Congratulations to Holst Architecture and the entire design team for their work on Bud Clark Commons, which was recognized by Residential Architect Magazine as the 2013 Project of the Year. Mayer/Reed designed the day center courtyard gate, communal outdoor spaces, building identity, and interior signs for the facility. Bud Clark Commons hosts a day center with counseling, a 90-bed men’s shelter and 130 low income studio apartments.
The jury evaluated more than 600 entries finally selecting 34 projects: one Project of the Year, 10 Grand awards, and 23 Merit awards. One juror praised the project stating, “This is an incredibly smart, respectful design. It has a real commitment to sustainability.” Another added, “As a piece of architecture in a city, it functions beautifully. It achieves a level of design a lot of higher-rent places don’t achieve.”
Communities take pride in the restoration of historic properties, which are the touchstones of civic pride and the building blocks of society.
The King Street Station, Seattle, Washington was built in 1906 for the Great Northern and Northern Pacific Railways in the grand era of passenger travel by train. Today the station is home to Amtrak with adjacent connections to Sounder commuter rail, Link lightrail, city and regional bus.
Mayer/Reed created a signage program that respects the station’s historic designation and character while integrating new wayfinding for the users of a modern day transportation hub.
As we traveled by train between Portland and Seattle over the last six months for work we watched the restoration progress and recognized that this building holds more than historic significance. The station restoration is a grand gesture to the rebirth of rail transit in the Pacific Northwest corridor and Seattle/ Puget Sound region.
I remember it like it was yesterday. The four of us flew out the front door of the house, down to the park and straight into the creek—drawn to its rocky bed like bees to honey. I was not sure if we were going to find any crawdads, but we had found seven (a record!) just the day before. The creek offered us a new adventure every time: climbing over the rocks, prodding the mud with sticks, and turning over small logs—we explored everything. As we worked on the very serious business of finding crawdads, frogs and super-long worms, the playground behind us, interestingly enough remained conspicuously silent. That sluggish concrete slide hadn’t seen action in months, but for good reason; the creek was an entire world unto itself.
This is how many of us grew up and we wouldn’t have it any other way. The power of nature in our parks has not been lost on me. So when Chehalem Park and Recreation District said they were interested in nature play at one of their new parks, I was all ears. We visited the site, which is a spectacular 1.75 acre hillside of seasonal springs and oak savanna with scenic views of the Yamhill Valley in Newberg, Oregon. The next thing I knew we were knee-deep in the design of Schaad Park.
Fast-forward to the May 16th grand opening and you will see me proudly standing in front of “my” park. It’s a park of opportunity and discovery. It has a little bit of everything: sand, mud, water, forest, logs, natural boulders and a 30 foot long stainless steel slide built into the slope that I guarantee will see plenty of action—by kids and adults. Most importantly however, it has a neighborhood full of families who have been waiting in the wings until now. So, from one crawdad hunter to another—it’s all yours!
Schaad Park Opening
6:00pm
Thursday, May 16th
Eagle St, Newberg, OR 97132
Directions: drive past Chehalem Glenn Golf Course and turn left into The Greens, turn right at Hook Drive, and left onto Eagle Street
