INTHESEENVIRONMENTALLY con-scious times, the following statementsare practically axioms for landscape ar-chitectural design:...............................Rainwater must be considered a resource,

not a waste product.Stormwater is most effectively managed on

site at the source.Taken together, these two ideas suggest

an inspiring approach to stormwatermanagement: on-site treatment where

rain is celebrated as a resource—notjust managed, but thoughtfullytreated as a landscape amenity pro-viding a rich experience for users.We call this approach “artful rainwa-ter design.”In an earlier article (see “Art for

Rain’s Sake,” Landscape Architecture,September 2006) we proposed thatstudy of award-winning projects canprovidehelpful information for land-scape architects interested in under-taking artful rainwater design (ARD).Since 2005, we have engaged incase studies of 20 projects across theUnited States that vary in size, type,and design strategy. This study hashelped us identify a range of “ameni-ty goals” achievable through ARD.An on-site stormwater manage-

ment system can be an engagingopportunity to educate people aboutrainwater issues from promotingawareness of stormwater best man-agement practices strategies to thesite’shistoricalwater condition.Manypeople don’t understand the hydro-logical cycle, the usefulness of wet-lands, the role of plants in cleaningwater, and the desirability of infiltra-tion. Through ARD landscape archi-tects alsohave theopportunity tohelpthe public realize the value of nontra-ditional landscape designs that effec-tively address rainwater quantity andquality—for example, native plantsin naturalized bioswale designs.In the case studieswe have discov-

ered that education can be addressedthrough two basic strategies: The design-er can encourage the visitor to discoversomething about rainwater through apuzzling or thought-provoking design,or the designer can pose a straightfor-ward didactic lesson in the landscape,offering specific information about a rain-water issue. Stephen Epler Hall at Port-landStateUniversity inPortland,Oregon,takes the first approach, while the PierceCountyEnvironmental ServicesFacility in

LEARNING FROM ARTFUL RAINWATER DESIGNLandscape architectscan reach out directly tovisitors or nudge themdown a path of discovery.By Eliza Pennypacker, ASL A,

and Stuar t P. Echols, ASL A

LEARNING FROM ARTFUL RAINWATER DESIGN

E C O L O G Y

A series of elegantly planted sunkenstormwater “biopaddies” provide

seating while collecting and filteringstormwater at Portland State Uni-

versity’s Stephen Epler Hall.

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UniversityPlace,Washington,near Seattle,uses the second.

Stephen Epler HallStephenEplerHall presents an education-al strategy that engages visitors in deci-phering the intriguing puzzle of thestormwatermanagement system. Locatedwithin the urban fabric of Portland, EplerHall is a six-story, 130-unit residence hallthat also houses classrooms and faculty of-fices on the first floor. The design of thebuilding and landscape was strongly in-fluenced by the university’s vision and val-ues: In 2001, Portland State began theproject intending to build a sustainable fa-cility reflecting the university’s emergingcommitment to environmental issues. Thearchitecture/landscape architecture teamof Mithun and Atlas Landscape Architec-ture took these intentions to heart, creat-ing the first Leadership in Energy andEn-vironmental Design-certified project onthe Portland State campus and an ARDworth exploring.Aparticularly engaging rainwater treat-

ment and harvesting system is found in anintimate plaza enclosed by Stephen EplerHall and King Albert Hall. First rain de-scends from the roof of Epler Hall viadownspouts that follow three of the build-ing columns.At thebottomof eachdown-spout the rain disappears into a raised con-cretebasin filledwith river rock.Observant

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This stormwater courtyard at Portland StateUniversity was sited between two dormitories,offering students an opportune gatheringplace to decipher the intriguing stormwatertreatment system. The plan below illustrateshow water crosses the plaza from collectionbasins (labeled 2 on plan) via runnels to astepped series of biopaddies (labeled 1 onplan). At right is a view of the rainwater trailfrom downspout to raised collection basinthrough scupper into granite-lined runnel.

E C O L O G YE C O L O G Y

This stormwater courtyard at Portland StateUniversity was sited between two dormitories,offering students an opportune gatheringplace to decipher the intriguing stormwatertreatment system. The plan below illustrateshow water crosses the plaza from collectionbasins (labeled 2 on plan) via runnels to astepped series of biopaddies (labeled 1 onplan). At right is a view of the rainwater trailfrom downspout to raised collection basinthrough scupper into granite-lined runnel.

visitors will realize that the water seepsdownthrough the river rock then flowsoutsmall scuppers at the bottomof each basin.Fromthispoint, the rainwater runs straightacross the plaza in three runnels. This, too,requires some careful observation tonotice,because each runnel is cappedwith granitepavers set just far enough apart that gapsbetween the pavers offer a glimpse of thewater flowing below.Each runnel leads to a sunkenbasin filled

withplants (theseweredubbed“biopaddies”bythedesigners), andagapintheraisedcon-creteedgesurroundingeachbasinallowstherunnel to extend all the way to the sunkenplanter’s edge. Curious visitors will realizethat this gap lets rainwater fall from therunnel directly into the biopaddy. Visitorsknowledgeable about riparian plants andstormwatermanagementwillnoticethatthesunkenplanters are filledwith sedge,whichserves as a biofilter for the rainwater.Sleuthing visitors initially may be con-

fusedbyperpendicular runnels that con-nect the five biopaddies, but if they no-tice that thebasinsdescendaslight slope,they will realize that the design allowsexcess runoff todrain fromonebiopaddyto the nextwithout flooding the plaza.Not even the finest stormwater Sher-

locks will know that the biofiltered

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E C O L O G Y

River stone, riparian plants, and driftwood line abioswale at Pierce County Environmental Center,above, that flanks a major pedestrian path, ensur-ing visitor awareness of the water trail. The axialbioswale at Pierce County runs southwest fromthe main building to community play fields as

shown in the plan below, emphasizing the visuallink between Mount Olympus and Mount Rainier.

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water is then collected in a 10,000-gallontank, treated with ultraviolet light, andreused for irrigation and in first-floor toi-lets in Epler Hall. Nor would they knowthat the system was designed to divertrunoff fromentering the city’s stressedmu-nicipal sewer/stormwater system.The onlyinformation provided about all of the rain-water harvesting and reuse is found onsigns in the first-floor restrooms of EplerHall clarifying that water used in the toi-lets is rainwater harvested in the plaza.In a major rain event, the educational

component of this ARD transforms frompuzzle to entertaining show.According tothe architects, the display ofmoving rainwater becomes sotheatrical that students emergefrom their dorm rooms to watch(elegantly aided by two benchesunder freestanding roofs that facethe water show).At Epler Hall the education

strategy focuses on engaging andintriguing visitors rather thanstoking their brainswith rainwa-ter treatment facts. This strate-gy seems appropriate for the site

and demographic contexts: a plaza de-signed not only for passing through butalso for lingering and living, peopled byuniversity faculty and students who have

both the intellectual inclinationand the opportunity to take sometime here, observe, deduce, andbe both delighted and enlight-ened. “Learn, live, work, relax,and be green” is a manifesto atPortland State that is clearly ex-hibited in this engaging ARD.

Pierce CountyEnvironmental ServicesThePierceCountyEnvironmen-tal Services facilities comprise a50,000-square-foot office build-ing on a 20-acre site, parking,public play fields, a labyrinthgarden, and pedestrian and biketrails that link this site to adja-cent neighborhoods. For morethan100years the sitewasminedfor gravel; today it is the firstma-jor project developed accordingto a 50-year master plan focusedon “Reclaiming Our Resources”

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Visitors are encouraged to enjoy therainwater-cleansing wetland by traversing anelegantly meandering boardwalk, above. AtPierce County, bright yellow signs, left, offerinteresting and brief “info bites.” The smallyellow signs at Pierce County are strategicallyplaced along pedestrian walkways, below, en-

ticing visitors to learn about the design.

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for the 900-plus-acre ChambersCreek Properties, a public–privatepartnership focused on transformingthemassive gravelmine into a systemof environmentally responsible publicamenities.TheprojectwonanAmerican Insti-

tute of Architects/Committee on theEnvironment Top Ten Green ProjectsAward in 2004. Lead architectMiller|Hull Partnership and landscape archi-tect Bruce Dees & Associates put intopracticewhat themasterplanmonikerproclaims—especially when it comesto recognizing rainwater as a resource.At the suggestion of the design team,PierceCountyPublicWorksandUtil-ities committed significant funds foran interpretive system. The result is anationally recognized green facility that goes togreat lengths to teach the visiting public aboutsustainable design and construction.

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E C O L O G Y

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Pierce County’s “flow-splitter plaza” ends the bioswale axis with three aligned valve heads.Signs explain that the valves split runoff into two treatment swales, one grass-lined and onegravel-lined, while the third diverter awaits development of future treatment strategies.

The strategy for educating visi-tors about rainwater at the PierceCounty site is multifaceted andhighly effective. First, a very clearrainwater trail displays a variety ofstormwatermanagement strategieswhile defining the anchoring spineof the entire site design: an axis thatvisually linksdistantMountRainierandMountOlympus.

The water treatment axis begins at the northwest corner ofthe building, where rainwater falls dramatically from a scup-per on the roof into a concretebasin incisedwith a spiral runnel.

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The strategy of locating a visible rainwater trail and explanatory signagealong a major route to public play fields ensures that a large number of

community members will learn about the stormwater management systems.

A rainwater traildisplays a variety

of stormwaterstrategies while

defining the spine ofthe entire site design.

Rainwater spirals from the basin into atreatmentwetland that visitors are encour-aged to enjoy by following an elegantlymeandering boardwalk.Thewater treatment trail is briefly bro-

ken by the entrance drive; it reappears onthe other side in the form of a 250-foot-long axial bioswale whose materials sug-gest its function: The bioswale is linedwith river rock and riparian plants, occa-sionally embellished with driftwood.The design ensures that visitors will no-tice this long bioswale axis as it runs alonga walkway that not only links visitorparkingwith the public building entrancebut also serves as a popular trail for pedes-trians and bicyclists from surroundingneighborhoods.As itheads southeast, thewater treatment

trail disappears again under a drive to reap-pear in a particularly intriguing part of thelandscape design: a plaza with three visible

valve heads on axis with the long bioswale.Signs explain that this is a “flow-splitter

plaza” that sends runoff into two differenttreatment swales—onegrass lined and onegravel lined. The third diverter awaits de-velopment of future treatment strategies.While the water treatment trail design

offers an intriguing educational experience,signs in this landscape ensure that visitorswill not only notice, but will leave the sitewith real “lessons learned.” First, the signseach offer a small, easily digested tidbit ofinformation about thedesign strategy,ma-terials, and plants that can be read at aglance. Second, the signs are strategicallylocated along major pedestrian routes sothat visitors can’t traverse the site without

encountering these engaging info bites.And third, the signs are bright yellow incolor, making them highly visible in thelandscape.We found the cumulative resultvery effective at cajoling us into learningabout the site.The education strategy undertaken at

the Pierce County Environmental Servicessite is strongly and clearly didactic, focusedon providing the visiting public useful in-formation about environmentally responsi-ble landscape strategies. This educationalapproach is particularly appropriate to theproject context and intent:The site is a des-tination and civic amenity for both neigh-boring and countywide residents thanks tofacility tours and on-site public play fields

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E C O L O G Y The combined strategy of a water traildemonstrating various stormwater management

types plus engaging interpretive signagepresents an effective educational package.

and agarden.The combined strat-egy of a clear water trail demon-strating various stormwater man-agement types plus engaginginterpretive signage presents an ef-fective educational package aimedat ensuring widespread impact ongeneral public understanding ofrainwater issues.Education is one of the amenity

goals that landscape architects canaddress through ARD. The twoprojects presented here—StephenEpler Hall and the Pierce CountyEnvironmental Services Facility—present divergent educationalstrategies in ARD, with each de-sign teampaying careful attentionto context and tailoring the edu-cational strategy to site and audi-

ence. Both offer useful lessons fordesigners interested in artful rainwa-ter design. LAMLAM

Eliza Pennypacker, ASLA, is a professorof landscape architecture at Penn StateUniversity. Stuart P. Echols, ASLA, is aregistered landscape architect and an as-sistant professor of landscape architectureat Penn State.

Resources� “Art for Rain’s Sake,” by Stuart P.Echols, ASLA, and Eliza Pennypack-er, ASLA; Landscape Architecture, Sep-tember 2006.�“Case Study: StephenEplerHall atPortland State University, a one-yearpostoccupancyevaluationofeconom-icperformance,”Mithun,2006;www.mithun.com/expertise/EplerCaseStudy.pdf.� Pierce County, Washington Envi-ronmental Services Building “Over-view” in AIA/COTE Top Ten GreenProjects,May11,2008;www.aiatopten.org/hpb/overview.cfm?Project ID=162.

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Roof runoff falls dramaticallyfrom a scupper into a concrete basin

incised with a spiral runnel; thewater then flows through a wetland

to the axial bioswale.