MICHIGAN ASLA 2007 AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

Twenty-second Annual Michigan Chapter ASLA Awards Program

Congratulations to our five award winners!

Honor Award Winner:

     DESIGN

     JJR, LLC-- Detroit East RiverWalk

Merit Award Winners:

     DESIGN

     Hamilton Anderson Associates -- Washington Boulevard Streetscape

     JJR, LLC -- Warren City Square

     RESEARCH

     Hamilton Anderson Associates -- Flyways to Byways

     U.P. Engineers & Architects, Inc. -- Riparian Buffers - Water's Natural Defense

Check out our 2006 Award Archive Here.

Check out our 2005 Award Archive Here.

Honor Award Winner:

Firm: JJR

Client: Detroit Riverfront Conservancy

Project Title: Detroit East RiverWalk

Project Location: Detroit, MI

Category: DESIGN

Photo by JJR	Photo by JJR/Ken Cobb	Photo by JJR/Ken Cobb

The East Detroit RiverWalk is a $25 million, three-mile stretch in downtown and the implementation has helped re-establish Detroit as a world-class, international riverfront.  Highlights of the RiverWalk include a Great Lakes-themed carousel; fountains, fishing piers, benches and separate paths for bicyclists and pedestrians; a water jet fountain and pool; pavilions offering concessions, bike rentals and restrooms and a mix of native grasses and perennial flowerss. 

The RiverWalk is also part of the larger economic reinvestment strategy for the greater downtown area.  Over 600 new residential units have been planned and approved on the riverfront since construction began on the RiverWalk in 2004. An additional 1,000 housing units, retail and commercial uses are also in the planning stages. 

 “While this project is certainly not the panacea for all the challenges our city currently faces, the progress on the riverfront and the dynamic partnerships that have come together to make it happen give us great hope and anticipation for the future, ”  said  Faye Nelson, President and CEO of the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy.

The grand opening of the RiverWalk was this past June during the Detroit International River Day’s Celebration. 

Merit Award Winners:

Firm: Hamilton Anderson Associates

Client: City of Detroit Downtown Development Authority

Project Title: Washington Boulevard Streetscape

Project Location: Detroit, MI

Category: DESIGN

The boulevard  in the 1930s and 40s was the premier shopping district in Detroit, with Himelhoch’s Department Store, the Stadler and Book Cadillac Hotels and St. Aloysius Catholic Church.  The 200 ft wide boulevard featured elegant lighting, a trolley line and wide sidewalks, all contributing to its prestigious character comparable to that of a bustling Paris street.

In a misguided 1970s attempt to stem business and residential departure from downtown, Washington Boulevard was converted into a pedestrian mall.  Distracting concrete and red pipe “monkey bar” construction, obstructed storefront views. Streets and parking were removed and blocked, sinking the area into further decline. With commercial and office tenants fleeing, entire buildings were converted into Section 8 housing.  The once vibrant commercial Detroit corridor, was now a deserted urban cavern of concrete, red pipe and vacant buildings.

Stakeholders including the Greater Downtown Partnership (GDP), area residents and boulevard office tenants, saw the potential of the once beautiful street and hired the landscape architect to improve the thoroughfare’s character. The designer established a framework for revitalization. Project solutions provided improvements for the business and residential environment, creating greater visibility and access to boulevard buildings and parking.

During the projects design development phase, the landscape architect regularly led community workshops, exploring the area’s historic and existing conditions and analyzing the site. The process included four open forums, resulting in a final design concept developed with stakeholder consensus.

The design team held a round-table discussion addressing project concerns, opportunities and constraints.  Issues relating to the lack of parking, poor storefront visibility and the concentration of undesirably-utilized public space were specifically noted.  Stakeholders expressed interest in redeveloping a safe, attractive and commercially supportive boulevard.

The team’s extensive on-site study of existing conditions included a photo survey and inventory with analysis focused on vehicular and pedestrian circulation as well as visual accessibility.  The study identified the site’s larger surrounding context and how neighboring uses and transportation systems might affect the project area. 

Following the GDP process, the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) hired the team to revisit the design and develop it for construction. The landscape architect prepared contract documents, cost estimates, assisted with bidding and negotiations and provided construction observation services through project completion.

The renovation establishes the boulevard, streets and sidewalks in a traditional framework focused on the building facades and businesses.  The design intent is to create a space that evokes the historic character of the boulevard and adds a fresh twist to classic streetscape elements. Street parking is restored.

Outdoor "sculpture rooms" with crushed-stone paving and colorful plantings provide visual interest at road intersections, while still maintaining views across the boulevard. The soft paving identifies the areas as garden spaces, while establishing appropriate settings for the display of the boulevard’s public artwork, previously hidden in the old streetscape. Four pieces of established artwork were removed, refurbished and then placed to highlight the new streetscape.  Gently arched precast concrete seatwalls frame streetscape focal areas.  The sculptural form of the walls provides comfortable seating, while a sloping top eliminates any undesirable public lounging or sleeping.

These human-scaled spaces provide an elegant pause within the urban din, punctuating the intersections and maintaining building views. Streetscapes along building frontages facilitate the development of outdoor cafes, encouraging window-shopping in a comfortable and safe pedestrian environment. Economical pavement materials are easily maintained and have simple detailing: concrete curbs with 2 1/2-foot wide splash strips and a 2-foot wide concrete band at the edge of the building façade’s scored concrete pavement.

Large planting areas provide accommodation for tree growth and encourage plant survival.  Planters are framed by a low concrete curb and are bordered with a decorative railing. The railing’s playful form creates a rhythm along the boulevard. Decorative trees were selected for durability within the urban environment.  Pioneer Elms withstand the elm beetle and project a classic majesty on the boulevard.  Resilient Hackberrys maintain a compact head size in the sidewalk and are tolerant of streetscape conditions.

Washington Boulevard presents an elegant addition to the downtown streetscape.  The design provides a legible and cohesive solution, offering a safe and attractive environment to support economic development.  The recent renovation of the Book Cadillac Hotel and the introduction new neighborhood business provides an optimistic vision for the future of this historic area.

Firm: JJR, LLC

Client: City of Warren

Project Title: Warren City Square

Project Location: Warren, MI

Category: DESIGN

Photo by JJR/Ken Cobb	Photo by JJR/Ken Cobb	Photo by JJR/Ken Cobb

Warren City Square is the result of an ambitious transformation of 60-acres in a suburban setting into an active, pedestrian-friendly downtown.  A new city square, city hall, library and street system is kick-starting the creation of a mixed-use urban village complete with stores, offices, town homes and lofts.   At the heart of the square is a two-acre urban park containing a new multipurpose water feature that is a fountain in the warmer months and an ice rink in the winter.

The square was expected to help define a new character and sense of place for the city.  A pair of stainless-steel sculptures titled “Dawn,” became Warren’s new logo symbolizing the community’s vision for the future and successfully established the space as the heart of the community.  “The art piece, in combination with the fountain/skating rink becomes the defining element for Warren’s next generation of community building – it expresses optimism, industriousness, and pride – all things Warren,” said Cheryl Zuellig, JJR project manager.

Firm: Hamilton Anderson Associates

Client: International Wildlife Refuge Alliance

Project Title: Flyways to Byways

Project Location: Southeast Michigan

Category: RESEARCH

The Detroit River and western Lake Erie form a unique link between the upper and lower Great Lakes.  Wetlands, uplands and islands, provide exceptionally diverse habitat for birds and other wildlife.  The area is recognized by the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, the Michigan Biodiversity Conservation Act and the Canada-US Biodiversity Investment Program.  It is with great pride, that this region has been established as the exclusive North American International Wildlife Refuge – The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge.

The International Wildlife Refuge Alliance (IWRA) was awarded a grant from Wild Birds Unlimited to develop a printed piece interpreting the refuge and birding opportunities in southeast Michigan and southwest Ontario.  The piece is envisioned to be a compelling brochure depicting exceptional birding locations in the area, key attractions and seasons for regional birding sites.   A primary goal of the project is to stimulate interest in this region’s rich natural areas and habitat diversity, for both enjoyment and preservation purposes. 

A committee comprised of area birding experts, from Michigan and Canada, was established to assist with research, and to guide technical decisions.  The group met regularly over eight months; general conversations evolved into detailed discussions regarding the site-specific seasonal appearances of numerous bird species.   The Detroit Audubon Society has identified over 300 bird species passing through this region at various times throughout the year. Over 40 birding destinations were identified as potential sites for the birding tour. 

Once research was completed, the landscape architect worked with client team leaders, trimming the volume of compiled information to a manageable level for use in program development.  The program included a title / logo panel, project background narrative, birding destination list with location narrative, birding destination map, seasonal highlights graphic, narrative describing bird types and a contributor acknowledgement list. 

Conceptual layout alternatives were created for client review and input.  A preferred alternative was selected, followed by increasing levels of detail and periodic client review.

Throughout the design process, the landscape architect looked for ways to achieve an appealing, easy-to-use and fun end product.  For example:  the logo and tag line were created to be a coordinated element, playfully symbolizing the regional landscape and migratory birds.  The client expressed a desire that the logo be reproducible as destination markers at the individual sites and for use on future promotional materials.  The bird portion of the logo is carried throughout the piece in background imagery and as a destination symbol on the birding destination map.  The brochure’s map side is bordered with interesting and whimsical bird-associated quotes. Some of the quotes are actually authored by birds, including:

 “Cheer-up, cheerily, cheerily, cheer-up” – American Robin.  

The Detroit River and western Lake Erie are at the intersection of the Atlantic and Mississippi flyways, with 27 species of waterfowl frequenting the area during migration season.  During fall migration from Canada, over 300,000 diving ducks stop to rest and feed on water celery in the lower Detroit River and western Lake Erie.  Because of its importance to waterfowl, this area has been identified as one of 34 unique habitat areas in the United States and Canada, by the North American Waterfowl Management Plan.

The Detroit River and western Lake Erie are also significant, providing important migratory resting and feeding habitat for shorebirds.  Some 75,000 shorebirds visit these marshes annually on northward and southward migrations.  The Western Hemispheric Shorebird Reserve Network identified the Lake Erie marsh area as a Regional Shorebird Reserve in recognition of the region’s importance.

Raptors cross over the lower Detroit River as they move south from their eastern Canadian breeding grounds.   Recognized as one of the three best spots to watch hawks in North America, the lower Detroit River is also the premier hawk-watching site east of the Mississippi River.  An annual Hawkfest attracts thousands of birders that observe over 100,000 hawks crossing the Detroit River.  Hawk watch programs centered along the lower Detroit River have observed 23 species of raptors.

Clearly, the Detroit River and western Lake Erie offer exceptional birding opportunities. 

The byways to flyways project grew from a more traditional landscape architectural project.  The landscape architect was engaged by Wayne County to develop a master plan for the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge gateway site.   This 40-acre brownfield is located immediately north of Humbug Marsh which contains the last remaining mile of natural shoreline on the US side of the Detroit River. A wide variety of environmental education / awareness programs are being planned by stakeholders including Wayne County Parks, Detroit Audubon, Wayne County Community College, Friends of the Detroit River, Michigan Sea Gant, US Fish and Wildlife Service and the IWRA.

A birding tour was the initial program launched by IWRA.  The landscape architect continued providing services to this segment of the client group as an extension of their work with the International Wildlife Refuge.  Liaison for the IWRA included representatives from Michigan Sea Grant and the US Fish and Wildlife Service - the Refuge Director.  These individuals teamed with the landscape architect to conduct research and organize work sessions with birding experts and managers of birding destinations. The landscape architect performed all map production, photo selection, graphic design, layout and text editing. The landscape architect then retained a printer to mass produce the document.  Approximately 10,000 copies of the document have been printed to date and are being distributed throughout the region.         

This project demonstrates how quality design and group facilitation skills associated with a physical master plan can evolve into further collaboration to fulfill a client’s mission.  Willingness by the landscape architect to assist with the grant application and share the client’s passion for success resulted in a design exercise beyond what is considered typical landscape architectural services.    

The brochure highlights 27 premier birding destinations in southeast Michigan and western Ontario.  Each site couples natural area with built facilities planned by landscape architects.  True to the subtle character of our profession, this document publicizes some of our most important work to large groups of people while guiding them through enriching recreational experiences.

Michigan is transitioning from a manufacturing based economy to a diversity of new and existing markets including education, health care, alternative energy and eco-tourism.  This brochure boldly feeds the eco-tourism revenue stream.   It celebrates the rich parkland and natural preserves of this region and encourages visitation from outside and within this wondrous international community.

Firm: U.P. Engineers & Architects, Inc.

Client: City of Marquette, Michigan

Project Title: Riparian Buffers - Water's Natural Defense

Project Location: Marquette, MI

Category: RESEARCH

Headwaters of Whetstone Brook - Photo by UPEA	From the Marquette Mining Journal - "Jim Compton, hydrology engineer for the city, digs holes for plantings on the bank of the Orlanna Brook while his children, Elenor, 13, Maggie, 7, and Seth, 4, assist. (Journal photo by Christopher Diem)
The Brochure	The brochure's inside fold out answers the three most important question to the reader.

“We abuse land because we view it as a commodity belonging to us.  When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect”, wrote Aldo Leopold.  These words were part of the seminal book, A Sand County Almanac, which gave voice to an emerging American land ethic in the early 1950’s.  Our society continues to grapple with a land ethic that balances our use of the land with our desire to preserve beautiful places for future generations.  The land immediately adjacent to rivers and streams is one such place that is often severely impacted by development, yet is one of the signature spaces in our natural environment.  This riparian, or stream side habitat is critically important to the health of aquatic ecosystems and to the human population that depends on them.  A well developed natural landscape along streams, the riparian buffer, contributes nutrients vital to aquatic food webs and can improve water quality by filtering out pollutants in storm water runoff and cool water temperatures by providing shade.

The “Riparian Buffers” project was launched as the educational component of a project whose goal was in furthering the protection of two urban watersheds in the City of Marquette, Michigan.  A brochure was produced including an interactive DVD and a worldwide web component which expanded the pieces’ impact on the community.  “There is a ton of information available about the value and benefit of riparian buffers”, said Jim Compton, Marquette’s Hydrology Engineer.  “We wanted to show our citizens and our policy maker’s examples of buffers, both good and bad, from our own backyards.  We were convinced that local examples would have far more impact”. 

The client for this project was the City of Marquette, an upper Great Lakes municipality with a long tradition in the stewardship of their natural urban fabric.  Throughout the last decade they have not only continued to align themselves with public agencies responsible for resource conservation, but have also taken active steps in planning and zoning to incorporate resource conservation into their community’s long range vision.  The development of the “Riparian Buffers – Water’s Natural Defense” brochure was intended to complete the education of the community’s residents and policy makers and to pave the way for the implementation of official city policy protecting their urban riparian corridors. 

The charge to U.P. Engineers & Architects, who was hired to implement the project, was to produce an educational brochure teaching the reader why we should protect our rivers and streams by implementing sound riparian planting practices.  “This was a pretty straight forward assignment”, said Bill Sanders, landscape architect in charge of the project.  “My first impulse was to ask the question, why can’t we tell this story in more than one dimension?”  As a biology graduate assistant in the 1980’s, Sanders remembers that his students had to work hard to grasp ecological concepts in the classroom.  It was in the field where students could peer into the water and see first hand the wonders of nature that the light bulb went on for them.  “When they could touch it and feel it…they got it”, said Sanders.  By teaming up with Media Box, a Marquette Advertising specialist, the final deliverable became focused on an interactive DVD video carried in an eight panel fold out brochure.  “Including a media specialist on our team allowed us to sort of re-invent the project”, said Sanders.  Taking advantage of the low DVD printing cost allowed for double the number of copies to be printed and preserved enough project budget to conduct a public planting on a very visible section of the Orianna Creek. 

The brochure design, both in its shape and use of dramatic colors and natural images, is intended to draw and hold the eye of potential readers.  As the brochure is opened, the reader immediately recognizes places familiar to them.  The Whetstone Brook and Orianna Creek run through the City’s urban core, often in a setting that obscures their presence.  Many city residents attending the brochure’s public presentation never considered that such a valuable natural water resource existed in the City center.  “I never realized there was such a pretty stream there” was a common refrain.   The close-up photography in the DVD was an effective technique to magnify the aesthetic component of the streams that could be preserved and enhanced through riparian corridor protection.  The effectiveness of the piece has led the City’s governing bodies to commit, through public resolution, to implementing zoning restrictions protecting their stream corridors.  The demonstration riparian buffer planting was made where the Orianna Creek passes through a local banks parking lot and was a great opportunity to involve citizens in the planting and promote buffers in the local press.  This planting provides examples of restoration techniques and sustainable land use practices that can be applied by all riparian land owners. 

The brochure was distributed by direct mailing to riparian land owners and the public library, and by general distribution to attendees at public meetings.  It was also made available at other public venues.  The distribution of the first printing of 1000 brochures has largely been completed and the City is considering a second printing.  A regional watershed planning organization is also considering a printing for use in neighboring communities.