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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