshop on May 6th, TERRA.fluxus did a few quick studies of the space to give participants a feel for options in arranging the site elements.  These weren’t meant to be final designs, but a range of possible ideas to get the juices flowing for participants of the workshop.   Design elements included the phytoremediation area, water feature, entry gateway, benches and tables, tool shed, areas for education, compost areas, raised beds, and shared garden plots.  Here’s a snapshot of these concepts.

The first concept utilized a central pathway from a semi-circular entry plaza that opened up to the street.  Elements were located on each side of the pathway and included a micro-orchard and other community site elements towards the north side of the site.  The location of trees towards the north portion keeps solar access at a maximum for garden beds, and provides some buffering from the street.  The plaza includes a reconfigured sidewalk routing and a visible historic marker on the boulevard to denote the sites location.  Raised beds, tool shed, and small plots are fit on each side of the central pathway leading to the phytoremediation area to the southernmost portion of the site.

The second iteration kept the central entry into the site, and located most of the community elements towards the north, but shifted the pathway to accomodate larger 20×20′ garden plots along the south portion of the site.  A central structure would be used to capture rainwater for storage in rainbarrels, and the social and educational spaces would be in close proximity for keeping an eye on kids while they were in class activities.  Gateway and fencing around the site draws from neighborhood history and offers security while welcoming visitors when open.

The third concept was derived from a sketch by one of the participants of the first workshop, and featured a sinuous pathway weaving through the site and fitting the program elements within the spaces left over.  The northernmost portion of the site includes fencing, and a micro-orchard, along with a shade structure and social space.  Raised beds are fit inside each pathway node, along with spaces for art and historical markers throughout.  A central tool shed becomes the spot for education within the garden, and the phytoremediation area is separated from the garden by a water feature to delineate this space.

Look forward to further updates as the project progresses in Summer of 2010.

Category : agriculture, brownfields, community, environmental, food, landscape, planning, portland, projects, urban voids
1 Comm
08th May2010

Urban Ecotones Published in Future Arquitecturas

by Jason King

The publication last year of Future Arquitecturas 19/20 Double Issue from 2009 featured the winners and selected projects from the Re-Invent Infrastructures Competition.  Urban Ecotones, the competition entry by Jason King (Principal of TERRA.fluxus) and Brett Milligan for the Metro Integrating Habitats competition, was a perfect fit for the competition (check out a brief of the Reinvent Infrastructures Competition here).  The project had previously been published in Metropolis and Landscape Architecture China – so the publication in another international Journal was a welcome addition.

Future Arquitecturas is published out of Madrid, so the issue is old news – but due to global snail mail – it took a bit of time for my copy of the publication to arrive (last week).  Brett and I submitted this as a project that fit many of the competition ideas including mobility, resource supply, waste, as ‘Hybrid Habitats’ acting as interrelated components of urban infrastructural systems.

A brief explanation of the project goals that were including in the text:

“Urban Ecotones” provides a contemporary vision for how modular economic development can regenerate, rather than destroy natural systems within an expanding city region.  Rather than seeing the thresholds at which commercial development meets natural systems as points of confrontation, they are approached as environments of unique richness – a synergy of diverse habitats akin to ecotones, spanning nested scales from site to region.  Urban ecotones are spaces for creative cross-programming that facilitate new regenerative urban processes, including: Parking (re)volution, Flow (re)direction and Waste (re)cycle.”

All images are courtesy of Future Arquitecturas Issue 19/20.   Project graphics and text copyright Jason King & Brett Milligan.

Category : environmental, graphics, images, landscape urbanism, press, projects, publications, theory, thoughts, urbanism, writing
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07th May2010

Real Good Food

by Jason King

An on-going project with Urban Development Partners NW (UD+P)  is a food cart hub located at 43rd & Belmont (read more about food carts here).  TERRA.fluxus has been working with UD+P to develop this interim use for the currently vacant lot in Southeast Portland as a multi-cart hub with associated amenities such as seating, tents, restrooms, landscaping, storage, and other site elements.  The site is located on an existing parking lot that has not been used for some time – adjacent to this commercial and mixed-use neighborhood.

A few close-ups of the existing site.

The site plan shows the relationship of elements, including the potential for approximately twenty carts.  Routing of water, electrical, and sewer was included to minimize conflicts with site users.  The site also benefits from a number of adjacent parking stalls.

To show the relationship, TERRA.fluxus created a simple SketchUp model to give a feel for the spaces. A birdseye perspective shows the entire site.

The following vignettes show a number of the site elements.

VIEW FROM BELMONT STREET

CENTRAL SEATING AREA

CENTRAL SEATING AREA W/ SHADE TENT

PATHWAY FROM PARKING AREA AND GARDEN SEATING

Finally, watch a video ‘walk-through’ of the site model to get a feel for the spaces.

Real Good Food from Jason King on Vimeo.
Category : community, food, graphics, images, landscape, planning, portland, presentations, projects, urban voids, urbanism
1 Comm
26th Apr2010

Hope Garden Planting

by Jason King

A great turnout on Earth Day for the Hope Garden Planting, where the beds were prepped and the plantings were installed for the 2010 growing season.  Special thanks to project partners Teufel Landscape and Tremco Roofing for their support, and always, the Multnomah County Green Team to mobilize and continue to maintain the roof throughout the season.  Read more about the day from Sandy McCollum and see a slideshow of the planting at the Examiner.

Earlier in the day, the weeding was completed and beds were laid out for installation.

With an army of volunteers the planting was completed in less than half an hour.

The new addition of the herb garden going in the ground.

Category : agriculture, community, ecoroofs, food, installations, landscape, planting, portland, projects, roof gardens, sustainability, vegitecture
0 Comm
25th Apr2010

Bioregional Coverage

by Jason King

I’m pleased to announce that in addition to my Oregon Landscape Architecture license (#537), I am now officially licensed to practice in the State of Washington (#1185) and now California (#5619), giving full bioregional coverage for the West Coast.

Why does this matter?  For me it is tied to an intimate knowledge of the Cascadia bioregion encompassing the contiguous temperate coastal rainforest ecosystem that spans from Northern California to the tip of Alaska.  This watershed based approach to delineation of space is a counterpoint to the hard-line political boundaries determined through a cultural lens.  Understand ecosystems means blurring the boundaries between places that don’t stop at site boundaries or city limits, but continue on through ecological flows of materials.  This is the essence of a new form of landscape architecture.

Category : announcements, business, environmental, planning, projects
1 Comm
21st Apr2010

Earth Day Hope Garden Planting

by Jason King

Tomorrow, April 22, in celebration of Earth Day 2010, TERRA.fluxus is proud to help out with the planting for the Hope Garden on the rooftop of the Multnomah County Building.   Read more about last year’s installation and see the full list of community partners here.

The garden design takes into account feedback on last years plantings for food that is appropriate for donation to the food bank.  We are also including an expansion of the rooftop herb garden within the ecoroof areas to provide year round productivity for a variety of vegetables and herbs.  This year the event is part of the County’s Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day activities conducted by the Multnomah County Green Team and features many events locally in addition to the planting of the Hope Garden.    The following message from Commissioner Judy Shiprack summarizes the days events.

“This year marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day events around the world, and I would like to extend a warm invitation to attend some of the great activities we have planned to celebrate Earth Day at Multnomah County. These events are a wonderful opportunity to get involved with a few of Multnomah County’s efforts to be a leader in sustainability. Please join me at the morning Board Briefing to learn more about the Green Team’s accomplishments and later at the 2010 Hope Garden planting party to help grow food for the neediest in our community. April 22nd is also “Take Your Child to Work Day”, so if you have your child with you I encourage you to let them take part in the afternoon Hope Garden planting.

I would like to thank the donors from the community whose resources have made the 2010 Hope Garden project possible: Jason King with TERRA.fluxus LLC, Elizabeth Hart with Tremco Inc., and SuSu Hunniecutt with Teufel Landscape.”

Working for a Sustainable Future,

Commissioner Judy Shiprack

Category : agriculture, community, ecoroofs, food, landscape, planting, portland, projects, sustainability, vegitecture
1 Comm
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