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By Robert Shinbo
Robert Shinbow Associates
With roots in the past, Northwest landing shaping up for the next century.
The master planned community is located in the city of DuPont, between Tacoma and Olympia, bordering on I-5 and encompassing over 3,000 acres. The City of DuPont contains more than three miles of shoreline on South puget Sound.
The master plan, prepared by the Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Company, shows a mix of housing, employment, shopping, schools, parks an greenbelts. Already, several major employers have located there, including Intel and State Farm Insurance. Four major homebuilders are busy creating the city's's first residential neighborhoods.
Parks, open space, trails, interpretive areas, and an informational center have also been planned and constructed.
Hidden from the residential neighborhoods, one of the State's largest sand an gravel mines is also underway.
Almost every facet of these projects has required landscape design and planning.
The City of DuPont's first comprehensive plan was completed in 1985, and received an honor award from the Washington Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects in 1986. After measures to provide wastewater treatment capacity and an enlarged water supply were secured, road construction into DuPont Landing began in 1987.
Te comprehensive plan was updated in 1995 to reflect specific
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| A Clock Tower dominates the Village Green at Northwest Landing. |
The landscape design of streets and parks has been important in establishing the character and scale the pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods of the development.
Street trees were planted before any homes were constructed. They reinforce the importance of the front yard, help make walking a pleasurable and regular experience, and frame key views and vistas in the community. A village green lies at the center of the first village and provides a place for picnics, outdoor concerts, and special community events.
Still smaller neighborhood greens, featuring a quiet plane of grass and a few specimens of existing trees, creates a verdant front door for small clusters of homes. A unique rose garden provides a special vantage point to view Mount rainier, and a quiet saltwater marsh interpretive area is visited by a bald eagle, heron, and school children.
The sand and gravel mine is implementing one of the state's first approved progressive reclamation plans. The land will be progressively returned to a contour and landscape of open space and future suitable development uses, rater than awaiting mine completion before conversion. The reclamation plan includes a master grading plan, plant and seee specifications and wildlife enhancement features. These design and planning efforts were recognized by the Master Builders Association in 1995 when the project swept nearly all major categories of design, planning and marketing in its annual awards program.
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| Over 7 miles of city trails wind through DuPont Landing. More are planned. |
Garry Oak (Quercus Garryana) occur over portions of the site, creating a landscape quite different than the typical second growth Douglas fir and alder that predominate over much of the Puget Sound lowlands.
The city recently adopted standards for preserving many of the site's largest groves and specimens. A design review board, including a landscape architect, reviews every new building an design plan application for conformance to a set of adopted design guidelines, including a unique "Guide to Residential Landscaping." The guide received an award in communication from the Washington Chapter of th American Society of Landscape Architects.
With a projected build-out of over 25 years, the landscape at Northwest Landing and DuPont continues to evolve an present new challenges.
Robert Shinbo is principal of Robert Shinbo Associates.
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