The Seattle Waterfront Project
Li Yang   Nov 14.2018
The Seattle Waterfront Project is a comprehensive, large-scale urban infrastructure project that uses a new model to address the current sea level rise, ecological and aquatic habitat restoration issues in large port urban centers, thereby benefiting the city, the public, and the ecosystem.

Introduction

 The Seattle Waterfront project replaces the abandoned 3,700-foot seawall, combining state-of-the-art seismic seawalls, unprecedented trout migration corridors, and improved design elements such as the tidal marine environment and coastal walkways. The combination of innovative habitat corridors and integrated public domain design contributes to the health of marine life while actively educating the public about the current problems and the stories behind them.
The Seattle Waterfront Project

Reason to Be Selected

The project's design goals are clear: to provide a new seismic seawall; to improve the nearshore marine environment; to reconstruct long-term interrupted squid migration routes; to build a high-quality pedestrian promenade above the seawall, integrated with the entire central waterfront design .

Highlights:

Design of the three major systems of urban,

Public and ecological.

Details

Reconstruction of long-term disrupted trout migration routes: Seattle's coastal urbanization is severe, with many salmon, other fish and marine habitats disappearing in the area. For decades, 90% of Seattle's central waterfront coastline has been covered by docks and other waterborne buildings, and the underwater environment has formed a dark, steep canyon that is almost impossible for young squid to survive. In order to re-establish the migration route of the squid, it is necessary to increase the amount of natural light in the migration corridor under the walking track. Off-the-shelf translucent pavement (LPS) does not provide sufficient light and therefore requires special ordering. After testing and considering many solutions, the best way to balance the needs of the public space with the squid corridor below is to use pre-cast concrete to embed LPS panels in glass bricks in specific directions and locations to provide the best natural light for the squid corridor without Sewing the future design and paving of the promenade.
Improving the offshore marine environment: Another component of the habitat corridor is the custom seawall panel system. Heavy-textured precast concrete panels promote the growth of marine life and provide food for migratory trout. Through a series of design iterations, 3D modeling and surface texture analysis, landscape architects created a 2-inch thick texture on the panel, a complex and visually striking panel that some marine life has successfully inhabited.
In addition, the plan proposes to build a high-quality pedestrian promenade: the pedestrian promenade features LPS panels, which are part of the sidewalk, as well as cast-in-place concrete, high-grade flower pots, native and climatically suitable plants, wide benches, and special Designed railings. The LPS panel will remain in place and its pattern will correspond to the future Marina Promenade layout. The current plantation ponds and benches are temporary. Once the Alaska viaduct is demolished and the waterfront project is finally implemented, the plants and benches will be re-used for future coastal corridor design.

Conclusions

The complex urban environment makes the street and public space not only need to provide space for people's activities, but also need to solve various problems faced in the city. Reasonable use of site conditions can enrich the landscape elements of street space.

 

FULL STORY:
How can Seattle create pleasant walking blocks?
Published on Friday, September 14, 2018 in The Urban Design WeChat account

TOPICS | Seattle | Intelligent | Landscape

Reference:Han Liu. 2018. Urban Design WeChat account. How can Seattle create pleasant walking blocks? (in Chinese)



Lat: 47.6174
Lng: -122.355
Type:
Region: NorthAmerica
Scale: District
Field: Environment
City: Seattle