LDS Conference Center Roof Top Garden Winter Sunset

The LDS Conference Center roof top garden in downtown Salt Lake City is a great place to catch a sunset.  While they don't let you hang out on top, you can still time it just right if you plan ahead or ask to see the garden at the right time.

December 2011 has received minimal snow so far and the roof garden was open.  The haze and smog aren't beautiful to look at or breath, but it does add a little bit more color to the sunset.

Just before I was about to leave the roof top garden I stopped and while looking at City Creek Center I said "wow there are no construction cranes".  This is the first time in 5 years plus in which no cranes could be seen in the skyline above the City Creek Center.  At one point I seem to remember counting more than 16 tall cranes working in the entire City Creek skyline at one time.  I'm amazed and can't wait for it to open.



This is the fountain which splits into 4 different fountains representing the 4 corners of the earth.  I really liked how it was icing up just a little bit, but still flowing.



Here is a sunset view of the Promontory on South Temple Tower.
As I understand it is done and now selling condominiums.
http://www.citycreekliving.com/promontory/promontory_plans.php



Here is a view of the Conference Center roof top tower looking west into the sunset.  I really like how the sun was reflecting off the dakota granite and the stream of water.

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Privacy on a busy road - Edmonds WA front landscape

Designing and landscaping a nice front yard on somewhat busy street can be tricky.  I really like how this home in Edmonds Washington handled it.  I don't know who did the design otherwise I would give them credit, but it is definitely worth documenting and learning from.

The cedar fence panels have an alternating pattern so as to add style and break up the monotony typical of fences.  They also sport quality trim and trellis work on top.  The fence also serves as a nice backdrop to the planting design and dry river bed in the front yard. 

The driveway is colored concrete and fence panels offer little windows of the other side.  Some of the plants used include: Lavender, Bamboo, and other water wise planting.  I question the use of the bamboo in the open front yard area as it may have a tendency to invade, but time will tell.

The fence was set back from the side just enough for some shrub and perennial plantings.  This helps minimize the wall effect and feeling for walkers and neighbors.

The total project color palette was done quite nicely and most everything has a natural tone or texture to it, with just enough uniqueness to it.

new trail in Providence Canyon, Providence Utah, Cache County

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This year a new trail was added to Providence Canyon, Providence UT.  We walked it earlier in the week and today I mountain biked it.  The trail is fantastic for hiking or mountain biking.  It has multiple wooden bridges and the first half of the trail follows the stream.  It is very windy and has many scenic views.  There is about 1200 elevation climb and the trail mostly sticks to the north facing (shady) side of the canyon.  My GPS recorded 5.4 miles on the round trip (for the single track part).  For mountain biking it is probably medium to difficult (in a few sections) in terms of technical difficulty.  It is a fun descent with a number of places to duck under a tree or twist around a rock.

I don't know who did the design layout of the trail, but they did a good job in planning the designated pathway.  The Utah CC did a good job in constructing the trail by preserving the vegetation on both the sides of the trail and removing major rocks from the soil.

Up higher you will notice severe erosion which occurred on the Spring Creek drainage spring/summer 2011.  In a number of places the creek jumped the bank or severely cut it.  The erosion was due to extreme snow-pack (almost double normal).

The canyon road can be busy at times with motorcycles, hunters, atvs, and trucks, thus making a separate hiking/biking trail valuable and increasing safety.  The trail will be a great resource to the local community as it matures.

Erosion up higher

Seattle Chittenden Locks Fish Ladder Plaza

The public artwork at the Chittenden Locks (also called Ballard Locks) at Fish Ladder Plaza is fun and educational.  The waves run kind of like a wave rolling on the ocean.  Educational signs tell about the Pudget Sound and Salmon life cycle.

Directly below the plaza is a room with windows to watch the large salmon swim through the gates and work their way towards the Salmon Bay and Lake Union.  You can also watch boats go through the locks which is interesting.

New grass is green in more ways than one | ksl.com

I read this article about a new grass variety that is native to Nebraska and supposed to be more drought tolerant than traditional Kentucky Blue.  New grass types come out almost every year like fashion, so hopefully the hype is true. - Jake

See link below.

New grass is green in more ways than one | ksl.com

someday the highline trail

I'm a big fan of the High Line project in New York City and I can't wait to visit it (some far distant day).  I patronize its nature of essentially being one large urban recycle project, mixed with wild and natural plants.

Check out this video.

Garden Rooms: Examples Shown From Morinda Gardens, Provo UT (Tahitian Noni International)

Garden Rooms hold a special place in the world of landscape architecture.  Recently Deseret News ran an article I wrote on Garden Rooms.

Hickman Garden - Sketch by Jake Young

This week, we invited Jake Young to be guest columnist to discuss possibilities to be explored and developed in your own outside living spaces. If we keep talking about spring, maybe it will finally come.

Perhaps there is not a more enchanting place than a mid-summer botanical garden full of color, natural fragrance and vegetation. You can bring this same beauty to your back yard by applying some of the same design principles used in your home to create a garden room or an exterior gathering place.

The garden room can serve as a place for outdoor entertaining, a space for growing delicious fruits and vegetables or a sanctuary busy with humming birds or bees spreading pollen. If created and maintained properly, the garden room can be the treasure of any residential landscape.  

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700123539/Garden-rooms-bring-floral-beauty-to-your-home.html?pg=1


Morinda Gardens in Provo, UT (Tahitian Noni International) offer great examples of Garden Rooms (as described in my article).  The overall design of Morinda Gardens was done by MHTN.  The photos below of Morinda Gardens were taken by Jake Young.  FYI you have to have permission ahead of time to take photos of the gardens.  So call ahead and be prepared to pay a fee (if you must take photos), if not just enjoy.

Tree House from the past/ old fort style

With spring on the way I'm excited to finish our tree house, so I decided to dig up some old archive tree house photos. This was a tree house I designed a number of years ago.  It features two platforms, a roof, slide, a step ladder and my favorite the wooden rope bridge.  We used straight timber logs with the bark still on them and it wasn't too hard to build (of course I was only there for the start of the construction).  If you don't have good tree house trees, build your tree house around the trees or plant trees near the structure.

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Photos by Ben Young.

Young entrepreneurs turn garbage into green - ksl.com

Here is some interesting news about a Utah business called Ecoscraps that takes food waste from restaurants and makes compost fertilizer for gardens to be sold at nurseries.  I'm sure places like Chuckarama make a lot of fertilizer.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Young entrepreneurs turn garbage into green - ksl.com or www.ecoscraps.net

backyard patio remodel project

Its always a pleasure to return to your projects (post construction) and see them looking good.  This is a Logan (area) project and a fun backyard remodel design.  I really enjoyed working with the clients on the design and seeing the project built.  Prior to the remodel the backyard had a 20 year + dilapidated deck, brick patio and grass.  The design features a two level stamped and colored concrete patio which is large enough for two good size outdoor dining tables, small planter bed, pots (on drip irrigation) and a grill.  Other features of the design include flagstone patio with lemon thyme ground cover (side yard), flagstone pathway with lemon thyme ground cover, small retaining block wall, garden boxes and new planting beds.  One reminder lesson is that often colored and stamped concrete patio will require some touch up maintenance on the surface.  A colored and stamped concrete patio requires sealing and maintenance (touching up the surface) to keep looking good.  The interior stamp pattern was ashler and the band stamp pattern was slate.

In this case we started with smaller plants for the grasses and perennials, but they've matured to full size in less than 1 year.  The owner has done a great job in maintaining the landscape.

Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster' - Feather Reed Grass

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The landscape design, site layout and construction administration was done by Landscape Architect Jake Young, the concrete patio by Ryan Hoth, and the landscaping by Three Men & A Shovel.  

Conference Center Detail

There may be few individuals or professionals that would call a storm water drain inlet art and I think I'm about to join that group.  A week ago I was taking time to stop and smell the rain while I checked out this classy storm drain on a plaza at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City.  The design is simple, repetitive and after more than 10 years + from the install it still looks great.  I did notice that there were plenty of leaves down in the inlet, but you would have to look closely to see them and water was moving just fine.  I love the repetition of the basic geometry, simple shapes tied together make a nice detail for the granite paver plaza.

SLC City Creek Center is coming alive

While the grand opening for the City Creek Center in Salt Lake City is not set until 2012, the year 2011 is going to be exciting for the 1 billion dollar + project.  We are already seeing finished phases of the project with a new water feature, residential apartment towers, and retail shops open on South Temple.

Looking south on Main Street at the future "convertible" sky bridge which will connect the two main blocks.

New City Creek Center water feature on the north end of block 76, on South Temple.

This corridor will connect to a large plaza to the south (the circular metal work in the background).

The arrow shows where the city creek water fall and water feature will start.  The concept is to show a city creek representation, as though it were the real creek being day lighted.

Intelligent Cities: Makeshift Metropolis

This is a fantastic video lecture by Witold Rybczynski he goes through a brief history of city planning and design.  He discusses the city beautiful movement, garden city movement, modernism, auto-mobile issues, new urbanism and the future.  I really appreciate his pragmatic approach to difficult issues.  It is well worth the 1 hour, but I recommend fast forwarding through the preliminary talking by the National Building museum and sponsors.


Intelligent Cities: Makeshift Metropolis from National Building Museum on Vimeo.

Haines Wharf Park Edmonds Washington

Haines Wharf Park is the newest park in Edmonds, Washington!

Here is a video clip I made of the kids playing.....





Haines Wharf Park in Edmonds Washington is the most amazing pocket park.  There are a lot of features and wow factor packed into this little park.  The views of the Puget Sound and Olympic mountains are stunning.   On the street above the park there is an overlook to view the sunset and a nearby interpretive sign to learn the names of the mountain peaks on the Olympic range. 

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view of Olympic Mountains and sign explaining the peaks, looking west

view of park and wharf from above, looking west

aerial image of park June 2010 before completion

The park takes creative advantage of the elevation change using the retaining rocks as a bouldering wall for kids, with a rewarding slide that’s more than 21′ linear feet.  Also on the higher elevation is a nice picnic area.  The playground equipment is Kompan (a Danish company with US headquarters in Tacoma) and as usual its a big hit with the kids.  The grass area in the middle will be a good place to throw a frisbee (but not too far).  I can imagine a group of people practicing yoga or Tai chi on the grass, with the leaders on the three large flat rocks.

kompan play equipment

boulder wall and slide looking northeast

slide and boulder wall looking southeast

There is plenty of seating all over the park and it will be heavily used as people enjoy the fantastic views.  There are bathrooms (porta-potty style) and a drinking fountain.  Car parking is limited, but what would you expect for a neighborhood pocket park.  The plantings I observed (while chasing kids) were Lavender, which is a good option for the west-facing slope.  Come mid-summer the color will be strong and beautiful.

The access to the beach and coast is restricted by a fence due to the train tracks (for safety).  The park opened late fall 2010, but is now ready for play.  It was named after the Haines family who operated the wharf from the 1930′s through the 1970′s.  Congratulations to Edmonds City and all those involved in the design and installation.  The design and construction observation was provided by Susan Black Associates.  The firm noted “it will take a couple of years to get the plant material established to get the full impact of the design.  It was not an easy project due to the poor soils, steep and unstable slopes and difficult hydrology” Charles Warsinske, ASLA.

These photos were taken December 2010 and it will be nice to see the plants grow and fill in during 2011 and 2012.

view of park from above, looking northwest

park sign

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