31st Mar2011

Got Urbanism?

by Jason King

In the upcoming April issue of Planning, the magazine of the American Planning Association, there is an interesting article by Jonathan Barnett, exploring the predominance of the use of the word ‘urbanism’ to describe the phenomena of the contemporary city.  Derived from a post on Landscape+Urbanism, – along with expanded conversations with PSU Professor Ethan Seltzer, fellow PSU Urban Studies student Allison Duncan, and landscape architecture colleague Brett Milligan -  Barnett takes this and gives shape to the range of terms, expanding and defining the range that exist – and hinting that even these 60 may just scratch the surface in common usage.

Category : announcements, landscape urbanism, planning, press, publications, urbanism, writing
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24th Mar2011

Pearl District Ecoroof Tour

by Jason King

Our second tour for Ecoroof Month (a partnership between Green Above Ground and Bureau of Environmental Services)  focused happened on some projects in Portland’s Pearl District, and a group of 25 people braved chilly temperatures to see a range of interesting projects.   Like the last tour, we chose accessible projects that our team worked on in some capacity to outline a range of different applications.   The tour started at the Asa Flats + Lofts, which offers a range of  intensive and extensive ecoroof, as well as a wide array of adjacent projects.

Matt Burlin from the City of Portland gives an overview of surrounding ecoroof projects

View from top penthouse to 4th floor intensive garden @ Asa

The range of adjacent projects visible include Lovejoy Block 2 – which offers a two level vegetated roof of extensive plantings on the top floor and a more intensive terrace below.

Lovejoy Block 2

An interesting project that is closeby is the Ramona Apartments, an affordable complex with a combined ecoroof and solar array.

The Ramona Apartments

The second tour stop was at Machine Works, a mixed use building adjacent to Interstate 405 that includes a modular tray system.

Dan Koffel of Snyder Roofing giving an overview of Machineworks

The final stop was closer to the Willamette River, viewing down from the Encore Condominiums – which features a 1500 s.f. vegetated roof featuring a lightweight system with pre-grown vegetated mats.  The goal of this project was to provide stormwater management, as well as to provide views from upper units to the smaller live-work structure below.

The Encore – from above

Thanks to all the attendees for great questions (and braving stairs and cold).  Also thanks to EcoShuttle who ferried us from site to site in sustainable style.  For more information about the Green Above Ground collaborative and our current work – please visit our website or contact us at info@greenaboveground.com.

Category : announcements, community, ecoroofs, environmental, planting, portland, presentations, publications, roof gardens, stormwater, sustainability, tours, vegitecture
1 Comm
20th Mar2011

Asante – Genesis Campus Site Plan

by Jason King

Preliminary planning for the Asante Health System Genesis Campus in Central Point, Oregon, a  retrofit of an existing building to house the adminstration staff for the hospital.  Working with TVA Architects, the site planning incorporated the addition of new building structures and remodel of existing buildings to create new entries and enclosed courtyards.  Moving the existing park back away from the edge of the buildings allows for the buildings to sit in a landscaped plane as the landscape provides an extension of the architectural elements.   New entry circles provide an arrival experience, and parking areas are provided for visitors and staff – with a series of stormwater swales to provide treatment of runoff from impervious surfaces.  Public spaces include a central courtyard, and smaller plaza spaces incorporated adjacent to meeting rooms to allow activities to spill out into the landscape.  A perimeter trail provides a walking respite, providing a loop through the entire site.

site master plan

preliminary rendering by TVA architects

Category : environmental, landscape, planning, planting, projects, stormwater, sustainability
0 Comm
19th Mar2011

REWIND: Warner-Milne Raingarden Gateway

by Jason King

I had the recent opportunity to swing by an project (designed in 2009 while at GreenWorks) for the rain garden gateway along Warner-Milne Road in Oregon City, Oregon – which was installed last year.   A new roadway alignment created a wide area between the existing right-of-way and the new curb, allowing for the integration of a large green street feature to manage impervious surfaces.  In addition to the stormwater function, the location on one of the main roadways through Oregon City gave it the potential to act as a gateway for the municipal offices nearby.   Congrats to the City of Oregon City, GreenWorks PC, and Wallis Engineering for realizing this exciting project.

The implementation of large corten panels acted as vertical elements that were legible from the adjacent pedestrian and vehicular users.

 

These curving walls gave shape to the sinuous vegetated garden area, punctuated by arching stone weirs with two different gravel types delineating low and high flow conditions.


 

Project Credit:  GreenWorks PC, Wallis Engineering
Photos: Jason King

Category : announcements, environmental, green streets, installations, landscape, planting, projects, stormwater, sustainability, urbanism
0 Comm
15th Mar2011

CAPACES Leadership Institute Green Roof

by Jason King

TERRA.fluxus is happy to provide pro-bono assistance for the CAPACES Leadership Institute project in Woodburn, Oregon.  The project stems from the work of the group PCUN (Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste) or the Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United, and continue their mission for farmworker rights, helping to:  “build the leadership capacity and political consciousness to sustain and expand that movement and to propel a host of related struggles, such as immigrants’ rights.” The new building, constructed by local folks along with sustainable building firm Green Hammer, from Portland, will be a model of sustainability, with a goal of green building but also an aim to engage the larger community in training opportunities for green building.  Read more about the project here.


We endeavor to assist with the design, detailing and implementation of the 3000 s.f. ecoroof, which will cap a ultra-efficient building designed and constructed using the Passivhaus principles.  In addition to aiding in implementation of the roof, we are developing a strategy for training by creating a strategy for local community volunteers to propogate plants, including a number of succulant species – growing the plants on-site which will be later used on the project in the form of plugs and cuttings.  An early view of the extent of the green roof is found below:

 

More info soon as this project kicks off!
(images via PCUN website)

Category : announcements, community, ecoroofs, environmental, landscape, planting, projects, sustainability, teaching, vegitecture
3 Comm
09th Mar2011

South Waterfront & OHSU Ecoroof Tour

by Jason King

As part of Ecoroof Month, the members of Green Above Ground, along with the Bureau of Environmental Services, gave a tour of some of the area green roofs.  Starting in South Waterfront, the group assembled at the Ardea, which gave a wide view of a range of local projects – encompassing extensive, semi-intensive and intensive roof terrace typologies. (note:  TERRA.fluxus was not the designer on these projects, but other team members worked in various capacities on this work).  The photos show some of the views and the array of vegetated options.

The John Ross

Riva on the Park

We moved up to OHSU, where we looked at the skybridge project installed in 2010, then headed up to the Child Development Research Center, a project designed by TERRA.fluxus and installed late in 2010 by Snyder Roofing and Teufel Landscape.  Participants got to see newly planted cuttings, and learn about the capillary irrigation and unique design concepts of this 6000 s.f. project.

OHSU CDRC Building

Another tour is scheduled for projects in the Pearl District this week on Tuesday, March 22nd – 1pm-4pm.

Category : announcements, community, ecoroofs, environmental, landscape, portland, presentations, projects, roof gardens, stormwater, sustainability, tours, vegitecture
2 Comm