Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Figure 1
At New Seasons Market, Arbor Lodge, Portland, OR, the rainwater trail tells a story of rain’s important impact on rivers and the region’s prized salmon. Design: Lango Hansen Landscape Architects PC; Ivan McLean; photograph: Stuart Echols, 2013.
- Figures 2 and 3
This Swarthmore College Science Center hardscape rainwater trail retains its rain message legibility (rooftop to water wall to elevated runnel to rock‐filled basin) with signage clarifying the rain’s storage in a cistern for future use. Design: M. L. Baird and Company; photographs: Stuart Echols, 2013 and 2021.
- Figure 4
The sculptural “Beckoning Cistern” provides a durable rain message, reaching its hand to the building downspout to receive rain. A cistern valve opens to send rain into planters downhill. Design: Buster Simpson; photograph: Stuart Echols, 2013.
- Figure 5
At Queens Botanical Garden a pool of rainwater is cleansed by plants, with a “Cleansing Biotope” message delivered through signage. Design: Atelier Dreiseitl with Conservation Design Forum; photograph: Stuart Echols, 2021.
- Figures 6 and 7
Plant editing at the Oregon Convention Center ensures visibility of the rainwater trail. Design: Mayer/Reed Associates; photographs: Stuart Echols, 2005 and 2014.
- Figure 8
Vegetation in planters at Washougal Town Center is easily trimmed or substituted to ensure legibility of the downspout‐to‐level spreader‐to‐plants rain message. Design: Greenworks (Mike Faha), 2020.
- Figures 9 and 10
At Pierce County Environmental Services, plant growth has reduced the legibility of a key rainwater trail. Design: Bruce Dees & Associates, SvR Design Company, The Miller|Hull Partnership; Figure 9 photograph: Stuart Echols, 2006; Figure 10 photograph: Bruce Dees, 2021.
- Figure 11
Long‐term sediment buildup in a basin at 10th @Hoyt could result in diminished visitor appreciation for the design and its rain message. Design: Koch Landscape Architecture; photograph: Steve Koch, 2021.
- Figure 12
A pipe outlet carrying rainwater at Historic Fourth Ward Park is blocked by debris, potentially diminishing visitor appreciation for the rain message. Design: HDR; photograph: Eliza Pennypacker, 2021.
- Figures 13 and 14
At Shoemaker Green, a lilting rainwater trail defined by river stones has been completely displaced, likely by moving water. Design: Andropogon Associates Ltd; photographs: Stuart Echols, 2013 and 2021.
Tables
Design Location Designer Year Built 10th @Hoyt Portland, OR Koch Landscape Architecture, Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects 2004–05 ASU Polytechnic Campus Mesa, AZ Ten Eyck Landscape Architects, Lake|Flato Architects 2008 The Dell Charlottesville, VA Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, Biohabitats nc, PHR&A, Nitsch Engineering 2005 Stephen Epler Hall Portland, OR Atlas Landscape Architecture, KPFF Consulting Engineers, Mithun 2003 Growing Vine Street Seattle, WA Gaynor Inc, Carlson Architects, SvR Design Company, Buster Simpson 2003 High Point Seattle, WA SvR Design Company, Mithun, Bruce Meyers, et al. 2000–10 Historic Fourth Ward Park Atlanta, GA HDR, Wood + Partners 2009–11 Kansas State ISC Rain Garden Manhattan, KS Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional & Community Planning, Kansas State University 2007 Mount Tabor Middle School Rain Garden Portland, OR Kevin Perry, Portland Bureau of Environmental Services 2006 NE Siskiyou Street Portland, OR Kevin Perry, Portland Bureau of Environmental Services 2003 Oregon Convention Center Rain Garden Portland, OR Mayer/Reed 2003 Outwash Basin at the Stata Center Cambridge, MA OLIN, Nitsch Engineering 2003 Pacific Cannery Lofts Oakland, CA Miller Company Landscape Architects, David Baker Architects 2009 Pierce County Environmental Services University Place, WA Bruce Dees & Associates; SvR Design Company. The Miller|Hull Partnership, Arai/Jackson Architects 2002 Queens Botanical Garden Flushing, NY Atelier Dreiseitl, Conservation Design Forum, BKSK Archtects 2004 Ridge and Valley Terrace University Park, PA Stacy Levy, MTR Landscape Architects, Overland Partners 2009 Shoemaker Green Philadelphia, PA Andropogon Associates Ltd., Meliora Design LLC 2012 Southwest Recreation Center Gainesville, FL RDG Planning and Design 2010 Swarthmore Science Center Swarthmore, PA ML Baird & Co 2004 Washougal Town Center Washougal, WA GreenWorks, Sienna Architecture Company, Ivan McLean 2005–07 Design Positive Observations Negative Observations 10th @Hoyt rain message clear in hardscape elements: downspouts, stepped runnels, level spreader, horizontal runnels
rain message remains lively and eye‐catching
rain message clarity near plants is retained through plant editing, trimming
silt deposits in river stone
The Dell rainwater trail clear in hardscape elements: raised channel to level spreader to pond; upper pond to forebay to lower pond
rain message clear in signage
Growing Vine rain message clear in hardscape elements: planted downspout; downspout to “Beckoning Cistern”; stepped basins below cistern
“Beckoning Cistern” and planted downspout remain eye‐catching
some algae buildup in concrete scuppers of stepped basins
river stone rainwater trail no longer evident in Pea Patch
plant growth obscures rainwater trail in Pea Patch
High Point rain message clear in hardscape elements: “raindrops” incised in sidewalk; downspouts to salmon splash blocks; curb cuts to swales
rain message clear in signage
plant growth obscures rain message in planted swales
some algae buildup in salmon splash blocks
Historic 4th Ward rain message clear in hardscape elements: river rock lines in walls denoting 100‐year and 500‐year storm levels
uncontrolled and weedy plant growth in many areas
weeds and sediment in spiral runnel
debris blocks large pipe opening to major runnel
river stones embedded in major runnel largely removed by water flow
Kansas State ISC rain message clear in hardscape elements: scuppers from gutter
signage explaining native plants helps to mitigate perception of weediness
flowering of native plants helps to mitigate perception of weediness
plant growth obscures rain message in rain‐receiving bowls and rain garden cells
leggy, uncontrolled plant growth in many areas
NE Siskiyou Street rain message clear in hardscape elements: curb cuts into curb extensions
rain message clear in signage
plant growth obscures rain message in curb extensions
clay and riverstone checkdams replaced with concrete
Oregon Convention Center rain message clear in hardscape elements: scuppers from wall; abstracted riverbed; weirs
rain message clear in signage
rain message clarity near plants is retained through plant editing, trimming
some debris in rainwater trail
Outwash Basin at the Stata Center rain message clear in signage
dramatic plant removal changes appearance
Pierce County Environmental Services rain message clear in hardscape elements: scupper from roof; spiraling water channel
rain message clear in signage
plant growth obscures rain message in many parts of system
weeds and sediment in rock‐lined swale
some faded, scratched signage
Queens Botanical Garden rainwater trail clear in hardscape elements: fountain to rainwater stream; concrete channel
rain message clear in signage
weeds in pavers along rainwater stream
Ridge and Valley Terrace rain message clear in hardscape elements: butterfly roof to wall scupper; rainwater drop from scupper to incised rivers and streams in terrace
rain message clear in signage
Shoemaker Green rain message clear in hardscape elements: trench drains to curb cuts into rain garden
rain message clear in “Discover Penn” cell phone audio tour recording
significant plant change obscures rainwater trail in rain garden
extensive plant growth and loss in rain garden
displacement of river stone in rainwater trail renders trail invisible
Southwest Recreation Center rain message clear in hardscape elements: wall scuppers to bowls to runnels to rain garden
sculptures and hardscape rainwater trail reman eye‐catching
rain message clear in signage for sculptures
Stephen Epler Hall rain message clear in hardscape elements: downspouts to rain boxes to scuppers to runnels to sunken planters
debris at water pipe entry into planters
Swarthmore Science Center rain message clear in hardscape elements: water wall to raised runnel to stone‐filled basin; stepped runnel to raised runnel to stone‐filled basin
rain message clear in signage
some encroachment of plants obscures part of one runnel
some algae buildup in concrete stepped runnel
Washougal Town Center rain message clear in hardscape elements: aqueduct to splash sculpture to level spreaders to planter box; downspouts to level spreaders to planter boxes
rain message clarity near plants is retained through plant editing, trimming, some replacement with river stone
# people # comments Plants 27 143 Utility 29 132 Maintenance 30 130 Amenity 29 96 Monitoring 31 93 (interview question; high response expected) Durability 29 92 Satisfaction 30 116 (interview question; high response expected) Understanding 23 103 Information sharing 22 72 Lesson learned 11 41 GSI evolution 13 30 Collaboration 15 27 Deterioration 7 27 Safety 8 16 Wildlife 5 9 Staff turnover 4 7 Multiple benefits 5 5 Return on investment 1 5 “Parent” Codes “Child” Codes Plants plants added plant success good plant success problem invasives and weeds plants removed or replaced plant decline Maintenance amenity maintenance silt and sedimentation utility maintenance ways to improve maintenance Monitoring formal study informal observation no monitoring Durability rain message system function Satisfaction owner/manager designer interested party public Understanding staff public GSI evolution early experimentation innovation precedent‐setting Collaboration project complexity interdisciplinary professional respect Deterioration rain message system function Safety slope of swale unnecessary safety feature visibility hazard of plants water as attractive nuisance Wildlife charismatic wildlife undesirable wildlife Multiple benefits educate combine SWM with landscape add value Positive Comment 1 Durability of physical elements Positive Comment 2 Enhanced public awareness, understanding Positive Comment 3 ARDs can provide multiple benefits Positive Comment 4 Early experimentation/innovation Positive Comment 5 GSI evolution Positive Comment 6 Wildlife (charismatic) Negative Comment 1 Deterioration of physical elements Negative Comment 2 Plant change problems Negative Comment 3 Maintenance capacity, consistency, clear responsibility Negative Comment 4 Maintenance staff understanding Negative Comment 5 Monitoring Negative Comment 6 Wildlife (undesirable) Positive Comment 1 Durability of physical elements Positive Comment 2 Enhanced public awareness, understanding Positive Comment 3 ARDs can provide multiple benefits Negative Comment 1 Deterioration of physical elements Negative Comment 2 Plant change problems Negative Comment 3 Maintenance capacity, consistency, clear responsibility Negative Comment 4 Maintenance staff understanding An interesting ARD design commands attention There’s enough interest in what’s going on with the water and these runnels and the lighting at night. . . . And the sound of water is part of that. So that’s critical: the auditory sound of water. Sculptural elements in an ARD can be durable, eye‐catching contributors to the rain message Typically in those art and state programs somebody designs a mural and they stick it inside the building, and only the people who go into the building see it. Early on our design team advocated for bringing whatever that art was outside. . . . That [sculptural] element I think is enough to get people interested so they may stop and say “what is this about?” Hardscape rain message elements can require little maintenance I think that really making the stormwater visible has been a really nice thing, a real advantage to this project. Actually those visible [hardscape elements] require very little maintenance at all. The rain message can enhance visitors’ awareness of rain I think it’s important to have that intense visualization of what’s going on, because people don’t know what’s happening to rain. And to become more responsible for it, you need to know that progression that it takes from sky to ocean, and where we fit into that. In many ways it makes stormwater visible to visitors, to students, to faculty, to staff in that they can see it—from the rainwater pouring off the roof or going down the water stairs and then having our signage explain what’s happening there. The rain message may influence people’s actions The great part about that is that people who are coming to get their permits would have to go through this living laboratory and [ideally would say,] “Hey, this would look great at my place.” The rain message can be used as a teaching tool Usually I have a class activity out there every spring and then I show it in various classes, and I talk about it in different ways. When I’m talking about green infrastructure with the public, I always show that garden. ARD signage can help convey the rain message Even if you’re just walking by, there’s enough signage out there that if you just have your eyes open, you can say, “Oh what’s this placard telling me?” And all of a sudden you’ve learned something . . . An ARD can become a community asset Almost all the properties in the neighborhood that face onto [this ARD] have cut a gate in their fence, so that they have easy, direct access to walk in the [site]. So that is a sign that it has been appropriated, you know, by the neighboring property owners. ARD at schools can teach the next generation Students [at this university] are learning, and if they can learn by observing, they’re going to take that into whatever they do. It’s helped us realize, beyond the confines of Portland, that schools are an important aspect of what we could do with stormwater management and do it in an artful way. ARD can provide added value When you can accomplish three or four things with the same amount of money it would [take] to do one thing, you’re adding value for your clients. So in this case, we needed to provide circulation, an entrance, we had to handle stormwater. And art was included. We basically said, all those are one thing. It cost more than a traditional stormwater solution, but when you add that value into all of it, all those program elements, it was the right financial and ecological solution for the [client]. Water movement force can degrade the rain message Where we have the [decorative] river stones that are embedded, they just they haven’t held up. A lot of them have washed out, and for good reason. We have a lot of water flow through those channels, and it just doesn’t look like a stream bed like it was intended. When we originally designed the project we had some clay checkdams installed to help slow the water down as its moving through the system, and then that was reinforced with some larger rock and cobble that, [in] larger storm events, started to erode. It wasn’t very long after that project that I started moving towards more structural, elegant, different ideas of how we can slow the water down; but with something that is more structurally strong. Signage deterioration can reduce rain message clarity In some instances, where’s a lot of canopy cover, there’s vegetation growing on some of the signs, if you will. And so they could do a little better job of keeping those clean and visible. The signage had deteriorated and was difficult to read. Plant growth can obscure the rain message It’s quite difficult to see the water movement. . . . [because] the plant material is growing so well. Coming off our roof are these gutters, and the water in the gutter runs into these tubes and then is directed down into these containers. [The containers] are decorative and they’re pretty. But you can’t see them anymore because there’s stuff growing over them. To me, the only things that haven’t worked well are the plantings. And it’s just because they’ve grown too big for their space. Lack of knowledge of local plants can result in poor choices Okay, so full disclosure: I’m not from X, I’m a landscape architect who was doing a project in X. And I knew some of the plants there, but we selected some plants that were overly aggressive, so the plant ecosystem of this changed rather quickly. In just a few years, some things took over. - Table 12.
Management Capacity, Consistency, and Clear Responsibility: Subthemes and Illustrative Quotes
A design must be calibrated to maintenance capacity when you do any project in the public realm, find out what the level of maintenance capability is, and that has to be part of your design. “How will they be maintained?” is a question they always ask. We ask that question of our clients as well. If it can’t be well‐maintained, we can’t put it at the front door. Maintenance must be consistent for long‐term success So much of a site’s success is dependent upon the maintenance that’s done over the time after the shine has worn off, so to speak. And if it’s not maintained and kept in good functioning condition, it can deteriorate just due to time. It just needs to be routine maintenance. It would be less of a job if they did it more often, right? If they clean this out once and for all and started fresh. Maintenance responsibilities must be clear for long‐term success Now, in terms of what doesn’t work it’s more on the management side: There really needed to be a better agreement between watershed management and parks as to the management of this. Maintenance staff who don’t understand the ARD intent and system will neglect it at best and thwart it at worst [It’s essential to have] the facilities folks, the ones responsible for managing the site, at the table during the design process and making sure that they all understand what the design goal is here and how the operations really [work]. So, none of that is working right now, mostly because people don’t understand the system. . . . But they keep on piling up rock so it doesn’t overflow, not understanding that it’s overflowing because it’s clogged up. Traditional grounds maintenance crews are unfamiliar with—and often reluctant to address—native plants typical of ARDs You know, it’s just that our grounds crews are not trained horticulturists, so the complexity of the planting in this kind of naturalistic setting is just hard for them to identify. . . . They’re scared when they see all these plants together, they’re scared to remove something for fear it’s an intentional, desired plant. And so they are leaving things that become out of control and invasive. Lack of knowledge transfer about an ARD facility can lead to major problems We worked with the then‐Director of design for the Parks Department; and I’m not absolutely certain he communicated to anyone in Facilities what all was being designed and built. And because of the turnover in the maintenance world, we can train the crew that’s working there today, and tomorrow it can switch out, and suddenly things go to wreck and ruin because the trained people have moved on to other jobs and there’s a new crew that didn’t get the training. Maintenance manuals are essential to help staff understand ARDs; but they must be user‐friendly The maintenance manual that we got from [the designer] is 1000 pages long, and nobody’s actually read all of it. I have flipped through relevant parts of it, but some of it isn’t really relevant—just documents they have to give you.
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