Projects Archives - Page 7 of 12

The Fields Apartments: Affordable Housing Melds with Nature, Urban Transit, and a 40-Year Old Neighborhood

At the junction of Wall Street and Hunziker Street in Tigard, OR sits a parcel of land offering access to nature, sweeping views, and close proximity to public transit. While originally zoned for commercial development, the City of Tigard, local residents, and the Washington County Housing Authority had other ideas. The developer, DBG Properties, also saw the greater opportunity—one that answered both housing and commercial needs—and together with Otak’s vision, addressed the concerns of the existing 40-year-old neighborhood.

The opportunity lay within how the property was to be divided. The majority of the 17 acres had been zoned commercial with a mandate of being able to provide 280+ jobs, however, a portion of the property had been set aside for residential development. When Otak was brought into the project, the plan was to build office space along Hunziker Street and push the residential development to the back of the property, however, the housing project was to be developed first.

“Knowing that the office piece was not going to be developed right away, we decided to bring the residential to the front of the property and pushed all the office to one big piece in the back,” states Matt Neish, Otak Senior Project Manager. The rearrangement had two key benefits. First, it allowed for a bigger piece of the property to be commercially developed with either a couple of office buildings or one larger building. And because of the necessary road extension, the address would be on Wall Street. “Now, who doesn’t want to be on Wall Street?” Matt asked.

Second, with the housing situated in the front of the property, there was a greater opportunity for creating something special for residents that would be integrated into the steep hillside, taking advantage of the abundant nature, and sweeping views.

There were challenges, of course, the steep hillside, being one of them. The bigger challenge, though, was gaining approval from the residents of the long-standing neighborhood community immediately adjacent to the property. “The residents were very entrenched and organized in what was happening around them and they were initially opposed to the development,” Matt said. Increased traffic and overflow parking on the neighborhood streets were top concerns. There was also a negative connotation around the concept of affordable housing.

Collaborative Approach Leads to Positive Outcome

With this understanding, Otak took a collaborative approach working with the residents, the city, and the developer to come up with solutions that met all the stated concerns as well as the primary objectives for the property. As Matt explained, gaining the trust and approval of the residents began with the first neighborhood meeting. “When we first presented the project, we were careful in our use of the term workforce housing versus affordable housing. We knew affordable housing is not always well received into existing neighborhoods. Workforce housing, on the other hand, represents an annual median income around forty thousand dollars, and tends to be more positively received.”

Otak’s approach to the Field’s project was nothing new for the firm and is standard practice for the integrated teams who are accustomed to creating solutions to complex situations. Ultimately, Otak was able to bring all of the project’s ambitions into one cohesive design that met the needs of all parties involved. “By the time we got to go before the planning commission, we received unanimous approval of the design and we were able to get the buildings permitted,” Matt said.

Blending into the Scenery

Adding to the complexity of the project was the geography of the site itself, which is situated on a steep hillside. In the end, though, it was the hillside that led the team to creative design solutions that ultimately appeased the neighborhood residents. A key decision was to cut into the slope so that all the units could have daylight. As Matt explained, “We went through a couple of different iterations and ended up with four-story buildings, three of which have bridges to an upper parking area,” He added that “the views this site offers are just amazing, and because the site keeps sloping down, even the first floor buildings are going to be higher than anything that will be developed next door.” According to Matt, any commercial development will most likely be single-story, concrete, industrial-style buildings.

An added benefit to cutting into the hillside was that it allowed the housing development to have a lower profile, which was appealing to the adjacent property owners. The completed project also includes a green roof on the clubhouse, further blending the development into the hillside, and surrounding trees and nature. “We actually had to put a fence up because otherwise the deer that are still on site would jump from the hillside onto the roof and eat the vegetation!” Matt exclaimed.

The final design also maintained a one-hundred-foot buffer along the eastern property line that backed up to the neighboring homes, many of which were completely open without fencing of any kind. “The homes simply backed up onto this treed hillside that had been there for forty years, and the homeowners felt like they were losing that,” Matt said. The buffer helped to preserve a good number of the trees and the natural setting for the property owners.

Providing Connectivity

One of the city mandates was to make a connection from the adjacent neighborhood, onto and across the property, and ultimately connect to future development to the west. The developer was also directed to ensure that connection would then continue on down to Wall Street. The city also wanted to put in a sky bridge connection from the site over neighboring rail lines, which are used by both freight and the West Side Transit system, to a trail system on the other side that eventually connects to the Tigard City Hall and Library. As Matt stated, “in addition to preserving the views and surrounding nature to satisfy the neighborhood, the design also had to be centered around walkability and connectivity.”

In the end, the Otak and DBG Properties were able to deliver an affordable housing development that met the multiple mandates by the City of Tigard and the Washington County Housing Authority but also overcame the objections of the neighborhood. With 264 units of mixed one, two, and three-bedroom units geared towards families, sweeping views, a clubhouse integrated with nature, and a walkable trail system connected to neighborhoods and urban transit, The Fields is an example of what modern affordable housing can look like. It is also an example of how a collaborative approach working with the community can lead to innovative solutions and positive outcomes that benefit all parties.

A Community Gathering Place Is Reborn

DuBois Park is a mature residential neighborhood filled with single-family homes that date between the 1950s and 1970s. The neighborhood was named for the 3.5 acre DuBois Park that is an integral part of the community. The City of Vancouver Parks and Recreation Department, as part of its Master Plan, identified the need to renovate the park for safer and better use by the residents. In early 2019, the City contracted with Otak to participate in the public engagement sessions to gain insight into priorities for the residents and then to design the park, and oversee construction.

David Haynes took on the dual role of landscape architect and project manager and said while he worked closely with the project manager for the City, Otak was given free rein for the design. “We were very cognizant that the ideas we developed needed to work with the City’s long-term maintenance capabilities,” David said.

Otak and the City hosted two public meetings as open houses at the park site. The City and Otak’s project managers co-led the events with the City discussing background processes and funding sources, while David introduced design concepts and implementation. The first meeting was to gather ideas from the residents and the second was to show them the design concepts that came out of the meeting. “We developed options of how the park could be laid out and talked about the pros and cons of each. Residents chose to mix and match different aspects that they were shown and we put those results into a final plan,” David said.

David added that Otak was committed to addressing comments and concerns, which, in one case, resulted in setting the basketball court a couple of feet below the surrounding grade to help attenuate the noise of bouncing basketballs.

In the final version, Otak designed an improved playground, a loop trail around the perimeter of the park, an irrigation system to feed the new lawn areas, and a trellis as a gateway attraction. One distinctive feature is an embankment around the swingsets consisting of large boulders that kids can climb over. “The City project manager relied on us to select and place boulders. He was uncertain about how it would come together but was pleased with the result,” David said.

The Otak team has a fondness for park projects because they are viewed as foundational to a strong community and allow for plenty of creativity that a design team relishes. “That’s what planning and design are about—creating neighborhoods that people enjoy living in. Park projects are powerful in creating a sense of community,” David reflected.

The park had a soft opening in December 2020 and there are plans for an official ribbon-cutting this spring.

Collaboration and Coordination Bring Skyview Station to Construction

Skyview Station in Salmon Creek, Washington was an underutilized, light industrial site that sat amidst a fast-growing community. Hurley Development saw an opportunity to turn this piece of property into a retail center to serve the local population. To accomplish this goal, Hurley realized the need and importance of an experienced and sophisticated consultant who could handle the development complexity and myriad permits required. Hurley turned to the Vancouver office of Otak, and the leadership of Tim Leavitt, PE, Regional Director of Civil Design.

Otak’s multi-disciplined team of planners, surveyors, engineers, and landscape architects offer the experience and depth to efficiently solve the site challenges and design a project that was readily approved by the presiding agencies. “We offered our client recent experience with another project adjacent to this site, as well as solid and collaborative working relationships with the numerous agencies having jurisdiction here,” said Leavitt, who also served as the Otak Project Manager for the Skyview Station project.

Projects like Skyview Station, located in unincorporated Clark County, required coordination with multiple jurisdictions.“This was a real team effort. Agency staff were supportive and proactive. The permitting process was quite constructive, from start to finish,” according to Leavitt. The labyrinth of permitting included reviews and approvals by Washington State Department of Transportation, Clark Public Utilities, Clark Regional Wastewater District, Clark County Fire District #6, and Clark County.

Permitting was one complexity. The other challenge was the existing conditions. One access point to the commercial center is from the NE 139th Street overpass, constructed and owned by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). This overpass was constructed on Geofoam, a nontypical foundation system that allows large and heavy structures to be constructed in undesirable soil conditions (e.g., wetlands). Otak’s structural engineers, civil engineers, and the geotechnical engineer-of-record designed an access ramp that ensured the new improvement would not impact the complex overpass foundation system and would be acceptable to WSDOT. Another existing conditions complication was the site elevations, which dropped over 20 feet across the property. To ensure accessibility and flat building pads, Otak’s structural engineering team designed a gabion retaining wall along the eastern property line, with heights ranging from 2-18 feet.

The project received final agency approvals in December 2019. But…it wasn’t quite time to begin construction. In lieu of a new signalized intersection at the main site entry, Clark County Public Works and Transportation requested that Hurley instead consider a roundabout improvement. Hurley agreed, and after the execution of a Development Agreement, Otak was asked to design a roundabout and related site and frontage improvements.

As Leavitt described, “The footprint of a roundabout is larger than a signalized intersection. Our initial challenge was to locate and design a roundabout that did not impact neighboring properties and minimized impact to the Skyview Station site layout. Working closely with Clark County transportation staff, we quickly solved that challenge, and moved forward with the permit documents.”

Although approving of the change in plans, Hurley wanted to minimize the design and permitting timeline for the roundabout improvement. Otak was ready for the challenge of bringing together a complex change under a tight timeframe. With agreement from Clark County, regular update meetings occurred to review the design advancement and address comments, questions, and concerns in real-time. “This public road improvement is extremely important to both the County and Hurley, so the attitude was “all hands on deck”, said Leavitt.

Otak’s in-house development professionals enabled a quick transition to the new design and permitting effort. Design efforts were led by Phil Hymas, PE (roadway), Scott Nettleton, PE (structures), Rose Horton, PE (stormwater), Brad Swearingen, PE (site engineering), and David Haynes, PLA (landscape architecture). All told, 15 Otak professionals dove into this project headfirst and worked together to bring the project to fruition, resulting in what will be a vibrant new commercial center for local residents, as well as an important local improvement to the public roadway system.

Reinventing City Hall: New Lake Oswego Public Services Building

The newly constructed City Hall and public building in Lake Oswego, OR is redefining the way the city engages with its residents. With transparency and a welcoming public interface acting as the guiding principles behind the building’s design, Lake Oswego is following a growing trend among municipalities across the US and abroad.1 A trend that embraces the concept of multi-purpose public buildings, and city halls in particular, as community hubs where the public can more easily engage with elected officials and have better access to municipal services.

At the same time, Lake Oswego’s new public building is an example of Northwest regional style, engineering, and technology meeting the urgent need for improved public and employee health safety, energy efficiency, communications, and streamlined operations.

Providing Cost-effective solutions.

Lake Oswego’s previous City Hall, public services, and the police/911 dispatch center were housed in an outdated building constructed in 1987 with synthetic stucco. The building was deteriorating due to water intrusion issues and the ongoing maintenance costs were rising. The public interface was less than ideal with labyrinthian design and little open community space. Technology and equipment upgrades for the 911 call center were also needed. Renovating the existing building could have solved some of the issues, but in the long run, would have missed the greater opportunity to reduce operating costs, better serve the public, and offer more opportunities for community engagement.

When DAY CPM, a division of Otak, was hired by the City of Lake Oswego as Owner’s Representative, the options being considered at the time were to renovate the existing building or construct two new buildings to house the police department in one, and City Hall in another. Otak’s team, under the leadership of David Lintz, Senior Project Manager, took a collaborative approach working closely with city staff and leadership, as well as Mackenzie Architects and general contractor Howard S Wright. The team also solicited public input. After considering multiple scenarios and the cost-benefits of each, and weighing these against the city’s broader vision of creating a true community center, the third option emerged.

Rather than demolish the existing City Hall and police department building, a new energy-efficient building, that represented a Northwest regional style with modern amenities, would be constructed on the site immediately adjacent to the existing building. In addition to being the most cost-effective solution, leaving the existing structure intact during the construction of the new building allowed City Hall to remain open and the various departments, including finance, courts, planning, building, engineering, the city attorney’s office, public affairs, IT, and the city manager’s office, as well as the police/911 operations, to continue uninterrupted.

The new City Hall will open in March after all new furniture has been delivered, allowing city employees to enjoy a smooth transition into a fully operational new space with minimal disruption. Once the existing building has been vacated, it will be demolished, making way for a public plaza and additional public parking, which will be completed later this year in August. The new civic plaza will further establish Lake Oswego’s City Hall as a true community hub.

Improving health safety and energy efficiencies.

Health safety was a top priority from the start and the arrival of the pandemic in 2020 only served to heighten the sense of urgency. The new building’s design includes advanced air filtration throughout providing better air quality for building occupants and visiting public. Energy efficiency has also been greatly improved through the building’s engineering design, technology, and materials used, as well as the installation of solar panels and systems that will reduce operating costs.

Stepping into the future.

The new building may be a bold step into the future, but it is also steeped in practical solutions. The city has effectively reimagined City Hall into a multi-purpose building with an inviting public interface that also includes public common areas and a home for the city’s Arts Council and Booktique. The open gallery design, a break from traditional government building design, is welcoming to the public who now have greater access to the various departments and the people who serve the community. There are public-facing conference rooms and a large community room that can easily be partitioned off to accommodate court proceedings, or council chambers. Gender-neutral bathrooms have replaced traditional bathrooms, remaining in step with current societal norms.

The building design also takes advantage of the different elevations of the site. City Hall and the various city offices are accessible from the street level on A Avenue side of the building, while the Police Department, which sits on the lower level, is accessible from 4th Street on the opposite side of the building.

In the end, Lake Oswego’s new City Hall provides a much improved public interface, increased government transparency, and opportunities for greater community engagement. It is a welcoming space for citizens, elected officials, and public servants to come together in new ways to better serve the interests of the community as a whole.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90386553/the-community-hub-of-the-future-isnt-a-library-or-a-shopping-center-its-city-hall

Innovative Pedestrian Bridges Connect University of Colorado Campus to Neighborhoods and Nature

With the opening of the 19th Street & 23rd Street pedestrian bridges in Boulder, the University of Colorado (CU) has not only created better ADA compliant connectivity between the campus and the surrounding community but now has an iconic landmark that will help define the campus’s identity for decades to come. These two innovative pedestrian bridges, designed by Otak Colorado’s structural team, in coordination with CU Facilities Staff and Design Review Board, are the culmination of engineering ingenuity and practical problem solving incorporating lessons learned as the first of the two bridges (23rd Street) was being constructed.

CU’s main Boulder campus is separated from areas containing student housing and residential neighborhoods by Boulder Creek, the Boulder Creek Trail, a riparian corridor, and a 30 to 60-foot-tall elevation differential. Otak was retained by CU to design two bridges at 23rd and 19th Streets, with a primary goal to provide ADA compliant, user-friendly connections, between the main campus and areas north of the creek. The design team was also charged with the need to integrate bridge design with the surrounding natural environment and provide a level of aesthetics commensurate with CU’s flagship university.

What the university envisioned was a “bridge through the canopy,” weaving pedestrians through trees and connecting them to the natural beauty and wildlife in the area, while efficiently getting them to where they need to go. These bridges replace steep pathways that required pedestrians to literally huff it up a lung-pumping 20% grade, which was difficult to maintain and dangerous during winter conditions.

The overall project involved the design and construction of the 23rd Street Bridge, completed in 2018, and the 19th Street Bridge, completed in 2020. Project manager, Dan Beltzer, P.E., in Otak’s Colorado office, oversaw the design of the two bridges, guiding the project from inception through successful completion. David Graff, P.E., served as the project engineer and oversaw the bridges’ construction. The two bridges offer practical solutions for pedestrian traffic, while also preserving the natural environment and wildlife along Boulder Creek—two primary concerns for CU. The two bridges were constructed sequentially, each taking about 10-months to complete; both were on time and on budget.

One of the unique aspects of the project was the progression of the design and engineering over the course of the two bridges. As they were constructed sequentially, rather than concurrently, the team was able to refine the design for the 19th Street Bridge and incorporate changes based on lessons learned from the 23rd Street Bridge. Since the design of the second bridge occurred during the construction of the first, the team was able to get real-time feedback and make modifications that would be better suited to the challenges of the second location.

For both bridges, the design team considered different alignments to find the optimum balance between cost, aesthetics, ease of construction and minimizing site impacts, especially along the steep and marginally stable hillside. As they were also charged with mandates to avoid significant tree removal, preserve historic rock walls, and create a path that was pleasing to the user, the resulting design essentially weaves across the creek and up the hillside through the abundant canopy of trees. Keeping the bridge at a height that is not overly tall and vertically imposing also steered the alignment.

To minimize fabrication efforts and construction costs, a series of identical straight 30-foot steel beam spans were designed at the maximum ADA compliant slope to climb grade as quickly as possible. Each pier provides an ADA landing that also serves as a turning point for the pathway to provide a sinusoidal effect, creating an overall curve shape out of a series of straight lines. The piers are supported by a single concrete column founded on either a caisson or a micropile foundation, depending on the terrain. Custom railings were developed using stainless steel handrails; weathering steel plates, pipes, tubes; and stainless-steel cables to minimize materials and limit obstruction to views of the natural beauty of the surrounding environment. The resulting effect has given the bridges a “light and airy” feeling and allows users to connect to the nature surrounding the bridge.

Bridge lighting is provided by LED lights mounted flush in the handrails that shine down onto the deck surface. This configuration directs light only towards the pathway where it is needed and minimizes glare into the riparian surroundings. Sensors at the ends of the bridges increase lighting intensity when pedestrians are present and dim lighting otherwise.

The 23rd Street Bridge connects the Buff Walk (the path between Folsom Field and the athletic center) to the Boulder Creek Path and Parking Lot 169, a popular tailgating area on game day. At the top of this bridge is a large landing that allows people to gather for game day activities and view the Flatiron formations west of the city and riparian corridor below. To provide an ample landing area atop the steep hillside, a retaining wall with high-density styrofoam blocks was used as backfill to reduce earth pressures and provide the necessary wall stability.

One key difference and a lesson applied from the 23rd Street Bridge to the 19th Street Bridge are the configurations of the pier landings. The 23rd Street Bridge incorporates thin concrete bearing seats for the bridge spans to sit upon, while the 19th Street Bridge provides a sleeker profile by eliminating this bearing seat and framing the bridge spans directly to the concrete landings via a steel landing connection frame. This configuration also allowed for easier fit-up of the bridge spans and railing.

Construction of the 19th Street Bridge also presented a unique set of challenges, different from the bridge at 23rd Street. The natural environment around both bridges is home to a plethora of wildlife, including foxes, deer, and numerous species of birds. In fact, the canopy surrounding the 19th Street Bridge has the highest number of bird species in Boulder County, so the design needed to also appease bird watchers. A large landing with a bench is included at the mid-point on the bridge to facilitate bird-watching or to just take a rest and enjoy the surroundings. The portion of the bridge spanning Boulder Creek also contains patterned markings in the concrete slab to celebrate the flow of the water below.

History played its part in the design process as well, presenting both preservation challenges and opportunities to celebrate the area’s past. A previous bridge crossing at the 23rd Street Bridge location was historic but had to be removed to achieve necessary hydraulic improvements. The historic masonry abutments were allowed to remain, and interpretive signage has been added at this bridge’s location so the community can see pictures of and read about the site as it once existed. Many historic elements are also visible from the 19th Street Bridge, including an old warming hut used when the area between Boulder Creek and the hillside would be intentionally flooded in the winter for ice skating. Historic stonework is also visible along the banks of Boulder Creek, placed there from 1938–1940 by workers associated with the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal program created by the Roosevelt Administration to give unemployed Americans the opportunity to help with public works. The stonework is easily observed from the new bridge, reintroducing pedestrians to these historic elements that were previously difficult to access and obscured from view.

Together, the bridges provide much-needed connectivity between CU’s main campus, the neighborhoods to the north, and the rest of Boulder via the creek path. But the bridges also provide the desired connection with nature and history. Pedestrians now have both a pathway to get to where they need to go and an opportunity to be immersed in the creek corridor’s wilderness along the way. In the end, Otak and CU were able to deliver two iconic bridges that will be a part of the University’s identity for generations.

DAY CPM Oversees Expansive Bond for Tigard-Tualatin School District

The Tigard-Tualatin School District passed a $291M bond in the fall of 2016 and turned to DAY CPM to oversee the bond program, putting together the teams that would lead the extensive effort needed to rebuild, renovate and construct schools for the 12,700 students in the district.

Joshua Dodson was tapped for Bond Program Oversight and is assisted by a bond Program Manager Debbie Pearson and a team of DAY CPM project managers, as is needed due to the long-term schedule of the bond. Work began in 2016 and is scheduled to be fully complete by the fall of 2023.

The overall project includes rebuilding three of the district’s oldest schools—Templeton ES, Twality MS, and the oldest portions of Tigard HS. In addition, classrooms are being added to Tigard and Tualatin HS and Durham Education Center, particularly to add areas for STEM curriculums. A new elementary school, Art Rutkin ES is being constructed, overall safety and security of the schools is being enhanced, and scheduled facility repairs are being completed such as new roofs and HVAC upgrades. Finally, new technology, textbooks, and a digital curriculum are being purchased to ensure the schools meet current and future technological demands.

Joshua said a highlight of the work at Tigard High School, and an example of the flexible spaces that schools are embracing, is the creation of learning steps, both inside and outside, that mimic auditorium or theater seats and can hold about 500 students to sit or stand for events or for lunch, or just to do homework or socialize. “It’s a really large space. On one end of it, you can get from the ground floor up to the second story and students are looking out towards the wide-open space that holds the cafeteria. The space can be used for so many different things.” Joshua said.

DAY CPM worked with three major design firms, Bassetti Architects, Bora Architects, and IBI Group for the major builds and smaller design firms DECA Architecture and Oh Planning + Design, for more of the renovation work. Construction firms Triplett Wellman Construction, and P&C Construction have been responsible for most of the construction put in place. Small works construction firms Inline Commercial Construction, Fortis Construction, Benchmark Contracting, and Portland Road and Driveway Company round out the list of const

ruction partners.

With such a large group of partners, communication is essential which is where Joshua’s leadership comes in. He has more than 22 years of experience working on K12 bond programs, and particularly bond management. In his role overseeing the bond work, he makes sure the teams are functioning well and that the clients are happy with the work. “I make sure we are managing well to set the bond up for success. I was boots on the ground for many years on school projects so I’m able to assess and see quickly where adjustments need to be made and I can provide advice and support for the teams,” he said.

To date, $252M of work has been delivered on time and on budget with the new build of Rutkin Elementary School slated to be the final piece of the bond project.

DAY CPM Leads Central Point School District Bond Program

With a primary goal of providing students a safe and healthy school environment, DAY CPM has been acting on behalf of the Central Point School District, overseeing the management of a $90M bond program that includes numerous school upgrades and renovations throughout the district. Central Point School District (CPSD) #6 operates schools in the Southern Oregon communities of Central Point, Gold Hill, and Sams Valley, with eight schools serving more than 4,700 students including five elementary schools, two middle schools, and a high school complex located at the Crater campus. With the passage of the bond in May of 2019, the district turned to DAY CPM to oversee the bond management as its owner’s representative.

The bond money is meant to accomplish a wide variety of goals. Buildings needed to have their mechanical systems updated and improved for better efficiency and to better protect the health and safety of the occupants. Additional flexible learning space was needed to allow different types of classes, from science labs to study halls—crucial components to allow for future changes and developments in course structure. Finally, more space was needed to reduce overcrowding.

Photo Credit: Molly Bermea – Frizz Studio

DAY CPM recognized that a program this large in scope would require a large, dynamic team with multi-disciplinary skills, and would require boots on the ground in Central Point. The challenge was they did not already have a person on the ground in that part of the state. As happens when this is the case, they scanned their existing contacts to find someone they could trust to lead the work. Medford architect and Southern Oregon resident Steve Ennis was hired by DAY CPM to be the local senior project manager for the duration of the bond program. Project manager Tina Ely supported the CPSD Bond remotely with assistance from project managers Joshua Dodson and Randy Isaac. Additional DAY CPM assistance is being delivered by our local project coordinator Matt Robinson and engineering specialist Les Carmichael.

Joshua Dodson explained that DAY CPM has an advantage as an owner’s representative because the company houses project managers, architects, engineers, designers, and other skilled professionals thereby bringing a strong knowledge of what is possible and what it takes to move a project of this magnitude and complexity along. “This background makes us experts. We’re not the architects or contractor on this project but we know how they should be contracted so the owner’s objectives are fulfilled,” Joshua said.

That knowledge base is critical as more than half of the bond work is dedicated to mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) upgrades at the eight schools, which can be more challenging than new building upgrades. As Joshua states, “MEP work is not as flashy so, in some ways, it is also a harder sell to the public who can’t necessarily see the improvements.” In the end, though, the users of the schools will experience the benefits of these critical upgrades on a daily basis.

DAY CPM worked with the district, design team (BBT Architects of Bend) and construction managers/general contractors (S&B James Construction and Vitus Construction) to develop a schedule for the more than twenty projects to ensure the work can be completed by the fall of 2023.

The arrival of the pandemic last year and recent fires has proven to be both detrimental and beneficial to the overall work. On the one hand, schools have been closed which has allowed work to occur inside the buildings throughout the school year when otherwise it would have been consolidated into the summer months. The downside is that some materials are more difficult to come by and shipment times are increased. Altogether, the pluses and minuses have offset each other, the project has remained on schedule, the teams of architects and contractors are in place and construction has begun.

DAY CPM will continue to act as the fiscal stewards of the bond, meshing the budget, project scope, and timelines to make sure the public money is spent wisely, within rules, and to the best benefit for the students, staff, and communities the schools serve.

“Our goal ultimately is to serve the children and make sure they are taught in good facilities where their learning isn’t hampered by outdated or dilapidated buildings,” Joshua said.

DAY CPM Creates Community Pride With Seaside School Project

Schools are places where face-to-face communication is essential to foster an environment where students feel safe and comfortable to ask questions and open up to learning. With this atmosphere, there is little wonder that those who work in school districts also support and expect more personal relationships and direct contacts. For this reason, DAY CPM has thrived as the owners’ representative for a spate of recent school projects, recognizing that successful relationships build successful projects.

This was certainly the case for DAY CPM’s work with Seaside School District in Seaside, Oregon. The community supported a $99M bond for the project but had not supported a bond since the 1970s, so ensuring the community’s wishes were heard and met was paramount to success. DAY CPM brought extensive experience of working with schools and bonds to the table making them a perfect choice for the job. “It was important for us to help folks out given the challenges of a school district that didn’t have construction or bond experience. This is the largest and most expensive project in Seaside. The community voted for it and we wanted them to be proud of it,” said Jim Henry, senior project manager. Jim was the liaison between the district, CMGC Hoffman Construction, the design team from BRIC Architects, and a host of city service providers.

Seaside School bond passed in order to move the schools above the tsunami zone for both student safety and to serve as a community safe haven. The existing middle and high schools were replaced with a single building to house both. Pacific Ridge elementary school was renovated and expanded, along with seismic upgrades, allowing it to become the combined home of Seaside Heights and Gearhart elementary schools. Weyerhaeuser provided an 80-acre parcel for the new high and middle school.

The new HS/MS is a modern building, in many ways similar to what’s found on college campuses with advanced technologies and amenities better suited for teaching and learning. A key point for the construction and design team was to ensure everyone would feel part of the school; signage is bilingual, flexible learning spaces serve as teaching spaces and as areas designated for students to congregate during breaks in the school day. The highlighted feature of the new HS/MS is a view of the coast which was factored into the design, so both classrooms and common spaces show off the coastal landscape.

As with any project, there were challenges. The increased size of the school necessitated the construction of a City of Seaside reservoir to compensate for increased water usage and fire protection. The architects and City designed a route for the water services to run through the construction site to the reservoir. The property needed for this had to be annexed into the City of Seaside’s Urban Growth Boundary and the wetlands on site had to be addressed. DAY CPM relied on its prior experience with wetlands mitigation to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Oregon Division of State Lands Cooperative to find a solution to replacing permitted wetlands losses and enhancing what remained.

Construction began in the spring of 2017 and is slated for completion in February 2021. During that time, the schools have become a source of pride. Seaside is a multi-generational community and most residents had attended the schools which date back to 1955. They understood the buildings had reached the end of their life span and needed to transition to the 21st century. What they will have going forward is not just modern schools and community focal point, but a sense of hope for upcoming generations.

Otak Provides Services for Another Project at Columbia Palisades

Otak has been instrumental in another project now under construction at Columbia Palisades in Vancouver, WA.

Romano Development, Vancouver, WA, is developing the Boulder Ridge at Columbia Palisades site. The site is an exclusive river view property with 24 luxury townhomes. These townhomes sit atop a prominent bluff with exquisite views overlooking the beautiful Columbia River Gorge. Otak completed the land use permitting, infrastructure design, and site engineering to support the construction of this project, which is presently under construction.

Otak has also been leading the planning, design, and permitting of The Ledges, a project that includes two distinct towers of luxury apartments and condominiums, also with stunning 180-degree views of Mt. Hood and the Columbia River Gorge. This project sits atop a subsurface parking structure built into the solid rock and includes common space amenities that take advantage of the views such as an outdoor pool.

Columbia Palisades is a master-planned redevelopment of an 84-acre former rock quarry site, located at the interchange of State Route 14 and SE 192nd Ave between Vancouver and Camas, WA. Working closely with the City of Vancouver, Otak designed and permitted a planned development that features a mix of luxury and affordable housing options, office buildings, commercial and retail spaces, a medical clinic, and a hotel. These buildings are surrounded by more than 30 acres of open and park space.

“The Columbia Palisades site offers a thoughtful blend of homes, services and retail, employment, and recreational spaces, all within walking distance. And, the views are stunning. It’s another example of our collaborative team of professionals working successfully to repurpose a mined quarry into an enjoyable place for folks to live, work, and play,” says Tim Leavitt, PE, Otak’s Director of Operations in Southwest Washington.

Otak Completes ODOT Project to Repair and Upgrade Bad Banks Culvert

Lying beneath fifty-feet of fill and one of Oregon’s major recreational highways, was an ailing 75-year old concrete culvert with a history of operation and maintenance problems. The culvert in question funnels the Bad Banks Creek underneath Oregon State Route 22 about four miles east of Gates, Oregon. Working with the Oregon Department of Transportation, Otak’s hydraulics engineering team led a design and construction project to repair damage to the 300 foot-long culvert, improve stream flow and provide safer access for ODOT inspection and maintenance crews and equipment.

The Bad Banks Creek culvert at HWY 22 was subject to abrasion from sediment flowing in the stream channel, which over time, had worn down the concrete culvert and exposed the rebar reinforcement. The culvert also presented various safety issues for ODOT inspection and maintenance crews as it was difficult to access either end of the culvert due to steep slopes and lack of space to operate. While extending the life of the culvert was a priority, the other significant part of the project was to improve access for long-term maintenance.

Otak was hired by ODOT in May of 2019 to provide design services for repairs to the culvert to extend its service life and to modify the culvert entrance to improve access for long-term operation and maintenance of the culvert. Otak was then hired to provide construction administration, engineering, and inspection services during construction, which began in June 2020.

Extending the life of the culvert made sense—the typical life-span of concrete reinforced culverts is 75-100 years and it would have been very expensive to replace. As Otak Project Manager and Principal Kevin Timmins, states, “if the culvert ever does get replaced it will likely be with a bridge.” Rather than a costly bridge project with major disruptions to traffic along HWY 22, ODOT was able to get money and permits to make repairs and modifications and chose to work with Otak on a design to prolong the life of the culvert while also addressing the safety and access issues.

To mitigate the effects of streamflow and sediment abrasion, the culvert was lined with six inches of new concrete. The upstream end of the culvert was also extended, a more gradual transition into the culvert was added for better streamflow, and debris fins were installed at the upstream end to catch large debris so it doesn’t enter the culvert. The modifications had the added benefit of allowing the maintenance access road to come further down. As Kevin explains, “previously the access road just stopped at a steep vertical drop off into the culvert. By extending the culvert we were able to bring the road down and across the top of the culvert to the other side where we were able to create a level area where ODOT will be able to park an excavator and reach upstream of the debris fins in the event they need to be able to clear debris in front of the culvert.”

Ten days before substantial completion in September of 2020, the Beechie Creek fire burned through the construction site, scorching the forest vegetation, melting the stream bypass system, and causing damage to a portion of the freshly poured concrete. Otak has been working with the ODOT to manage the response at this site, including project closeout and plans for additional site stabilization and concrete repairs to be constructed in 2021.

“One of the reasons we were excited to work on this project was the fact that we were already familiar with the site,” Kevin stated, “and that our water resource team has a lot of experience in working in streams. They understand the hydraulic conditions, how to manage streamflow during construction, how to accommodate construction access.” This project was an opportunity for Otak’s hydraulics team, who possess deep knowledge and capacity for hydraulic engineering, to work in tandem with Otak’s structural team. Additionally, Otak has experience working on projects in environmentally sensitive areas, and mitigating the environmental impact during construction was a priority and requirement of the state.

In the end, the culvert repairs have staved off a costly bridge replacement by extending the life of the culvert and ODOT inspection and maintenance staff now have better and safer access to the culvert.