Move the House Takes Shape
Lots of activity on the Move the House project, as artwork and landscaping along with final site elements come together. The sidewalk has been poured, and street trees installed, green canopy planters on the first floor, along with the artwork and relocated tree along Division. Contractor Lorentz Bruun along with landscape contractor Landservices of Oregon has done a great job of dealing with the unique complexities of the site and landscape elements and realizing the beautiful structure design by Francis Dardis of Stack Architecture.
The relocated tree was moved in a couple of weeks ago, a 25′ Japanese Maple that previously sat on the site near the house that was moved. Developer and owner Urban Development Partners (UD+P) had the foresight to have the tree moved and stored off-site by Big Trees Today, then brought back to provide instant green along the street. To accommodate the move, the root ball measured 100″ diameter, as seen in the photograph below.
The tree sits adjacent to the new cor-ten metal sculpture by Ivan McLean, which acts as a vertical wetland to capture water from building roofs and express the movement prior to conveyance back to the larger flow-through planter. The sculpture itself measures 10′x10′ and provides a thin wedge that is both substantial and airy. Below is the sculpture arriving on-site.
And it being located in it’s spot adjacent to the building along Division, where it will act as an iconic marker for passing traffic. Plantings will be located on top, inside, and along the front edge and water will travel vertically throughout these zones prior to overflowing.
The eventual route for stormwater comes to the extensive flow-through planter, located along the rear property line, which provides stormwater management for the site per City of Portland standards, which is particularly crucial as the site is located in a Combined Sewer Overflow area, so this site will hold water on-site for longer, alleviating pressure on the system in peak flows, and ensuring better water quality for our regions streams and rivers. This infrastructure on-site is augmented by permeable paving in all other site locations – shown in the irregular patterning of gray and brown square unit pavers.
The other piece coming together is the living wall that will wrap the exterior of the trash enclosure. This innovative feature, one of many funded by Metro as part of their Green Innovation Grant program – including the vertical wetland, green canopies, wildlife art, and signage. The initial structure was built, which will house recycling and garbage but will be transformed into a significant site amenity.
Due to the central location, the concept calls for a series of troughs that wrap around two sides of the structure – designed by TERRA.fluxus and fabricated by Ivan Mclean – which will provide for a tapestry of vegetation that will provide color, texture, and scent to this area. The initial armature has been welded in place, and you can see the structure along with a close-up of the troughs – which will hold soil and plants, and be irrigated with linear drip tubing.
