Land Use & Site Ecology
Narrative:
The project team sited the building to be subservient to the gardens and to reinforce the urban character of the perimeter streets, like a garden wall.
The building is nestled among mature trees on the site of a former parking lot. The flood-prone site, which once included a creek, has been filled and excavated a number of times, and the existing soil had no original structure remaining. All grounds not designated for intensive use were planted with native species, reinvigorating the depleted soils. The construction team took care during grading to preserve the extensive root zones.
The community-driven planning process emphasized the importance of water as a resource vital to all cultures. As a result, the project team used water to unify the building and the landscape. Through the use of water, the team hoped to recall the creek that once ran through the site and to inspire new thinking about water conservation and living landscapes.
During rainy days, water cascades off of the sheltering canopy roof and into a channel flowing between the main building and the auditorium. The captured rainwater moves through biotope pools filled with gravel and native wetland species that cleanse the rainwater before it is piped underground. The water then emerges at the entry plaza fountain, moves through the landscape via a meandering stream, and returns to the biotope to begin the cycle anew. The water levels vary in response to the weather and season.
The landscape manages all precipitation on site. Planted bioswales throughout the gardens collect rainwater that falls on the site, and rainwater that falls on the auditorium's green roof sustains the roof's plantings.
source: http://www.aiatopten.org