a grove to house

carson howell

spring 2011-spring 2012

university of oregon

bachelor of architecture thesis

contents

“a grove to house” - thesis statement...............“the sacred” - inspiration............................................“need to change” - client............................................“house” - precedents................................................“flora and fauna” - program.................................“the site” - site analysis.......................................“grove to house” - process.....................................bibliography.......................................................................

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a grove to house

In present day Portland there is large population who have been neglected by society. Often homeless, these people may suffer from

mental and physical illnesses as well as drug addiction and have few, if anybody to turn to. In such hard times, religion can be a strong resource to turn to, and nature is often at the core of religious practice. Yet today, not only is the social community suffering, but also the ecological one.

The Willamette river and it’s watershed are highly contaminated and the habitats associated are endangered. By taking lessons about sustain-ability learned from the Sacred Groves of India and applying them to a halfway house for Portland’s Lloyd eco-district, I hope to not only heal

the social ailments but the ecological ones as well.

Portland, Oregon has long held high rankings for the most environmen-tally friendly city domestically and internationally. It has consistently

revolutionized the idea of the city by implementing socially progressive projects that also conserve resources and reduce waste. Support for

such a project is further backed by the city of Portland’s ten-year plan to end homelessness and their plan to building more transitional housing,

as the demand is high and the availability low.

Despite Portland’s progress so far, our potential inhabitants are in dire need of change, the Lloyd eco-district in Portland is a site fit for repair.

Socially sick, the neighborhood surrounding the site is notorious for drug abuse. Environmentally sick, the Willamette River, which runs less

than a mile away, is highly contaminated. This design will not only attempt to heal its occupants of the building, but also the ecological

fabric of the district.

Drawing inspiration from the Sacred Groves of India, this halfway house will be designed biophilically. As there is a need for social and environ-mental healing, the Sacred Grove stands as a prime example to draw from. For millennia, these patches of old growth forest have been fun-damental to the indigenous people’s livelihood because they prevent

soil erosion and species extinction, while also providing an abundance of resources, including clean water. While the Sacred Groves originally were meant to sustain an environment, religion has been a driving force in their survival. Groves stand as prime examples of how a society has lived in harmony with and turned to the environment in times of need for thousands of years. While this transitional home will providing traditional forms of rehabilitation, it will provide a progressive kind of therapy that

could be more effective in healing because both the social and environ-mental fabric will be addressed.

thesis statement

1

the sacred

The Sacred Grove and resulting temples have serve as a strong resource in many vital ways First they sustain a clean source of water because the vegetative mass con-serves water, soaking it up during the wet periods and releasing it slowly in times of drought. Second, also provides many medicinal plants used to heal a variety of ailments. Third, they are considered the source of the highest density of biodiversity in the world. Not only for themselves, but they act as gene bank for surrounding habitats Fourth, they are a source of beautify which is also linked to health and well being for those lucky to be around them

“The groves were God’s �rst temples. Ere man learnedTo hew the shaft, and lay the architrave in the darkling wood,Amidst the cool and silence, he knelt down.”

(Bryant, 1848) (Sacred Groves Around the Earth)

For this project these sacred places will serve as one more source, a source of inspiration, both formal and conceptual.

Religion is a common thread found within the Sacred Grove from the original indigenous religions, which considered the trees gods, to the spread of Hinduism where the temples formally evoked the qualities of the Groves. Particularly, the columns were trees, and the dark dim light and cool environment as the grove itself with only filtered light through branches. These sacred places were a framework for a rich culture and strong community. They have been a place for rituals, festivals and celebrations. Conversely, they have been a place for the community to protest the de-struction of their environment by colonialists. They have supported the community in times of need for thousands of years.

Banavasi Temple

Pooja Spout used for Water Rituals

Butress Root

Inspiration

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need for change

On one of the coldest nights in January, there will be over 2,000 people homeless in Portland, OR. 40% of those people can be housed in the few home-less shelters, but the other 60% are left to fend for themselves, and many will most likely not survive the night. Homelessness is a result of many reasons: drug abuse, mental and physical illnesses, and criminal records are among many. But the most important thing to understand about homelessness is that often, it is not a result of the person, but a result of the society that person grew up in. Many people who abuse drugs do so because their parents did. Many people who are homeless su�er from mental illnesses, such as posttraumatic stress disorders, because they are veterans. Ironically, people who fought for this society, �nd it hard to �t in. The main organizations address-ing homelessness within the Portland metropolitan area are with not only housing, but also support services to keep homeless from reoccurring are: (1) Central City Concern, (2) Transition Proj-ects, (3) Housing Authority of Portland, (4) Sisters of the Road and more.

There has been a historical pattern of clustering the have-nots of society into one part of town. In Portland, these organizations are all clustered within the Old Town district. This is why, as discussed in the site portion of this booklet, I have decided to reach across the river and increase accessibility to these services for the homeless in East Portland. Two buildings built within the last decade stand out as �ne precedents for hous-ing and support services for the homeless. The Bud Clark Commons and Richard L. Harris Building are discussed in detail on the next two pages.

client

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house

Bud Clark Commons

Richard L. Harris Buidling

- An 8 story, 107,000 square foot building taking up a half of a block- Built just under $30 million, this building is meant to be a showcase for the Housing Authority of Portland and their ambitions to end homelessness- A rare combination of a day center, a temporary shelter for 90 men, and 130 units of permanent housing. Also includes administration o�ces and extensive courtyards.- It is the �rst Multifamily Housing to harvest greywater- LEED Platinum, but all strategies were aimed at reducing operation costs by an estimated $60K a year- Utilized Passivhaus standards to build a tightly sealed and e�ective skin so that the heater should never have to be turned on, unless its 5 degrees outside.- It was also developed on a brown�eld site.

- It’s 12 story 77,700 square feet provide an alternative medical clinic and community facilities topped by 120 single room occupancy units and 60 a�ordable studio apartments- When people �rst arrive they live on the lower �oors. Later as inhabitants stay clean and sober for a period of time, they can move up to the studio apartments.- Common area’s were designed speci�cally to encourage community interaction with views overlooking the park blocks, which has been proven to be e�ective in the high success rates of people who live here (88% are clean and sober within 6 months).- The building, which was developed carefully on a brown�eld site, also features wastewa-ter heat recovery, bathroom heat exchangers, natural ventilation, and an energy e�cient envelope.- The bottom two �oors are encased in glass, designed to create a sense of transparency and trust between the occupants and the community

Existing Transition Projects in Portland, OR

precedents

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analysis

Bud Clark Commons

Richard L. Harris Building

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flora and faunaThe program is designed to balance the high demand for housing with the therapy needed to keep those housed here from returning to the streets.

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000

program

proportions

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relationships

1” = 80’

It seems obvious that because the therapy garden plays such a key role in every other programs success, it should be centrally located. If not it will need to be seperated into multiple gardens which may address different needs. Another key consideration is the access of day users and permanent resi-dences and so there will need to be desig-nated entrances.

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the site

Site

Site

Lloyd district in Portland, Oregon

Convention Center

I-5

Multnomah

Holladay

Holloday

MLK

Grand

Located in North East Portland, the Lloyd district is develop-ing fast. There is a plan to build a new hotel just east of the site. Enabling this development is the fact that the I-5, MLK and Grand have some of the highest traffic flows of the region. In attemplt to draw people into the area instead of just rhoguh, the city of Portland has designated the Lloyd district as an ecodistrict and plans to develop it with sensitivity to the ecological fabric while building a more dense social one.

Medical Research Center

Housing Complex

Denny’s

Red Lion

Hotel

site analysis

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multnomah access

This sequence of drawings illustrate the path traveling east on Multnomah street past the site. Going through he Rose quarter the buildings are extreme in size and iconic in form. Passing under the I-5 is dark and seedy. Emerging on the east side and following the street uphill to the site there are few buildings that meet the street,. Further east, where buildings begin to come to the street they often rise 100’s of feet high and are surrounded on three sides by parking lots. Trees make the walk much more pleasant here.

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site analysis

City Designated Green Links to Open Space -

three pass near the site

Existing vegetation features of forest,

woodland, shrubland and herbaceous habi-tats are around the 84 and on the banks of

the Willammette River

Density of Drug Abuse: withing 1/2 mile from site, there have been

75 reported cases within the last month

The site has high accessability by mul-tiple modes of trans-

portation with MLK and Grand being major

boulevards, Holloday being a MAX and city designated pedestrian street, and Broadawy and Weidler are city

designated bicycle/bus ways

A Privately Main-tained Sewer System is an opportunity to

deal with waste from our site and possibly

adjacent sites

Existing Zoning is Central City Commer-

cial which allows group housing

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interpretation

The site is situated between the I-5 and the high density found in the east of the Lloyd district. The buildings in the immediate area are large in scale often taking up an entire block or multiple. Teh buildings represented here are the convention center to the south, the medical research center and high end housing to the north and the hotels and other office sky scrapers to the east.

Part of the Willamette watershed the blue ribbon repre-sents the waterrun off that must be considered in the design. The green ribons represent the few existing green spaces and the north south links the city wishes to enhance to St.Johns resercve.

There are three distinct street fronts adjecent to my site. The purple string being the MAX and Pedestrian street of Holladay, the green string representing the bicycle and car street on Multnomah and the orange represents the car-centric streets of MLK and Grand. Lasly, the black wire represents I-5 as a barrier to the west.

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site analysis

As the site currently is, there are few nodes

for gathering. The site as a whole is used as

a path and through space for pedestrians to get to nodes such as the Convention

Center and the Star-bucks. MLK and Hol-laday only enable this

further.

The site, as it is a parking lot, is only

used to its capacity a few days out of the

month for large Con-vention Center

events. Mostly, it is about 60% full provid-ing parking for the few office buildings in the

area.

If these few blocks were divided into regions based off of time of the month used, the parking lot and green blocks

to the north and southeast are in between space, used limit-edly for passing through. The drive through, luncheonette, office and medical center are used only during the Monday

through Friday workweek. Last, the convention center, event space and hotel are only used a few times a month for special events

The most obviously observable indication of what time of year it is, is through the change in

foliage of the street trees. Everywhere else is made of hard, static

materials with little reac-tion to the seasons.

The site suffers from its auto centric sur-

roundings. Mainly the parking lot, I-5 and MLK contribute to

this. In contrast, the MAX, the Convention Center, the housing complex, and Star-bucks are improving the sociability of the

area.

Paths and Nodes Density of Use Sociobility Regions Seasonal Change

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process grove to house

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How can this be a spark for the

ecodistrict?what urban

connections are we creating?

What biophilic formal qualities am I taking at a grander scale?

Thinking more specifically

about how the prgram as

elements in the grove fits into the larger form

What larger systems am I

creating? How do they comlete

the goal of sustainability for the ecodistrict?

Could the gardens provide for more than the bulding?

Taking inspira-tion from the

grove, how is it structurally held up? This could be details and larger column

structural inspi-ration.

Where do open-ings naturally need to be?

How can I take inspiration from

filtered light through leaves?

Following the inspiration down to the details, how can I take further from the grove to detail

the bilding?

bibliography

Concept or Idea: Halfway House Precedents:1) Bud Clark Commons:

"Bud Clark Commons - Grand Opening June 2, 2011." City of Portland, Oregon. Portland Housing Bureau, 2 June 2011. Web. 2 Nov. 2011. <http://www.portlandonline.com/phb/index.cfm?c=53110>.- This source has information on the program elements of the building as well as important information about the many organizations that made it happen

Brian. "Portland Architecture: Making It More: Holst Architecture's Dave Otte, John Holmes and Je� Stuhr Discuss Bud Clark Commons." Portland Architecture. 27 June 2011. Web. 2 Nov. 2011. <http://chatterbox.typepad.com/portlandarchitecture/2011/06/discussing-bud-clark-commons-with-host-architectures-dave-otte-and-john-holmes.html>.- This source has information about how progressive the program of this building was designed to accomplish. It has good design analysis and plans, sections, diagrams provided by Holst Architecture.

"Bud Clark Commons (11)." Holst Architecture. Web. 2 Nov. 2011. <http://www.holstarc.com/>.- Has images of the building and information on the LEED accomplishments.

2) Richard L. Harris Building

"Richard L. Harris Building | Properties | Central City Concern." Central City Concern | Comprehensive Solutions to Ending Homelessness. 2011. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. <http://www.centralcityconcern.org/properties/richard-l-harris-building.html>.- This site gives some general statistics on the buildings “green” accomplishments, outlines the groups involved to make it happen and awards won upon completion.

Kuck, Sarah. "Green Building for All." Worldchanging: Bright Green. 21 May 2009. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. <http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/009845.html>.- This article gives an architectural design analysis of the building including the design process and intent.

"The Richard L. Harris Building." SERA Architects. 2003. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. <http://www.serapdx.com/project.php?category=7>.- This portfolio provided by the architect has a brief description with photographs showing the interior, exterior and adjacency to Portland’s Park Blocks.

Background:1) Sacred Groves and Temples Howell, Carson G. "Http://sacredgrovesandsacredtemples.posterous.com/." Web log post. Sacred Groves and Sacred Temples. University of Oregon, 9 June 2011. Web. <Sacred Groves and Temples: Resource, Religion, and Resistence>.- This research is meant to inspire some of the conceptual and formal qualities of the transitional housing project. Speci�cally looking at how resources, religion, and community can be a supportive source for healing.

2) Homelessness

"Changing Lives - Building Communities - Creating Opportunities." Central City Concern | Comprehensive Solutions to Ending Homelessness. 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. <http://www.centralcityconcern.org>.- This site is answers the question of what Portland is already doing for people who su�er from substance abuse, mental and physical illness, and criminality. There are descriptions of the l20+ buildings that central city concern runs and operates and the various programs within them.

Ben Gates of Central City Concern (Meeting on November 18, 2011)-Informative about the existing support systems in Portland for homelessness and provided many contacts to further this study.

Rachel Duke - Operations Manager of Bud Clark Commons (November 29, 2011)- Outlined program and facility amenatites of Bud Clark Commons and 10 domains of vulnerability used to access who is most in need of housing.

Gary Cobb - Outreach Coordinator for Central City Conern (December 2, 2011)- Provided a tour outlining program components of Richard L. Harris Building and a rare look at the lifestyle of occupants who utilize this building.

3) The existing urban design for the Lloyd Eco-District as put forth by the city of Portland

"Oregon Convention Center: Lloyd District." Portland Development Commission - Economic Prosperity, Quality Housing, Employment Opportunities. Web. 15 Oct. 2011. <http://www.pdc.us/ura/convention_center/lloyd.asp)>.-This source indicates a strong support from the city to develop the block between Holloday and Multnomah one block east of the I-5. It also provides the cities current objectives, projects and programs available within the Lloyd district.

Value: Environmental Value1) Portland Natural Resources

United States. City of Portland. Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. Natural Resource Inventory. By Sam Adams and Susan Anderson. <http://www.portlandonline.com/portlandplan/index.cfm?c=51427&a=346109>- This publishing talks about what land is considered valuable from a habitat point of view. There is also a map showing Portland’s intended greenways which link through the Lloyd district.

United States. City of Portland. Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. Central City Natural Resources Inventory. By Sam Adams and Susan Anderson. 2011. <http://www.portlandonline.com/bps/index.cfm?&a=354442&c=55239>- This document has detail on the Lloyd District biodiversity, including types of birds, �sh and plants.

Social Value1) Homelessness and Drug Abuse

United States. Citizens Commission on Homelessness. Home Again: A 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness in Portland and Multnomah County. By Sam Adams. Print. <http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=130590>.- This document outlines some of the largest problems with homelessness and the reasons why the programs they implement work.

Oregon, Dave. "A Fast Growing Homeless Population in Portland, Oregon Has Folks Talking About Community Garden Projects for the Homeless." The Nation Social Network. 22 Sept. 2009. Web. 12 Nov. 2011. <http://nationdiscussion.ning.com/pro�les/blogs/a-fast-growing-homeless>.- This source introduces an initiative started in Portland that addresses Environmental, Social and Economic issues and could be an interesting pairing with the Transitional House.

Law, Steve. "Oregon Leads Nation in Homeless Count." Portland Tribune & Community Newspapers | Pamplin Media Group. 10 July 2009. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. <http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=124728849233200700>.- This article talks about the statistics of homelessness around the nation and gives statistics on Oregon's homelessness. 2) Social Health: Mental and PhysicalMarcus, Clare C, and Marni Barnes. Healing Gardens: Therapeutic Bene�ts and Design Recommendations. New York: Wiley, 1999. Print.- This source addresses the e�ectiveness of healthcare and senior living biophilic design strategies.

Barnes, Marni, and Clare Cooper. Marcus. Healing Gardens: Therapeutic Bene�ts and Design Recommendations. New York, NY [u.a.: Wiley, 1999. Print.- This book gives a backround of what is known about the healing qualitites of nature and successful healing garden designs.

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