In replacing the existing Visitor Contact Station, a new welcome center would be designed just inside the Big Oak Flat entrance to Yosemite National Park. The 4,000 square-foot facility includes office space for staff working at the facility and within this district of the park. The Otak team developed solutions responding to a range of programmatic, functional, and logistical requirements involving multiple stakeholders, while developing an architectural language and character appropriate for a project of this significance—an entrance to this unique World Heritage Site.
An Energy-Efficient Welcome Center for a World Heritage Site
The Welcome Center design incorporates high energy efficient systems while site improvements include relocation of an emergency generator and a communication hub serving the entrance development area. In addition to the Welcome Center itself is also a separate, 1,250 square-foot restroom facility. A new exterior orientation plaza allows programs and self-serve orientation for visitors. The plaza includes information on general park orientation, interpretation, seasonal information, and trip planning while also providing shade areas and informal seating. Visitor parking will be expanded with an accessible pedestrian walkway extending from the parking area to the welcome center and restrooms.
In replacing a temporary, 1,448 square-foot visitor center, the National Park Service (NPS) aimed to update facilities for visitors and staff alike. A 2,500 square-foot permanent visitor center would ultimately be constructed in its place. Otak led the design of these park improvements.
An Updated Facility for Improved Visitor Experiences and Park Operations
After studying potential locations for a new visitor center, the site of the existing double-wide trailer originally installed in 1977 was chosen for its replacement. The new design provides space for visitor orientation, seating for an updated audiovisual program, fully accessible exhibits, public restrooms, and office and storage space for ranger staff. With the goal of improving visibility and safe access to the site from the public roadway, the project also includes a realigned entry drive. Other site improvements include a new entry monument sign, an expanded parking lot, an outdoor interpretive plaza for education programs, new outdoor exhibits, upgraded power and communication service, and replacement of the septic system. The visitor center, parking lot, exhibits, audiovisual program and public restrooms will be fully accessible, allowing visitors of different abilities to learn about and experience park resources.
Now the nation’s premier urban National Wildlife Reserve, Rocky Mountain Arsenal has evolved over the decades. The site once served an Army facility associated with weapons manufacturing during WWII before being decommissioned and transitioning to its current use as a wildlife refuge. With increasing park use, new administrative facilities would be designed and built to improve operations as well as visitors’ experiences.
Expanding Features in a Sustainable Design for a Park’s Growing Use
The site had 250,000 visitors in 2015 and expected to soon eclipse 1 million annual visitors. Otak, as a subconsultant, provided architecture, landscape architecture, and structural design services for a new headquarters building and meeting facility for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) administrative staff, separate from visitor facilities. With a focus on sustainability, the new facilities were designed with a minimum LEED Gold standard. Solar readiness and daylighting strategies were included to lower the energy requirements for lighting and cooling, while the stone siding is locally sourced. The project consists of a 4,200 square-feet headquarters building, a 1,000 square-feet meeting annex building, a 56-space parking lot, realignment of entrance driveways and gateway features, expansion of the existing parking lot and associated hardscape, landscape, and utility systems.
Gerding-Edlen Development and Portland State University aimed to develop a 212,095 square-foot, ten-story, mixed-use building on a 30,000 square-foot site located adjacent to the campus. In promoting environmentally responsible development, this project is certified LEED Silver, and was completed on a fast-track design to meet deadlines for student housing.
Designing an Environmentally Responsible Development for Higher Education
The building provides 384 studio apartment units, 15,230 square-feet. of ground-floor retail or service use space, and 17,910 square-feet of second-floor office and classroom space. The apartments are located on the third floor through the tenth floor of the building. The primary exterior building materials are brick veneer and metal panels with concrete columns. Windows for the ground-floor retail spaces feature clear glass with aluminum storefront. Metal and glass canopies extend over the public sidewalks. Windows for the offices on the second level and the apartments above consist of clear glass with aluminum frames. An eco-roof was installed over 60 percent of the roof area with the intent to slow storm drainage from the roof and to provide a degree of treatment for storm water. The plant materials were chosen to be drought tolerant, self-sustaining, and fire-resistant. A drip irrigation system is planned to assist the plantings during low precipitation periods.
In addressing the City of Camas immediate needs while providing new piping for future demands, a new pedestrian bridge over the Washougal River was designed to connect a regional trail system and carry a new water main. Otak was chosen to manage a full-service design team addressing water and utility design. That team included civil engineering, trail and landscape architecture, environmental analysis and permitting, structural and geotechnical engineering and archaeological investigation.
A Structure to Connect a Trail System and Carry Utility Infrastructure
Working in an area with archaeologically sensitive sites and important fish habitat would pose a challenge to any single project, yet the City of Camas sought three concurrent projects in just such a space: nearly two miles of a regional trail system, a new 24-inch water transmission main and a new bridge to carry water and sewer over the Washougal River. The full-service design process assessed the site to determine the ideal bridge type while limiting impact to the environment and avoiding disruptions to any culturally-sensitive resources. This effort included river hydraulic analysis and scour design as well as the geotechnical engineering and archaeological investigation. In meeting the active transportation goals of the trail system, landscape architects focused on reviewing trail alignment options, in-field direction of vegetation clearing along the preferred trail route, and construction drawings and specifications.
Gray’s Landing is the first affordable housing project in Portland’s South Waterfront District. Otak provided civil engineering and landscape architectural design for a 44,682-square-foot mixed-use development that includes residences, underground parking, and retail/office space with a courtyard. Portlanders understand how important it is to remain cheerful during the long wet season, so our design team found playful ways to engage the rain and utilize it with green stormwater infrastructure.
Sustainable Design Meets Affordable Housing Goals
Designed with sustainability in mind, both the courtyard and pedestrian areas consist of surfaces that are largely pervious—sand-set pavers, decking, metal grates, flow-through planters, and landscaping. A green roof conveys stormwater through a series of playful in-wall and overhead weirs that distribute the rainwater into the courtyard flow-through planters, eventually dropping the treated water into an artistic stormwater feature at grade level. Portland’s significant investment in the project, valued at $28 million, is solid proof of the community’s commitment to providing affordable homes for our lowest-income neighbors. Forty-two of the 209 apartments are targeted to veterans, especially those who have experienced chronic homelessness. The project earned LEED Platinum certification.
A large-scale traffic redesign of the downtown core of Tillamook also adds a new connection for the community to enjoy pedestrian access to natural areas. Including the complete replacement of the Hoquarten Slough bridge and realignment of the couplet where the area’s main highways meet, the roadway design increases capacity and efficiency while reducing the threat of flooding.
Efficient Roadway Design and Construction
In partnership with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and Quincy Engineering, this $25 million roadway design in downtown Tillamook makes significant improvements to both US101 and OR6. Along with the intersection between the two highways, reconstruction of the US101 bridge over Hoquarten Slough. Road redevelopment that daylighted storm drains and decreased run off, reduces potential flooding. The project also adds a new parklet and an extension of a pedestrian pathway across a reused rail bridge, connecting two natural areas on either side of Highway 6. Otak designed these improvements while managing construction through completion as part of the broader revitalization of downtown Tillamook.
On a prime piece of 90-acre property overlooking the Columbia River, The Washington State Department of Transportation planned for an exclusive lifestyle community. The resulting Columbia Palisades Subdivision contains luxury residences, offices, parks and open space, a hotel, commercial buildings, and an open-air amphitheater.
A Public-Private Master Plan for Underused Lands While Maintaining Natural Resource Mitigation
Located on a historic rock quarry, the site has a 180-foot elevation change. At least 180,000 cubic yards of rocks and boulders were excavated to clear the way for 8,500 linear feet of roads, including a roundabout for efficient traffic flow. The complex stormwater design includes right-of-way catch basins, conveyance piping, and mechanical stormwater treatment and regional detention/discharge facilities. Close coordination with the City of Vancouver to create a subarea plan led to the Columbia Palisades Master Plan. Working with The Washington State Department of Natural Resources, planning included preparation of a quarry reclamation plan and natural resources mitigation plan. A successful public-private partnership, this important project is a prime example of redeveloping underused lands. Otak led various facets of master planning as well as land use permitting and infrastructure design in making this community a reality.
The Tabe, an urban infill apartment project, provides 19 market rate apartments in four stories, with a mix of one-bedroom, studio, and two-bedroom townhouse units.
The project maximized the allowable building area, while also being sensitive to the scale of the existing urban architecture. Otak provided planning, architecture, and landscape architecture services for this fast-tracked project. The result of the development is a thoughtful building design that provides additional housing options for Portland’s Mt. Tabor neighborhood.
Adjacent to Sea-Tac International Airport, Burien’s Northeast Redevelopment Area (NERA) is in transition because of the airport’s recently completed third runway. A multidisciplinary master plan develops infrastructure improvements that are compatible with airport operations and stimulate further economic growth.
A Multidisciplinary Master Plan for Economic Development
Given it’s proximity to the airport, residential zoning was limiting the value of land in the Northeast Redevelopment Area of Burien, Washington. Working the Port of Seattle and FAA, design plans for future development include updates to city-wide stormwater infrastructure as well as the restoration of Miller Creek and its associated trail, all while updating zoning. The plan for flexible future land use also makes roadway improvements to accommodate the change in traffic type to light industrial and commercial use, including smoother curves and better grades. Otak designed, permitted, prepared construction documents, and oversaw the construction management of all elements of the master plan aimed at furthering economic development, and accurately reflecting the goals of the Burien community.
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