Girl Scouts Bring Change of Scenery to Silver Falls State Park

Silver Falls State Park is home to hundreds of acres of native forest and dozens of beautiful waterfalls. It will also be the future home of a Natural Play Area. The transformation of this animal-themed discovery area moved further last weekend when three local Girl Scouts Abby, Carling, and Kate built bird and bat houses to be integrated into the site. Girl Scouts from Troop #1047 were rewarded for their work, earning the highest award for Junior Girl Scouts, the Bronze Award.

The girls built a variety of boxes for the site – a Screech Owl Box, Small Bird House, and Bat House all of which were pre-drilled with screw holes and mounted directly to trees in the play area. The bird boxes will attract local native birds into the bird themed play area where park visitors young and old explore human sized bird houses.

Last Month’s bird house construction comes after the park broke ground last fall, incorporating animal themed play areas that get children outside and connected with nature. The park is being built primarily by parks staff and volunteers like the Girl Scouts. The Play Area will continue adding on play features this summer and aims to be open to the public by the fall.

ASLA Emerging Professionals: Nursery Tour + Wine Tasting

On June 9^th five members of GreenWorks enjoyed a beautiful evening in Newberg, Oregon at Oregon Small Trees Nursery.  Danae Davison, Claire Maulhardt, Alex Perove, Azad Sadjadi, and our new summer intern Ben Hedstrom attended a nursery tour plus wine tasting as part of ASLA Oregon’s Emerging Professional (EP) series.  Claire is the ASLA Oregon Emerging Professionals Committee Co-Chair, and put on the event with Emily Hull and Christopher Olin. Dave Leckey, owner of Small Trees Nursery, gave an educational talk about process of building his nursery, consisting mostly of mature small trees.  He explained sustainable processes he implements to grow the trees and shared the different qualities of trees he grows and how their form matures over the years.  Dave discussed how small trees could inspire a design and be a nice accent in small places. The nursery was started about 15 years ago when Dave began planting a group of unique and unusual small slow growing conifers. Today, the nursery still contains mostly small conifers with a small collection of maples.

In tangent with the nursery tour, K&M Alchemy Vineyards held a wine tasting in the central gathering space. Ken Morrison, owner of K&M, poured a selection of their Pinot Noir vintages.

Dave Leckey talks about the qualities and characteristics of a tree at Oregon Small Trees Nursery

For more information about Upcoming ASLA Events, visit: www.aslaoregon.org

Oregon Small Trees Nursery Phone: 503.625.9467

www.oregonsmalltrees.com

K&M alchemy vineyard

Phone: 503.625.3236

http://kandmwines.com/

Volunteers Install New Playground in Forest Hills Park

GreenWorks joined Tualatin Hills Parks & Recreation District, the Beaverton Optimist Club, a representative from Ross Recreation and neighborhood volunteers last Saturday to install new playground equipment for Forest Hills Park Playground in Beaverton.  THPRD Maintenance Department staff directed GreenWorks and other volunteers through the process, installing landscape structures play equipment including 4 swings, a play structure and a mobius climbing wall. Forest Hills Park is one of three area playgrounds slated for new equipment in addition to upgraded ADA accessibility, new site amenities, plantings for buffers and shading, and fencing and seat walls.  Saturday’s installation brings a collaborative design between THPRD, GreenWorks and Ross Recreation  to life, based on community feedback from the internet and public meetings.

Forest Hills is the second area park to be built by volunteers.   John Marty underwent installation last month and is now open to the public. http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/5/prweb8459301.htm.  New play equipment will be installed at Raleigh Hills Park before the end of the month.

Special thanks to THPRD, GreenWorks staff, and all the volunteers that pitched in to make the playground installation a success.  Forest Hills Park will open to the public in early July.

GreenWorks Receives Three 2011 Top Project Awards

The results are in! The Daily Journal of Commerce announced the 2011 Top Project winners last week with GreenWorks earning 3 project awards in the Public Building category. GreenWorks received First Place Awards for Hood River Middle School and Lane Community College Health and Wellness Center and a Second Place Award for Riverdale Grade School.

First Place – Public Buildings - $1M to $5 Hood River Middle School

The Hood River Middle School science and music addition is a LEED certified project designed as a hands-on learning laboratory, where students interact with the site's resource systems. GreenWorks worked closely with teachers and the school principal to design a site that meets school needs while utilizing a small ecological footprint. GreenWorks' services included schematic design, construction documents, specifications, LEED documentation, bidding assistance and construction administration.

Teammates: Hood River County School District, Opsis Architecture, Kirby Nagelhout Construction Co

First Place – Public Buildings - $5.1M to $15M Lane Community College Health & Wellness Center

Lane Community College Health and Wellness Center sets a new standard for classroom space where students experience the benefits of an enhanced learning environment, a deeper understanding of human health and well being, and new inspiration to care for the earth. GreenWorks provided landscape architectural services for the Health and Wellness Center including site planning, hardscape, grading, planting, irrigation, and site furnishings.

Teammates: Lane Community College, SRG Partnership Inc., Balzhizer & Hubbard Engineers, KPFF Consulting Engineers, Solarc Architecture & Engineering, Lease Crutcher Lewis, Altermatt Associates, CompView, Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory, Heery International Inc.

Second Place – Public Buildings - $15.1M to $50M

Riverdale Grade School

 The new Riverdale School facility, campus, and recreation fields encompass the development of a 45,000 square foot state-of-the-art, two-story education facility for grades K-8, including approximately 24 classrooms. The project incorporates sustainable site practices and LEED design. In addition to a new education facility, the project provides improved child safety, bus routing, parking and parent drop-off areas as well as a central courtyard for outdoor play and environmental learning areas.

Teammates: Riverdale School District, Mahlum Architects, Cardno WRG, Bremik Construction, Green Building Services, Hubbard and Associates, Interface Engineering, KPFF Consulting Engineers, Shiels Obletz Johnsen,The Bookin Group

Congrats to each interdisciplinary team for their hard work and deserved recognition. A full list of the winners can be found at http://djcoregon.com/topprojects-2011-winners/

Construction of Cape Horn Trail Pedestrian Tunnel Improvements

Construction is underway on two pedestrian tunnels to improve safety for users of the eight mile Cape Horn Trail, which currently crosses heavily traveled State Route 14 twenty-six miles east of Vancouver, WA(Mile post 24.8 and 26.5). The Cape Horn Trail is a popular trail for its spectacular views of the Columbia River Gorge. GreenWorks, working with Wallis Engineering, provided the design for the stone facing of the tunnel facades. The tunnel facades use local quarried basalt stone and have been designed to fit with other historic examples of stone masonry within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. To quote the Washington Trails Association, ‘The Cape Horn Trail is about to become one of the prized jewels of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.’

This WSDOT project was made possible by funding provided by Western Federal Lands Highway Division. Other construction related to the project will improve safety on SR14 in this area by straightening curves and adding turning lanes. The General contractor for the project is Rotschy, Inc and stone masonry work is being provided by Custom Masonry, Inc.

To learn more about the project, please visit the following websites:

http://www.wta.org/trail-news/signpost/cape-horn-campaign

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/sr14/capehornsafety

Oregon City's Jughandle Project Breaks Ground

Oregon City’s Jughandle Project broke ground last week kicking off construction for a project that aims to improve safety and reduce traffic congestion on Highway 213 at the I-205 interchange.  GreenWorks joined the City of Oregon City, ODOT, the Federal Highway Administration, METRO, Clackamas County, OBEC Consulting Engineers, and MOWAT Construction for the celebration last week in Oregon City.   GreenWorks developed planting and irrigation plans for this gateway into Oregon City. More information can be found here: http://www.jughandleproject.com/

Congrats to our teammates and the organizations involved that make this project a success, one that improves Highway 213 while building the area’s infrastructure and facilitating future economic growth. “

International Living City Design Competition - People's Choice Award

The Living City Design Competition award winners were announced.  Of the 80 teams that participated, our team's submission "Symbiotic Districts: Towards a Balanced City" won a People's Choice Award.  This is an excerpt of the announcement from the International Living Future Institute's site:

The International Living Future Institute today announced the winners of the Living City Design Competition, which it hosted in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, at Living Future ‘11.  The competition called for teams worldwide to create powerful visualizations of how existing cities might be transformed to achieve and transcend the Living Building Challenge 2.0, the built environment’s most rigorous performance standard.

More than 80 teams submitted entries, addressing 69 different cities spanning 21 countries. Submissions were evaluated based on their ability to capture the attention and imagination of a broad audience and reassess assumptions about a future filled with high-tech, ecologically dislocated cities. Rather than constructing new cities from scratch, submissions also focused on the premise that a “living” future will rely on retrofitting the existing built environment and regenerating the evolutionary capacity of life.

“Each of the entries represented the crucial first steps in redefining our urban ecosystems and how they work in tandem with their natural environment,” said Jason F. McLennan, CEO of the International Living Future Institute and a member of the seven-person jury panel that selected the winners.  “This process was at least as important as the impressive end results.”

The team was led by ZGF and the Portland Sustainability Institute and included CH2M Hill, David Evans and Associates, Newlands and Company, Inc., Portland State University, Institute for Sustainable Solutions, and Sparling.

Congratulations to all our teammates on well deserved recognition.

GSA Green Roof Under Construction

We recently completed construction documents for an 11,500 square foot green roof on the Federal General Services Administration (GSA) building near the Lloyd District.

The project is now under construction. Snyder Roofing has wrapped up the installation of the EPDM roof membrane, and now Enviroscapes NW has begun installation of the ecoroof system. The various layers of the ecoroof system are being placed this week, and soil will be pumped up to the roof next week. This project has been going very smoothly except for the rainy March...

GreenWorks Adds Two New Professionals

GreenWorks announces the addition of two new landscape designers, Azad Sadjadi, LEED, and Danae Davison. Azad Sadjadi, LEED, joins GreenWorks as a landscape designer with 3 years of experience. Previously employed at firms in California and in Oregon, he has a passion for sustainable design and skills in landscape design, graphic design, computer modeling and engineering details. His professional experience includes landscape design and planning of a 400-acre school redevelopment site for Architects without Borders Azad is currently working on the Coquille National Wildlife Refuge Area in Bandon, Oregon assisting with design of green infrastructure. Azad also enjoys painting and is a freelance artist whose work has been displayed at various venues and galleries.  Azad received a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

 Danae Davison is a landscape designer with 4 years of experience in park planning, cultural landscapes and residential design. Working on projects as near as the Columbia River Gorge and as far as remote mountains in Greece, she has an understanding of the relationship between natural and human landscapes. Her experience includes site design, master planning, design development, planting design, and hand and digital rendering. Danae is currently working on street improvements for the Mt. Hood Community College Greenway project. Danae holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Utah and a Masters in Landscape Architecture from the University of Oregon.

Gresham Celebrates Arbor Day with a New Arboretum

“Today, April 9, is Gresham’s Arbor Day,” Gresham City Officials declared last Saturday in Gradin Park.  The City of Gresham, community members, and GreenWorks gathered Saturday in a dedication and ribbon cutting for Gresham’s new Arboretum at Gradin Sports Park.

An idea that grew from an Urban Forestry Community forum in 2009 to Saturday’s dedication, the new Arboretum will hold vast recreational and educational opportunities for the City of Gresham.  Designed to showcase Gresham’s natural landscape and trees that thrive in winter, spring, summer, and fall, the Arboretum will be home to nearly 400 trees and 300 varieties upon completion.  Saturday’s dedication was followed by tree plantings with City Officials, tours of surrounding trees, and recertified Gresham’s membership in the Arbor Day Foundation’s “Tree City USA” program.

GreenWorks provided Master Plan development and design drawings for the Arboretum at Gradin Sports Park.  Construction for the arboretum will be done in phases as the sports park is developed.