Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture
08/02/2020.
[Portland - Oregon] USA
metalocus, JOAN MARSET
metalocus, JOAN MARSET
Skylab Architecture and the landscape architects from 2.ink Studio worked together with Portland Parks and Recreation to redevelop and create a 16-acre park in northeast Portland.
The team developed the Luuwit Park, formerly Beech Park, that represents Portland’s newest generation of parks, in an area that still surrounded by working farms, on the edge of the Columbia River’s historic flood plain.
Luuwit View Park (Luuwit, the Native Cowlitz word for Mt. St. Helens) features commanding views of the distant mountains and opportunities to reach a neighborhood that has been historically deficient in recreational open space.
The team developed the Luuwit Park, formerly Beech Park, that represents Portland’s newest generation of parks, in an area that still surrounded by working farms, on the edge of the Columbia River’s historic flood plain.
Luuwit View Park (Luuwit, the Native Cowlitz word for Mt. St. Helens) features commanding views of the distant mountains and opportunities to reach a neighborhood that has been historically deficient in recreational open space.
Floor plan. Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio.
Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio. Photograph by Stephen Miller
Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio. Photograph by Stephen Miller
Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio. Photograph by Stephen Miller
Details. Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio. Photograph by Stephen Miller
Details. Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio. Photograph by Stephen Miller
Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio. Photograph by Stephen Miller
Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio. Photograph by Stephen Miller
Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio. Photograph by Stephen Miller
Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio. Photograph by Stephen Miller
Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio. Photograph by Stephen Miller
Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio. Photograph by Stephen Miller
Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio. Photograph by Stephen Miller
Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio. Photograph by Brian Dalrymple
Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio. Photograph by Stephen Miller
Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio. Photograph by Stephen Miller
Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio. Photograph by Brian Dalrymple
Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio. Photograph by Brian Dalrymple
Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio. Photograph by Stephen Miller
Ground floor plan. Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio.
Roof plan. Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio.
Elevations. Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio.
Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio. Photograph by Stephen Miller
Luuwit Park Pavilion Project by Skylab Architecture and 2.ink Studio. Photograph by Brian Dalrymple
The design team developed their project, in hourglass-shaped site, on an integrated strategy that creates both passive native meadow areas that require limited maintenance and areas for intensively active program elements.
The centerpiece of the park is a multipurpose shelter made from a series of interconnected equilateral triangles of perforated and galvanized steel plate. The folded angular form takes its inspiration from the triangulated peaks of the surrounding mountains, Native American plank houses and river fishing platforms.
The centerpiece of the park is a multipurpose shelter made from a series of interconnected equilateral triangles of perforated and galvanized steel plate. The folded angular form takes its inspiration from the triangulated peaks of the surrounding mountains, Native American plank houses and river fishing platforms.
The neighborhood, a mix of post-war ranch housing and a rapidly changing demographic, is home to scores of spoken languages resulting from a recent influx of young immigrant families to the area.
This mixture of young and old and its resultant ethnic diversity sets the theme for a new generation of parks. Through an extensive public outreach effort and a dynamic set of site challenges, Luuwit View Park has emerged from the existing farm fields as a dynamic new neighborhood gathering place in the Argay Neighborhood.
Project description by Skylab Architecture
Skylab Architecture worked alongside 2.ink Studio and in close collaboration with Portland Parks and Recreation to create this 16-acre, hourglass-shaped park in a northeast Portland neighborhood.
The design team developed the park, formerly Beech Park, around an integrated strategy that creates both passive native meadow areas that require limited maintenance as well as areas for intensively active program elements. The neighborhood is a mix of longterm residents and an increasingly di-verse population of new residents.
The park’s program elements were developed in coordination with area residents through a series of public open houses and meetings with the project’s Design Advisory Group.
The park’s development introduces a mix of new activities onto the site including a community am-phitheater, picnic shelter and restroom, off-leash dog area, a large community playground, interac-tive water feature, parking areas, walking paths, and community garden. Active uses include a skate spot, climbing wall, basketball, ping pong and soccer. The park’s design takes advantage of views to the Columbia River and distant Mount St. Helens while introducing a strong sense of the area’s na-tive habitat to tie all of the elements of the park together.
The signature element, a 1,760-square-foot multipurpose shelter, is made from a series of intercon-nected equilateral triangles of perforated and galvanized steel plate.
The folded angular form takes its inspiration from the triangulated peaks of the surrounding mountains, Native American plank houses and river fishing platforms. A simple steel pipe frame supports the shelter to create a flexi-ble space for picnic gatherings or summer concerts. By celebrating the structure’s tectonics and re-vealing the means of construction, the structure serves to honor the economy and beauty of native structures built by the original inhabitants of the area. Axial connections through the park enhance user awareness of the world beyond the park. Park program elements and trees are arranged to ma-nipulate view corridors to Mt. Hood and Mount St.
Helens and help to organize other site elements including a small steel-clad restroom building. At the highest point on the site a conical mound re-calls the volcanic cinder cones on the horizon. Visual connections between key park elements artic-ulate the experience along and across the axis.
More information
Architects
Skylab Architecture team
Jeff Kovel, Principal, Design Architect. Brent Grubb, Principal-in-charge. Jamin AAsum, Project Director. Eddie Peraza Garzon, Project Designer.
Collaborators
2.ink Studio (landscape architecture). 3J Consulting (civil engineering). Peterson Structural (structural engineering). R&W Engineering, Inc. (mechanical engineering). Northwest Geotech, Inc. (geotechnical Engineering). Mauricio Robalino of Artpeople (artist). Ambrosini Design (graphic design). Grindline Skateparks, Inc. (skatepark consulting). Architectural Cost Consultants (cost estimating). Treecology, Inc. (arborist). DEW, Inc. (water feature consulting).
Client
Portland Parks & Recreation
Area
Pavilion.- 164 square metre (1,760-square-foot). Park.- 6.5 Hectare (16acre).
Dates
2017
Awards
2018 Oregon ASLA People's Choice Award.
2019 Oregon ASLA Award of Excellence.
2019 Oregon ASLA Award of Excellence.
Photography
Stephen Miller, Brian Dalrymple
Jeff Kovel, Brent Grubb. Skylab Architecture
Skylab Architecture was established two decades ago in 1999, in Portland, Oregon, USA, by Jeff Kovel and Brent Grubb. Skylab has grown to 27 employees. Both principals migrated to Portland after architecture school. Grubb spent a decade working for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and San Francisco's Aidlin Darling Design after earning a degree from Ball State University in Indiana. Kovel, after completing his B.Arch. at Cornell University, landed a gig with a Portland-based firm called Architropolis, doing fast-paced projects for retailers and rock stars, most notably a Miami residence for musician Lenny Kravitz. He admired how Architropolis was willing to take on just about any project, of any scope or length.
The firm began developing a repeatable prefab module in 2008, during the Great Recession. From, its Hoke Residence, Skylab firm has gathered momentum with its innovative modular work and wide-ranging commissions, including hospitality work for the W Seattle hotel and the Summit Sky Lodge, an upcoming prefab ski resort in Utah or the just-completed offices of the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant (CBWTP) in north Portland.
The firm began developing a repeatable prefab module in 2008, during the Great Recession. From, its Hoke Residence, Skylab firm has gathered momentum with its innovative modular work and wide-ranging commissions, including hospitality work for the W Seattle hotel and the Summit Sky Lodge, an upcoming prefab ski resort in Utah or the just-completed offices of the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant (CBWTP) in north Portland.
