June 29, 2005

Design Detailings: Haag shortlisted for $353M park

Richard Haag and Associates of Seattle is one of seven international architecture firms shortlisted in a competition to design the $353 million Orange County Great Park in Irvine, Calif.

Twenty-four firms submitted proposals.

Others finalists are firms from Madrid, Barcelona, Mexico City, San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles and Mill Valley, Calif.

They will submit conceptual master designs for the Great Park to be displayed for public comments and critiques. The park's board of directors is expected to choose the Great Park master designer in October.

The Great Park will be developed on the site of the decommissioned El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, seven square miles of land in the geographic center of Orange County.

Design groups agree on green

Officials from 16 architectural institutions have agreed to support sustainable building and make reducing climate change a priority at a yearly gathering AIA holds for presidents of architectural associations.

George Ferguson, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, took the lead in drafting the statement called the Las Vegas Declaration. Among their shared concerns was a desire to promote responsible stewardship of resources in the architecture and construction industries.

The declaration states they will make climate change a priority and work with governments to influence legislation and funding to reduce pollution.

Hart Crowser wins for WaMu

The Seattle section of the American Society of Civil Engineers gave Hart Crowser awards for its approach to difficult site conditions on two projects: a stream channel restoration at The Brookside Creek and the Washington Mutual-Seattle Art Museum building.

At Brookside Creek, Hart Crowser designed a fish passage that allows salmonids to swim past an eight-foot-high dam on private property. Crews breached the dam, placed a cedar log weir, and added a 100-foot stream channel with cobbles, gravel, and boulders. The Lake Forest Park Stewardship Foundation also worked on this project.

The 42-story Washington Mutual-Seattle Art Museum tower being built in downtown Seattle required excavation to 90 feet below street grade, one of the deepest excavations ever done in Seattle. The site had limited right of way for tieback installation, and required underpinning of the adjacent Seattle Art Museum.