Madrona Studios Revitalizes Rose Quarter Housing

As part of the design team for Madrona Studios, GreenWorks provided landscape architecture services for the project, which is featured in the Fall Oregon Facilities issue highlighting the revitalized affordable housing building. Formerly a Ramada Inn within Portland’s Rose Quarter, Madrona Studios added 176 affordable housing units that now use, “27 percent less energy than a standard building of the same costs.”  The article explains ways the project team found to cut water, energy, heat, and lighting consumption for the retrofitted building.  The project resulted in an overall $42,000 annual cost savings for the project led by Central City Concern. The full article can be found at:

http://issuu.com/jengomedia/docs/orfall2011?mode=window&backgroundColor=%23222222

GreenWorks designed frontage improvements that improve safety and accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists in and around the site. Frontage improvements include the conversion of a vacated street into a striking and lush new planting area that provides year-round interest along this heavily travelled corridor. Additionally, GreenWorks worked closely with architects and engineers in retrofitting the building’s parking garage deck to accommodate new ecoroof planting areas, a gathering area with special paving, and improved ADA-accessibility for residents.

Phytoremediation in Landscape Architecture

GreenWorks' Associate Jeff Boggess recently attended the Constructed Wetlands and Poplar Remediation Technical Tour, put on by the International Phytotechnology Society as part of their 8^th Annual Conference in Portland this September. Jeff gave an in-office lunchtime presentation on the experience, followed-up by an online article in this month’s Oregon ASLA LANDbytes. Inside he recaps the tour stops at 5 constructed wetlands and poplar plantations in the Willamette Valley Region and talks about potential opportunities for landscape architects to further enrich their stewardship role by making phytotechnology common practice in their designs.

You can check out the article here:

http://www.aslaoregon.org/updates/articles/phytoremediation-in-landscape-architecture

Derek Sergison Joins GreenWorks

GreenWorks recently welcomed Derek Sergison to the team as a Landscape Designer. Derek joins us from California where he studied Landscape Architecture at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona. Derek’s direct experience in environmental, transportation, and graphic design projects makes him a valuable addition to our firm. Derek’s primary interests lie in urban growth and the way it impacts protecting and enhancing natural resources. He is currently taking on a diverse range of projects including green infrastructure, urban development, recreation, and environmental enhancements. Derek’s personal activities include mountain biking, hockey, golf, skydiving, drawing, and photography.

Beverly Cleary School Completes Bioswale Construction

The school community at Beverly Cleary School in NE Portland recently completed construction on a bioswale as part of an overall landscape plan entitled the “Learning Landscape Project.” The project was inspired to develop a system that improved the school’s impact on urban stormwater. The bioswale works to mitigate the impact of polluted stormwater by collecting and filtering the water before it drains in to sewers, rivers, or streams. GreenWorks’ Michelle Mathis led the design effort of this project working with the Beverly Cleary School community. The Beverly Cleary K-8 School is a two-campus school; Kindergarten and first grade students are housed at the Hollyrood campus, and the second through eighth grade students are housed at the Fernwood campus. They built and planted a swale at the Fernwood School in the spring of 2006, but the downspouts were never disconnected to feed into the swale.

For more information and a video on the downspout visit:

http://greenworkspc.wordpress.com/2011/01/05/2501/