Old Youngs Bay Landing Interpretive Display Project

If you happen to be headed to the coast Presidents Day Weekend, be sure to stop at the Old Youngs Bay Landing Interpretive Display Project. GreenWorks assisted Suenn Ho, Principal at Resolve Architecture and Planning, with site planning an interpretive display near the Old Youngs Bay and Lewis and Clark bridges for the Oregon Department of Transportation. Old Youngs Bay and Lewis Clark Bridges were built by Conde B. McCullough in 1921 and 1924. Both bridges are being repaired to bring them up to code. The display consists of salvaged materials from both bridges and the rustic panels are comprised of etched historic drawings, biographical information and student poems and drawings celebrating McCullough’s craftsmanship behind the historic bridges. The interpretative display was complete in May of 2016 and is located on the western approach to the Lewis and Clark River in Astoria Oregon.

Mirror Pond Visioning Project in Bend, Oregon

GreenWorks has started consulting work with Bend Parks and Recreation District on alternatives that will provide four different solutions for the community to  consider for the iconic Mirror Pond on the Deschutes River in Bend, Oregon. Each option, ranging from taking out a dam to dredging or something in between, will illustrate the visual impact, cost estimates, regulatory requirements, challenges and opportunities. GreenWorks visited the site recently. Click on this link to watch a video for more information

Mirror Pond in Bend, Oregon

Silver Falls State Park Natural Play Area

Have you ever wanted to nap like a cougar, climb into an ant hill, build a birds nest or dig for insects like a bear? In the coming year you may be able to do all these things and more in the animal themed interpretive,  natural play area at Silver Falls State Park. GreenWorks has begun work on phase one of the interpretive natural play area at the Park. The idea grew out of the Oregon Parks and Recreation ‘Stepping Stones’ program with the goal to get kids outside and connected with nature.  A 2009 series of workshops with educators, OPRD staff, designers and of course kids, developed themes, ideas and concepts using the Stepping Stones methodology.

The Silver Falls Play area will be animal themed. The young and young at heart can explore a series of play areas situated in a fir and fern wonderland. The first phase of construction will include bear, ant, cougar and bird themed areas. Below are schematic site plans of some of the areas, as well as sketches developed in the design workshops last year. Keep your wild ears open for further design and construction news.

Have a wildly fun and safe Labor Day Weekend.

National Prize for Maya Lin Project

The GreenWorks' Confluence Project recently received national recognition, winning the 2009 "Excellence on the Waterfront" Awards Program.  See the full article below as posted in the Chinook Observer. National prize for Maya Lin project Tuesday, December 22, 2009 Photo courtesy GreenWorks The fish cleaning table at Cape Disappointment State Park is one of the completed Confluence Project sites. CAPE D - The Confluence Project, which includes the outdoor artwork by Maya Lin in Ilwaco, has earned additional national recognition. The project was honored with the top award in the Waterfront Center's 2009 "Excellence on the Waterfront" Awards Program. The competition was founded by the Washington, D.C.-based organization in 1987 to recognize the best examples of waterfront work by communities, developers and design firms around the world. The Confluence Project was formed in 2002 to create seven works of art on sites of cultural and historical significance. Each of the sites features an art installation by Lin that interprets the area's ecology and history, encouraging the visitor to reflect on how the surroundings have changed over time. Conceived to mark the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition, the sites reference passages from the Lewis and Clark journals. Each of the Confluence Project's sites is linked to water, Three of the Confluence Project's seven sites are complete. Lin collaborated with GreenWorks, a Portland-based landscape architecture firm, on the Cape Disappointment State Park and Sandy River Delta sites; Jones and Jones, a Seattle-based landscape architecture firm, collaborated with Lin on the Vancouver Land Bridge. Cape Disappointment in Ilwaco has four artistic elements. One is a large block of basalt used as a fish-cleaning table, on which Lin engraved the traditional Chinook story of creation. A trail leads to an amphitheater. An oystershell bed surrounds upended drift logs at the forest edge, providing a place for reflection. A piece of land buried under a parking lot for decades now flourishes with native plants and a water overlook. The other planned sites are Celilo Park near the Dalles, Ore.; Sacajawea State Park in Pasco at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia rivers; Chief Timothy Park at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers in Clarkston and Ridgefield, where the Columbia and Willamette Rivers are joined. In selecting the Confluence Project for the 2009 Excellence on the Waterfront Honor Award, the jury noted the rich joining of art, landscape architecture and design, the public outreach entailed and the amount of fundraising required. There was also appreciation that public agencies involved did not, as one juror put it, "cut out the magic and poetry from the project." The nonprofit Confluence Project is based in Vancouver, and is led by Executive Director Jane Jacobsen. For information, log onto (www.confluenceproject.org) For more information about the article and the Chinook Observer visit:  http://www.chinookobserver.com/Main.asp?SectionID=1&ArticleID=31896

Excellence on the Waterfront Confluence Project

Portland, Oregon – Located along the Columbia River with sites in Oregon and Washington, Confluence Project has earned the prestigious top Honor Award in the Waterfront Center’s 2009 “Excellence on the Waterfront” Awards Program.  The Waterfront Center’s annual “Excellence on the Waterfront” awards competition was founded in 1987 to recognize the best examples of high quality waterfront work by communities, developers and design firms from around the world.

The Confluence Project was formed in 2002 to create seven works of art on sites of cultural and historical significance—to re-envision our relationship with the Land, Water and People who live along the Columbia River.  Each of the project’s sites features an art installation by Maya Lin that interprets the area’s ecology and history, encouraging the visitor to reflect on how the surroundings have changed over time.  Initially conceived to mark the 200^th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the sites reference passages from the Lewis and Clark journals.  Each of the Confluence Project’s sites is linked to water, recognizing that the Columbia River System has formed the backbone of Northwest culture and human settlement for hundreds of years.

The vision of Confluence Project is to foster sustainability through artistry.  Each site’s design uses materials that contribute to its sustainability.  Three of the Confluence Project’s seven sites are complete. Maya Lin collaborated with GreenWorks, a Portland-based landscape architecture firm on the Cape Disappointment State Park and Sandy River Delta sites.  Jones and Jones, a Seattle-based landscape architecture firm collaborated with Maya Lin on the Vancouver Land Bridge.

Cape Disappointment State Park in Ilwaco, Washington, where the Columbia River empties into the Pacific Ocean, has four distinctive artistic elements. One stunning piece is a large block of basalt used as a fish-cleaning table, on which Ms. Lin engraved the traditional Chinook story of creation. A trail leads to an amphitheater. An oyster shell bed surrounds upended drift logs at the forest edge, providing a place for quiet reflection. A piece of land buried under a parking lot for decades now flourishes with native plants and a water overlook.

Vancouver Land Bridge, in Washington State, is a beautiful, bold intervention, enabling pedestrians to cross over a busy highway to make a connection to the Columbia at the Vancouver National Historic Reserve. River vistas invite people to a River Walk.

Designed by Johnpaul Jones, the bridge itself is a gentle curve covered in soil and native plantings. A ceremonial First Walk in 2008 attracted 3,500 people. The land bridge is at once an engineering achievement, a work of art and provides a storyboard contained in historic and explanatory panels.

The Bird Blind at Sandy River Delta in Troutdale, Ore., is an elegant and functional artwork, built of black locust and perched on a hilltop overlooking the confluence of the Sandy and Columbia Rivers. A total of 18 months went into researching the most sustainable wood. Each upright board is engraved with names of animals that Lewis and Clark encountered.  There is a 1.2-mile trail, built by volunteers, and reforested areas in this National Park Service area. A cooperative network of Federal, state and local governments, working with civic groups, collaborated to bring about this project.

The other sites are Celilo Park near the Dalles, Oregon; Sacajawea State Park in Pasco, Wash. at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers; Chief Timothy Park at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers in Clarkston, Wash., and Ridgefield, Wash., where the Columbia and Willamette Rivers are joined.

GreenWorks is providing landscape architectural services for the Confluence Project, working with artist Maya Lin in the development of 6 of the 7 project sites in Oregon and Washington.  The firm is responsible for site developments in support of Ms. Lin’s artwork: viewpoints and overlooks, trails, parking, comfort stations, fish cleaning stations, information kiosks and other site facilities. GreenWorks is responsible for all detailed site design as well as leading an interdisciplinary team of engineers, designers, architects and regulatory professionals in the development of these sites.

In selecting the Confluence Project for the 2009 Excellence on the Waterfront Honor Award the jury noted the rich joining of art, landscape architecture and design, the major public outreach entailed and the prodigious amount of fund-raising required. There was also appreciation that the public agencies involved did not, as one juror put it, “cut out the magic and poetry from the project.”

The jury also recognized Confluence in the Schools, a three-year arts education program that linked students and teachers with professional artists, Native American tribes and community partners. It aimed to encourage students to understand the relationship between the Columbia and the tribes that first inhabited the Pacific Northwest. In all over 5,000 students took part.

The non-profit Confluence Project is based in Vancouver, Washington and is led by Executive Director Jane Jacobsen.  For more information, visit http://www.confluenceproject.org/ You may also contact Jane Jacobsen or Walter Cook at the Confluence Project office: 360. 693.0123.

Based in Washington DC, Waterfront Center is a non-profit educational organization, formed in 1981 in the belief that waterfronts — where the land meets the ocean, bay, lake, river or canal — are unique, finite resources.

The vital characteristic that separates waterfronts from other areas in a community is the relationship to water.  For additional information go to http://www.waterfrontcenter.org/ design firms to strive for well-designed undertakings. Entries are taken from around the world

GreenWorks is a Portland-based landscape architecture firm with a practice focused on sustainable design. GreenWorks specializes in artistic urban stormwater projects and is developing and improving ecological approaches that conserve, clean, recycle and celebrate water.  The firm is working on some of the region’s most innovative and creative projects including The Confluence Project with Maya Lin.  Other projects include the award-winning Headwaters at Tryon Creek in SE Portland, RiverEast Center along the Willamette River, and Tanner Springs Park in Portland’s Pearl District. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certified projects include the RiverEast Center, Washougal Town Center, OSU Kelly Engineering Building, American Honda; and Toyota Terminal Four Facility.  More information on GreenWorks can be found at http://greenworkspc.wordpress.com/

Photo Credits:

Sandy Bird Blind – The Confluence Project

Cape Disappointment Fish Cleaning Table – GreenWorks

Join Us for PARK(ing) Day 2009

Come see the 1 day park at NW 2nd and Couch... 9am to 5pm

  GreenWorks is proud to work with Metro as they participate in the annual, one-day global PARK(ing) Day event.  More from Metro:

"Artists, activists and communities will collaborate to transform metered parking spots in cities everywhere into temporary public parks or “park(ing)” spaces. Park(ing) Day is a powerful and creative way to re-imagine the potential of our public places by demonstrating the value of parks and natural areas, rethinking the way greenspace can happen, and helping to improve the quality of urban wildlife and human habitat. This year, Metro is tapping into the creative energy and celebrated momentum of this excellent event to educate our region’s residents about The Intertwine (the ever-growing regional network of integrated parks, trails and natural areas that will one day soon be the world’s greatest system of its kind!) and its web site launch.  Come check out our space at NW 2nd and Couch (or other Intertwine locations in Beaverton, Lake Oswego, Gresham and Vancouver, Washington) and learn more…"  

:: Visit the PARK(ing) Day Network - Portland  :: View PARK(ing) Day 2009 - Portland Metro Area regionwide map here.

 

Sherman Pass wins AGC award

As reported in the Associated Construction Publications, The Inland Northwest Associated General Contractors presented its 2008 Build Northwest Awards, and a special recognition was given to the

Sherman Pass Scenic Byway Corridor Plan in the Colville National Forest in Washington. The team included: Burton Construction Inc. for Sherman Pass Byway; owner, USDA Forest Service — Colville National Forest; Alpine Construction; Landscape Architect: GreenWorks; Civil: Taylor Engineering; and Interpretive Graphics: 1+2 Design. The contract amount for the project was $474,100.

"Projects are judged by an independent panel on the following criteria: meeting the challenge of a difficult job; excellence in project management; contractor's innovation in construction techniques or materials; contractor's state-of-the-art advancement; contractor's sensitivity to the environment and surroundings; excellence in client service; and contractor's contribution to the community."

Sherman Pass National Forest Scenic Byway follows a 35 mile stretch along State Route 20 through the Colville National Forest in the northeastern corner of Washington, traveling over the highest yearly maintained pass in the state along the way at 5,575 feet. Check out some additional images, and a more detailed description of GreenWorks role in the project below:

GreenWorks was contracted by the Colville National Forest to develop a corridor master plan guide for the Byway, which has been identified as an opportunity to boost tourism in the region. Following analysis of the corridor and input from stakeholder groups, schematic site design improvements were developed for existing interpretive waysides as well as new potential sites. Conceptual designs for Byway gateway signs, site identifications signs, kiosks and pavilion structures were also developed, as well as a Byway logo which has since been adopted. In working with Forest Service staff and stakeholders, GreenWorks also developed an interpretive guide for the Byway, which developed an overall Byway theme and organized the important historical and ecological stories into interpretive themes for each of the sites.

GreenWorks was awarded a second contract with the Forest Service and was the project lead in developing construction design drawings for the Byway. This work included site design drawings for three proposed new sites on the Byway. Other elements that were detailed in the design package included wood and stone masonry gateway signs, site identification signs, kiosks, pavilion structures and stone masonry walls. Construction on this project was completed in August of 2008.

all images copyright (c) 2009 - GreenWorks PC