|
It’s been said that in
order to see the future, you must first look to the past.
In designing and building Seattle’s Cedar River Watershed
Education Center, this adage certainly held true for Jones
& Jones Architects and Landscape Architects, Ltd., Seattle,
WA.
Built on a site with remnants of past development—most
notably the foundations of an historic silk railroad power
station that have been preserved—the Cedar River Watershed
now stands as a monument to the marriage between preservation
and progress. “We tried to design the building so that
it would not only be of this time, but be respectful of the
patterns of building that have gone before it,” says
Paul Olson, AIA for Jones & Jones.
|
|
Six Submissions to
the annual "What Makes It Green?" exhibit.
|
It’s been said that in order to see the future, you must first
look to the past. In designing and building Seattle’s Cedar
River Watershed Education Center, this adage certainly held true
for Jones & Jones Architects and Landscape Architects, Ltd.,
Seattle, WA.
Built on a site with remnants of past development—most notably
the foundations of an historic silk railroad power station that
have been preserved—the Cedar River Watershed now stands as
a monument to the marriage between preservation and progress. “We
tried to design the building so that it would not only be of this
time, but be respectful of the patterns of building that have gone
before it,” says Paul Olson, AIA for Jones & Jones.
“The whole genesis of [the project] came from two main streams:
one being that the watershed and public utilities department had
been doing some interpretive work with school groups and the public
about what they do. There was also a movement in the city to protect
the watershed conservation area,” Olson explains. “Those
two components came together to educate the public about what they
do to bring water into people’s homes—not only about the
human infrastructure, but also the natural infrastructure to do
that.”
Education is clearly at the root of the facility’s design.
The entire site is an exhibit providing covert and overt opportunities
for learning about water and its significance both ecologically
and culturally. Living roofs juxtaposed to conventional metal roofs
demonstrate the role of soil and plants in water retention to delay
runoff and the natural filtering capability of soil. Native plantings
reveal plant communities integrated with soils, fungi, mosses and
microbes essential to naturally purify water. Rain barrels catch
water for reuse as irrigation water on a small repeatable scale,
and waterless urinals save a potential 45,000 gallons of water per
year.
At the outset of construction, minimal clearing was carefully executed.
Salvaging woody debris and chipping slash provided natural deadfall
habitat and mulch for later use. Various built elements, such as
wood rails, are designed for easy disassembly so that components
susceptible to wear and weathering can easily be changed without
necessitating a complete replacement.
Durable, long-lasting, natural and local materials were used throughout
the project as well. Nearly 100 percent FSC certified wood was used
on the building in its entirety, including formwork, framing, sheathing,
trusses, finishes, cabinets, windows, doors and cedar siding from
a local Whatcom County Forest Trust. Recycled mastic cellulose insulation
was used in all cavity walls for thermal and acoustic insulation,
and recycled plastic and wood fiber decking was used for boardwalks
and decks, which were framed using ACQ-treated lumber. Further,
a minimum 25 percent fly ash was used in all structural and finish
concrete.
Natural materials with minimal finish predominate the structures
in both interior and exterior gathering places, and State of California
compliance was used as the minimum standard for all paints and finishes.
Formaldehyde-free medium-density fiberboard was used for select
flat finish ceilings, and phenolic resin impregnated kraft paper
countertops were used for much of the cabinetry.
As polished as the project might seem, hindsight is always 20/20.
Support for and knowledge of green building strategies; available,
educated consultants; and technological advances in green products
were not as readily available eight years ago at the onset of the
project as they are now. And, according to Olson, funding was a
big problem as well.
“It was a real challenge to raise money, because donors were
hesitant to give money to a project that was primarily funded by
the public utility,” Olson explains. “So we modified the
project several times to make it affordable.”
However, thanks to the Friends of the Cedar Watershed group, former
Mayor Paul Schell and Diana Gail, director of Seattle Public Utilities,
along with the city council, the project was finally pushed through
the starting gate. Though it was an up-hill battle, history will
certainly prove that green projects like the Cedar Watershed Education
Center are well worth the effort.
“I think there still remain some challenges of building highly-crafted,
high-performance buildings in a public, low bid contract context,”
Olson says. “To me, good green design is not different than
good design. You’re talking about better performance. You’re
talking about better building materials and longer life cycles.
These are good investments for the public that are held in the public
trust. It’s a wise choice to build them well.”
|
