ARTFUL RAINWATER DESIGN IN THE URBAN LANDSCAPE · project examples to illustrate these project attributes and design possibilities. The article concludes by discussing some of the

INTRODUCTION

The treatment of stormwater runoff in con-ventional urban development has been drivenby an attitude of “out of sight out of mind.”This attitude reflected the view that storm-water runoff has no value as a useful resourceand adds little to the amenity (aesthetic, recre-ation, education, etc.) of an urban environ-ment. (Wong & Eadie, 2000)

This attitude, however, is beginning to hold less sway:we are starting to see a change as stormwater manage-ment design expands beyond the traditional approachof simply controlling flow rates and keeping costsdown as communities recognize environmental im-pacts far beyond storm sewers and dry detentionbasins. Such innovative stormwater managementshould be a part of any “green building” program. Ex-actly why some communities are now recognizingthat artful rainwater design can add value far beyondthe required hydrological function may be difficult topinpoint; however, communities have recognized thatartful rainwater design can add value far beyond therequired hydrological function and that rainwater sys-tems can reflect the objectives and values of prospec-tive users and not be viewed simply as a stormwaterdisposal systems. Although stormwater management

facilities must meet hydrological objectives (such asflow rate, volume, frequency, duration, and quality),they can also have other tangible positive outcomes,particularly added community value, such as people-pleasing landscapes and designs that reveal somethingabout rainwater and natural site processes. We needto be able to better assess the range and nature ofthese other outcomes and how we might approachstormwater design to achieve more added value.Therefore, this study investigates attributes of storm-water management design that enhance a project’snon-hydrological values.

What is “added value” in stormwater managementdesign? According to Frank Spink (Bookout et al.,1994), “A consensus has always existed among manydesign professionals and developers that good designmakes a significant contribution to the value of a de-velopment project.” The concept of adding value viastormwater design is based on creating designs thatnot only address stormwater in environmental andutilitarian ways, but that skillful collaboration of manydesign disciplines can create projects recognized bymunicipalities, clients, and users as enhancing bothproperty values and quality of life. Simply stated, art-ful rainwater design creates multi-objective projects ofwhich stormwater management is only one of the ob-jectives. According to Wong and Eadie (2000),

Volume 2, Number 4 1

ARTFUL RAINWATER DESIGN IN THE URBAN LANDSCAPE

Stuart Echols1

ABSTRACTThe idea of artful rainwater design is based on the premise that new stormwater management techniques focusing onnon-point source pollution, water balance, and small-storm hydrology can be used to create projects resulting in greateruser satisfaction and perceived value. Examination of exemplary artful rainwater designs can provide engaging and use-ful information to guide designers in their own artful rainwater designs. This article is grounded in case studies of se-lected artful rainwater designs and offers two concepts to the existing body of stormwater management design knowledgeby drawing attention to the valuable project attributes common to artful rainwater design projects, and by clarifyingspecific project approaches that can enhance the value of stormwater management systems. The article includes specificproject examples to illustrate these project attributes and design possibilities. The article concludes by discussing some ofthe opportunities and challenges faced by those advancing artful rainwater designs.

1Pennsylvania State University, Department of Landscape Architecture, University Park, PA 16802-1429, [email protected].

There is no place for the attitude “stormwatermanagement should be left to engineers, orwetland design should be left to landscape architects.” History has clearly shown that employing a single-disciplined approach todesign more often than not leads to failure of the design.

New design opportunities for artful rainwater de-sign are created in part by new U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency regulations that require thousandsof municipal governments to create, develop, adapt,and implement stormwater management programs toreduce non-point source pollution (USEPA, 2005).These regulations are often satisfied by bioretention,infiltration and many other distributed rainwatermanagement systems integrated in the framework ofearthwork, walkways, structures, and plantings thataccompany new building. Designers around the worldinvolved in land management and stewardship seesuch regulations as an important step forward, andmany creative firms see potential for significant bene-fits beyond satisfying new regulations. Innovative rain-water design can be used to create places recognized asbeautiful, meaningful, and educational—from lushrain gardens to plazas that artfully expose how rain-water flows across and infiltrates into land. This newfocus on multi-objectivities can transform stormwatermanagement facilities into artful rainwater designsthat increase property values and function as commu-nity amenities, whether people learn about our hydro-logic cycle and ecological systems or simply enjoy anattractive design. If this opportunity is so significant,why hasn’t it been embraced as standard practice?

One reason is many stormwater treatment designsfail to add value that is easily recognized by the public.

A homeowner stares uncomfortably out the backwindow at the bioswale that collects stormwaterfrom the home where she lives. “I know it’s goodfor the environment,” she says apologetically, “butI can’t help wanting to mow it down—it justlooks messy to me.”

A major university scraps an innovative land-scape plan that includes porous paving, bioswales,and native plantings for a new building. An offi-cial explains, “It’s just too different from whatwe’re accustomed to. The extra cost isn’t offset by aclear benefit.”

If artful rainwater design is to become better rec-ognized as a community asset, the two critical gapsrepresented by these statements must be addressed.The first gap is between the public’s concern with theappearance of stormwater facilities and most design-ers’ lack of concern with appearance. The statementof the homeowner given above typifies public reac-tion to the visual character of much ecologically fo-cused design: the designs often look messy, unsightly,and unkempt to the public eye. This issue has beenaddressed by numerous researchers including R. Ka-plan (1983), Kaplan et al. (1998), Herzog (1989),Pennypacker (1993), and Nassauer (1995). Joan Nas-sauer has not only studied the problem but offeredsolutions (1995, 1997), as has Marcia Eaton (1997).They have shown that people value neatness in theirlandscapes as a symbol of stewardship and good citi-zenship. Still, too few designers have succeeded todate in incorporating rainwater design in ways thatare appreciated by the public. Unfortunately, storm-water facilities are often engineered simply to solve ex-cess runoff problems with no concern for aesthetic orother qualities. This, in turn, causes the second gap.

This second gap is represented by the second state-ment above: If rainwater management facilities arenot seen as offering a clear “value-added” amenity—one that attracts business for developers and/or cre-ates a desirable image and good public relations—land owners will not spend money to properlymaintain existing systems, nor will they invest in ad-ditional stormwater management construction. De-sign for stormwater facilities then focuses on findingthe lowest-cost solutions rather than creating value-added amenities. Thus, an extraordinary opportunityis lost. This article therefore reports on observationsand analyses of innovative projects to answer thisquestion: What attributes of stormwater managementdesign enhance a project’s attractiveness and/or value?The intent is to provide examples of proven and prac-tical ideas to designers who wish to create their ownartful rainwater designs in the urban landscape.

BACKGROUNDThe fundamental ideology of protecting publichealth, safety, and welfare that focuses on desired hy-drological outcomes is well documented in currentstormwater management publications (Roesner &Matthews, 1990; Tourbier, 1994) along with specific

2 Journal of Green Building

stormwater management techniques for promotinggroundwater recharge, reducing pollutant loads, pro-tecting stream channels, preventing increased over-bank flooding, and safely conveying large floods(Schueler et al., 1992; USEPA, 2005). Specific tech-niques for creating, restoring, and protecting aquatichabitat has also become common in stormwater man-agement manuals (Coffman, 2000; Hager, 2001; Ur-bonas et al., 1989). But no current manuals forstormwater design specifically present best manage-ment practices as a means to enhance the aesthetic,experiential attributes or other values in urban land-scapes. Roesner and Brashear (1999) studied the con-tent of existing stormwater management literature andreported that a number of design manuals have beendeveloped to address the control of urban runoff forstormwater-quality and -quantity issues. However, theyconcluded that not only is there a considerable lack ofinformation about what constitutes a properly designedstormwater management facility, but that there is also a complete lack of comprehensive design guidance formunicipal planners and engineers that addresses publicacceptance or perceived value as a design criteria.

The importance of designing stormwater-manage-ment facilities in a way that adds perceived value to aproject or community is not a new concept. Beauti-fully designed detention ponds have always been recognized by developers and communities for theirvisual, recreational, and hence monetary value (Book-out et al., 1994; Ferguson & Debo, 1994; Tunney,2000). Many new stormwater-treatment methods in-cluding bio-retention, vegetated swales and rain gar-dens are starting to be recognized for their ability toadd beauty and perceived value to a community inpart because of how these methods are being used inplaces such as Maplewood and Burnsville, Min-nesota, to enhance the streetscapes (MPCA, 2005). Afew authors have recognized that stormwater-treat-ment systems have the potential to add various anddistinct design values to a project (Göransson, 1998;Wenk, 1998; Niemczynowicz, 1999; Thompson &Sorvig, 2000; Dreiseitl, Grau, & Ludwig, 2001; Drei-seitl & Grau, 2005). Under the leadership of WilliamThompson, Landscape Architecture Magazine haspublished many examples of artful rainwater designsthat add value, (see, for example, Leccese, 1997;Thompson, 1999; Brown, 2001; Thompson, 2004;Echols & Pennypacker, 2006). But few studies have

shown how non-hydrological stormwater manage-ment design attributes can add value. Two exceptionsthat stand out are: Peter Stahre’s research showinghow efforts in Malmö, Sweden, have created value,and literature from the United Kingdom based onSUDS (Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems) thataddress the developing amenity attributes of storm-water management design.

Peter Stahre has documented the variety of valuesin stormwater management, stating: “The character-istic feature of sustainable stormwater management isthat quantity and quality issues are handled togetherwith amenity” (2006). Stahre classifies the “positivevalues of open storm drainage” as aesthetic, biologi-cal, cultural, ecological, economic, technical, educa-tional, environmental, historical, recreational, and re-sulting public relations (Figure 1).

The United Kingdom has recently introducedpolicies that include amenity factors in stormwatermanagement as a key part of the “urban drainage tri-angle” (Figure 2).

Sustainable urban drainage regulations in theUnited Kingdom now require amenity to be evaluatedequally with quality and quantity for all new drainageplans. Originally the amenity designation focused oncreating added value in wildlife habitat and openspace; however, SUDS revised the definition to in-clude “community value, resource management (e.g.,rainwater use), multi-use of space, education, waterfeatures, habitat creation, biodiversity action plans”(National SUDS Working Group, 2003).

Although these publications do offer new ideasthat can add ideas for designers to consider when cre-ating new stormwater management systems, they donot address specific project attributes or outcomes.This paper examines existing artful rainwater designprojects in order to identify and clarify the specificstormwater management design attributes that canadd value to a project and is an important contribu-tion to stormwater design literature because of thepotential for artful rainwater design to:

1. raise property values through attributes thatcould encourage developers to create stormwater-management facilities that surpass minimum requirements;

2. help policy planners and design review boardsbetter understand the added value impact of


stormwater management, potentially offeringguidance for revisions to existing regulations;

3. provide greater public exposure to, engagementin, and education about ecological stormwater is-sues for the protection of aquatic systems andclean water;

4. provide design strategies for integrating stormwa-ter management throughout a site rather than thepursuing an “out of sight out of mind” approach;and

5. enhance the likelihood of regular maintenance bymaking stormwater management facilities a clearand visible added value.

RESEARCH METHODSThis research is an analysis of innovative projects andthe observed project attributes revealing the addedvalue of innovative and artful stormwater manage-ment. A few precedent-setting projects created by arelatively small number of design firms making use ofnew stormwater management strategies have demon-strated that designs of stormwater management sys-tems has great potential to enhance public acceptanceor perceived value. A list of projects from around thenation was developed by reviewing the past ten yearsof design awards presented by the American Societyof Landscape Architects (ASLA, 1997-2007) and theAmerican Institute of Architects (AIA/COTE, 1997-2007) for projects that clearly included stormwater

management systems designed to create addedvalue—i.e., increased value focused on stormwatermanagement. Examples of exemplary rainwater de-sign in the United States found in this first search in-clude but are not limited to the work of:

Andropogon Associates, Ltd., Philadelphia, PA

Mayer/Reed. Portland, OR

Murase Associates, Portland, OR

Nelson Byrd Woltz, Charlottesville, VA

Olin Partnerships, Philadelphia, PA

Pierce County Environmental Service, PierceCounty, OR

Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, Port-land, OR

Seattle Public Utilities, Seattle, WA

Wenk Associates, Inc., Denver, CO

The designers of the projects that won AmericanSociety of Landscape Architects or American Instituteof Architects awards along with leading educators,publishers, and experts in stormwater issues wereasked to suggest other projects that best representedexemplary artful rainwater design. This process wascontinued until study participants no longer sug-gested additional projects and the projects most fre-quently suggested were included for consideration inthis study. This process generated a list of twenty-one


FIGURE 1. Positive Values of OpenStorm Drainage (Stahre, 2006).

artful rainwater designs that represent a diversity ofsettings, project types and runoff treatment methods.The projects selected through this process are:

10th@Hoyt , Portland, OR

110 Cascade, Seattle, WA

Automated Trading Desk, Mount Pleasant, SC

Buckman Heights, Portland, OR

Cedar River Environmental Center, Cedar Falls, WA

Stephen Epler Hall , Portland, OR

Glencoe Elementary School, Portland, OR

Growing Vine, Seattle, WA

High Point Development, West Seattle, WA

Maplewood Rainwater Gardens, Maplewood, MI

Melrose Edge Streets , Seattle, WA

Seven Corners Market, Portland, OR

New Seasons Market, Portland, OR

Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR

Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Portland, OR

Outwash Basin at Stata Center MIT, Cambridge, MA

Pierce County Environmental Services, Chambers Creek, WA

Siskiyou Green Street Project, Portland, OR

SW 12th Avenue Green Street Project, Portland, OR

Water Pollution Control Laboratory, Portland, OR

Waterworks Garden, Seattle, WA

This selection process is admittedly biased by thepublicity regarding and relative popularity of particu-lar projects. Certainly, the process, based as it is on in-tentionally identifying information-oriented examplesrather than random sampling, has likely overlookedmany excellent projects because they were unknownto the study participants. This must be recognized andaccepted as a necessary limitation of studying anyevolving design subject. A second limitation in this se-lection of artful rainwater deigns is that most of theprojects on this list are located in or near Seattle,Washington, and Portland, Oregon. This is likely a re-flection of some combination of the nature of rainfallin these areas that may encourage designers to trans-form excess runoff from a common nuisance to a de-sign asset and the establishment of strict stormwaterregulations in these municipal regions. It is not sur-prising that most of the suggested artful rainwater de-sign projects are in the U.S. Pacific Northwest; how-ever, it is likely that many of the projects’ attributeswill prove adaptable for use in other regions.

A variety of information was gathered about eachproject using websites, published literature, telephoneand in-person conversations with designers, and sitevisits to talk with local municipal officials and togather additional project information as needed. Theinformation for each project was documented usingvoice recordings, journal notes, drawings, on sitesketches and photography. It was then collected, or-ganized, reviewed, and analyzed to look for specificobserved attributes in each project that related specifi-cally to the stormwater management design. The pre-liminary analysis and resulting attribute list was basedon this question: “What are the attributes of storm-water management design that enhance a project’s


FIGURE 2. Development of moresustainable urban drainage systems and the “Urban Drainage Triangle”(CIRIA, 2001).

attractiveness or values?” The preliminary list yielded awide variety of different project attributes, primarilybecause websites, interviewees, on-site signage andpublished articles often referred to the same project at-tributes using highly varying vocabulary. The list wasthen reduced by combining and categorizing the at-tributes from preliminary list based on differences andsimilarities. After constructing the second list, the in-formation gathered for each project was reexamined todetermine how or whether each observed attribute ac-tually used stormwater management to create attrac-tiveness or value as well as how well the attribute cate-gory and description fit. Attributes in specific projectsthat did not fit the categories and descriptions were re-analyzed, resulting in modification of the categoriesand descriptions or elimination of the attribute as “nota common attribute of stormwater management designthat enhances a project’s attractiveness or value.” Eachproject was then reanalyzed to determine if each attrib-ute category would be easily observed or if it weresomewhat less observable due to the project design orother factors. This information was organized in a ma-trix to identify the common attributes observed in eachstudy project and is presented in Table 1.

As can be seen in Table 1, the project attributesobserved and presented in this research were not ob-served in every project. Nor does the list include allpotential project attributes that could be observed byother researchers in artful rainwater design as is com-mon in qualitative research. Rather this study is in-tended to present common project attributes that de-signers may use in their own artful rainwater designsto enhance a project’s attractiveness or value.

There are assumptions and limitations in thisstudy that should be acknowledged. First, and per-haps most significant, is the assumption that artfulrainwater design is beneficial and desirable, and thatany additional design, construction and maintenanceeffort and costs can be counterbalanced by valueadded. Second is the assumption that design critiqueby knowledgeable observers can derive useful under-standing of value added. The third limitation is thatadded value consists of human appreciation as deter-mined by conventional western aesthetics and values.A final limitation is that all the projects reviewed arelocated in the United States. While there is notewor-thy work of artful rainwater design abroad, temporal

and financial limitations restricted the project studysites in this research to the United States.

FINDINGS The artful rainwater design projects analyzed in thisstudy revealed that designers are using artful rainwa-ter design to address stormwater-management issueswhile creating recognized amenities in the urbanlandscape—designs that invite visitors to explore,learn, and enjoy aesthetically pleasing landscapes thatare publicly recognized as clear value added urbanamenities. There are many lessons to be learned fromexisting works such as understanding which designfactors contribute to a high level of public apprecia-tion and acceptance. The project attributes mostclearly observed through this study of artful rainwaterdesigns are:

Ecological Legibility—communicates ecologicaland hydrological function

Maintenance Strategies—provides specific meth-ods and guidance for upkeep

Information Systems—provides alternative mediato raise stormwater awareness

Physical Accessibility—encourages people to see,touch or play with rainwater

Multiple Use—integrates multiple uses beyondstormwater treatment

Visual Integration—creates visual coherence be-tween the form and function of a space

Public Awareness—demonstrates a community’sexisting knowledge about stormwater

Perceived Value—creates recognized added eco-nomic value

Municipal Commitment—creates positive agencyaction and inter- agency cooperation

The first six are observed design attributes that canbe created by stormwater-treatment systems whereasthe last three are observed community attributes thatfoster better stormwater design. Specific distinctions be-tween design attributes and community attributes maynot always be clear or relevant. For example, the com-munity attributes of public awareness and perceivedvalue can also be enhanced by designs that bluntly pro-mote the importance of stormwater management. That


some attributes may be both design- and community-focused should not detract from their ability to en-hance a project’s attractiveness or value. The impact ofthe attributes can also be cyclical—for example, exem-plary artful rainwater design may foster greater com-munity recognition and support for stormwater man-

agement, thus fostering greater municipal commit-ment that in turn motivates designers to create moreartful rainwater designs to stretch design beyond whathas been achieved to date.

The project attributes are described further inthis section with reference to selected examples from


TABLE 1. Attributes observed in each study project.

specific projects. Only a few of the study projects areused as examples in the article, because this researchis focused on the different project attributes that addvalue; it is not intended as a case study of individualartful rainwater design projects.

Ecological Legibility. Rainwater design can visuallycommunicate ecological and hydrological functionunder various weather conditions and through sea-sonal changes. Respect for the immediate environs,as well as the environment in general, can be com-municated and achieved in simple and appropriateways; for example, the use of native plantings thatwill be able to withstand the conditions of the area,whether drought, frequent storms, etc. Likewise, thetransient nature of water can be communicated withwater-holding, filtering and infiltration facilities ofvarious sizes to reflect different amounts of evapo-transpiration, recharge, and discharge that would

naturally have occured on the site before develop-ment. Even the choice of building materials andforms—for example local stone used to constructoverhanging rock outcroppings as they appear innearby streams—can be used to emulate the naturalfeatures and characteristics of local aquatic environ-ments. An excellent example of ecological legibility is Stephen Epler Hall at Portland State Universityshown in Figures 3 and 4.

In this design by Mithun, the visible rainwaterjourney is particularly striking during rain events:water shoots down a five-story downspout and outinto a rock-filled basin; it then overflows into a run-nel that directs water across the courtyard and into a“biopaddy” (a sunken plant-filled basin). To ensurethat people stop and enjoy the stormwater show, twobenches are strategically placed to face the stormwatersystem. To make the experience even more inviting,the benches sit under a freestanding roof (great for


FIGURES 3 AND 4. Stephen Epler Hall at Portland State University.

use during the rain), and are backed by a wall to cre-ate an effective sense of “prospect and refuge.” Thisdesign clearly encourages people to experience theartful rainwater story at Epler Hall.

Maintenance Strategies. Rainwater designs need toinclude plans and specifications for both functionaland visual upkeep or else they will not work or appearas intended, thus resulting in lower public acceptanceand often lower property values. According to PaulThomas, (2003) “Maintenance for landscapes thatfunction as surface stormwater systems is differentthan typical park landscape care. Issues that must beaddressed include: weed-related training and mainte-nance will be needed to deal with increase in weeds;clear, understandable edges for different landscapetypes are needed to guide maintenance staff on ap-propriate practices for each area; access must be pro-vided for equipment needed to clean out facilities;

and, maintenance practices will require assessmentand modification as landscapes establish”. An excel-lent example of maintenance strategies is SW 12thAvenue Green Street in Portland, Oregon, shown inFigures 5 and 6.

The SW 12th Avenue Green Street Project has re-ceived a national design award of honor from theAmerican Society of Landscape Architects. KevinRobert Perry, a Bureau of Environmental Servicesgreen street specialist, designed the innovative streetstormwater project ledges at both ends of the biore-tention facilities so that street debris is collected at aplace where maintenance crews can easily use a simpleflat shovel to remove it. Keeping the collection systemon the surface and close to the sidewalk and streetmakes it obvious when cleaning is needed. Even theplantings are arranged in a neat grid making it easy todistinguish between the plants intended to stay andthe weeds to be removed.


FIGURES 5 AND 6. 12th Avenue Green Street in Portland, Oregon.

Information Systems. Effective communication andeducation requires more than on-site signage. Websites,interpretive rainwater trails, fieldtrips, and other alter-natives can raise community awareness of stormwaterimpacts with television advertising, newspaper andradio advertisements, displays, environmental programsfor businesses, and stormwater ambassador programsfor local schoolchildren. Rainwater design can be usedas part of an integrated environmental awareness pro-gram. Such a program could include developing web-sites and ongoing design competitions to create com-prehensive and continuing outreach-based strategiesthat facilitate community understanding of and thusthe prevention of stormwater pollution. The municipal-ity of Maplewood, Minnesota, provides an excellent example of information systems; it is shown in Figures7, 8, 9, and 10.


FIGURES 7, 8, 9, AND 10. Maplewood Rainwater Gardens Information Systems—Online Photos, Web Page, PlantingPlans, and Planting Details (Maplewood Minnesota Rainwater Gardens—web page).

The Maplewood Rainwater Garden design bythe City of Maplewood, Minnesota, working withdesigner Joan I. Nassauer (professor of landscapearchitecture at the University of Michigan) providescomprehensive information on the planning, de-sign, construction, and long-term maintenance ofraingardens built in Maplewood’s residential neigh-borhoods. This information includes reports aboutpublic acceptance, design processes, recommendedplants, soil preparation, and many other types ofeducational information that citizens can use toplan, design, install, and maintain rain gardens intheir own communities. The information is offeredin such a way that any community-minded group


FIGURES 11 AND 12. Cedar River Watershed Education Center.

can learn everything needed to create similar raingardens in their own towns.

Physical Accessibility. People want to see, touch,and play with water especially in urban environmentson hot summer days. This realization is reflected inthe works of Herbert Dreiseitl in which water designinvites children and adults to interact and play withwater and water systems. On the other hand, in re-sponse to liability fears most traditional stormwatermanagement systems are intended to keep peopleaway from and out of the water. Yet, rainwater designcan be created in ways that foster interaction withwater without creating safety concerns by simplysplitting runoff into gentle shallow small flows anddiverting the large flows safely away to appropriate lo-cations. Such systems also allow the first flush to beeasily diverted into infiltration and evapotranspira-tion facilities that more closely re-create a site’s natu-

ral hydrological processes. Cedar River WatershedEducation Center provides a compelling example ofphysical accessibility as shown in Figures 11 and 12.

The rainwater system at Cedar River WatershedEducation Center is expressly designed to encouragevisitors to see, hear, and touch the water. Rainwateris conveyed from the roof via downspout into asculpted basin; from that point the water traverses astone terrace in an elegantly meandering fashion.The water trail is clarified, enhanced, and made safeby a steel-grating cover perforated with gentle curvesthat extend the “liquid” theme, alternating with riverpebble fill. Another physical accessibility opportu-nity is the Entry Court where stone steps are pur-posely designed to entice visitors to sit so as to watchand touch the water.

Multiple Use. Rainwater designs that integrate mul-tiple uses will have greater public acceptance and add

more value than designs that only provide stormwatertreatment. Examples of multiple use include commu-nity play fields created in open space that also servesdry-detention purposes; accessible open water usedfor fishing and boating as well as retention; stormwa-ter wetlands with boardwalks and viewing stands thatprotect the environment and serve educational pur-poses; and visual amenities provided when colorfulbioretention plantings are incorporated into corpo-rate and residential landscaping. Properties often gainin both visual appeal and financial value simply be-cause they are located next to beautiful riparianbuffers or stormwater wetlands. Quality of life is alsoimproved when local walking trails, passive recreationor simple visual attractions create urban amenitiesthat support greater social interaction. These multi-ple-use strategies enhance local land values, con-tribute to neighborhood revitalization, and protect re-gional environmental resources. An outstandingexample of multiple use is the Siskiyou Green StreetProject in a leafy residential neighborhood of Port-land, Oregon, shown in Figure 13.

The Siskiyou Green Street Project could hardly besimpler or more effective. As shown in Figure 11, astormwater curb extension “bump-out” is used tonarrow a neighborhood street near an intersectionand provide useable landscape area. The landscape isboth richly planted with multi-textural sedges andferns and is intersected by river rock dams and weirs.This simple project provides a wonderful example ofmulti-functionality—the extensions not only filter

and slow stormwater runoff, they also serve as traffic-calming devices by narrowing the road. Moreover, thestreetscape beautification is compatible with the area’sresidential plantings. In addition an opportunity foreducating the public is also taken. The simple signagein the landscaped curb extensions offers brief text andsimple graphics that show how the system works andwhat it accomplishes.

Visual Integration. Rainwater designs that visuallyfit with the existing and proposed form and functionof a space will have greater public acceptance thandesigns that challenge visual expectations. The scaleand character of open space, parks, and greenways isoften quite different from that of downtown urbancenters and plazas. Likewise, rainwater designs needto fit visually and culturally into the surrounding en-vironment. For example, an aboveground corrugatedsteel tank used as a cistern may be visually appropri-ate when used as part of an environmental educationprogram for a suburban Midwest school; however, itmay look out of place in a New York urban businessplaza. That is not to say that the visual impact ofrainwater design could not contrast with the existinginfrastructure, but rather that the visual impactneeds to be considered in light of the local context. Aparticularly effective example of visual integration isthe courtyard of 10th@Hoyt, an urban apartmentcourtyard in Portland, Oregon, shown in Figures 14and 15.

The courtyard displays an understated orthogonalcomposition, and the materials, colors, and texturescreate an aura of subdued elegance appropriate for anupscale apartment building in Portland’s Pearl Dis-trict. The rainwater system is exposed as a water trailthat is both unusual and consistent with the overallcourtyard aesthetic. The system starts with a copperdownspout running down the face of the five-storybuilding, with rainwater from the downspout follow-ing an intriguing path along a stepped aqueduct,then dropping into a river rock–filled basin, beforere-circuiting over Cor-ten fountains. Downspout-and-runnel systems in two other corners of the spacepresent variations on the same theme. The entire dis-tinctive composition is serene as well as captivating—it is perfectly appropriate design for this stylish apart-ment complex.


FIGURE 13. Siskiyou Green Stormwater Curbs withnarrow driving lane to slow traffic.

Public Awareness. Rainwater designs will be consid-ered and implemented more often and with greatersuccess in communities where there is an existing androbust understanding of stormwater issues and associ-ated water-quality benefits. Stormwater managementand design is now an essential component of almostevery land-planning and site-design project. Al-though the public often believes that water-pollutionproblems come from industrial effluents, in manyareas, up to 70% of the pollution in the streams,lakes, and rivers actually comes from non-pointsources such as urban runoff (U.S. EPA, 1994). Theeffective placement, use, and maintenance of rainwa-ter designs often require public participation and ac-ceptance. However, the public is by no means alwayson board. Community acceptance of rainwater designoften lags behind the new rainwater regulations; how-ever, it has been suggested by municipal officials thatinnovative rainwater treatment can be more easily in-tegrated into designs that enhance public awareness

and demonstrate how design can complement andwork with existing watershed and stormwater protec-tion programs. Pierce County Environmental Ser-vices Facility in Chambers Creek, Washington, shownin Figures 16 and 17, presents a particularly effectivepublic-awareness strategy that straightforwardly pro-motes the importance of stormwater management.

At the Pierce County Environmental Services Fa-cility, the water trail is incorporated throughout thesite and uses a variety of water-treatment approachesand design techniques. The trail begins on a cornerof the building with a scupper discharging rainwaterinto a concrete spiral basin. Runoff from the basinflows into an adjacent wetland that visitors can ex-plore from a curving boardwalk. Effective signagemaximizes opportunities to heighten public aware-ness by explaining how the system diverts runoffinto different conveyance/infiltration swales and bysuggesting future treatment strategies. Making dif-ferent rainwater treatment systems visible educates


FIGURES 14 AND 15. Courtyard at the 10th@Hoyt Apartments.

visitors in regard to stormwater treatment strategies,including the new methods for managing storm-water runoff.

Perceived Value. Rainwater design will be consideredand implemented much more often in communitiesor developments that understand the economic valueof sustainable planning, design, and management.Profit need not be the only gain, however; in commu-nities such as Village Homes, California, and Wood-lands, Texas, the public readily accepts innovativestormwater design because over the years such envi-ronmental features have been shown to enhance resalevalues, as well as, the overall quality of life comparedto other communities. Bookout et al. demonstratehow experiential and educational benefits also arisefrom a more varied and creative approach. It follows,then, that an imaginative approach to design can be aboon to developer and user alike. The connection be-tween creative design approach and added value canclearly be seen in regard to rainwater design. Manypast problems have arisen because conventional sys-tems do not add value as a site amenity; instead theybecome financial liabilities to the owner and/or user,and further problems ensue as attention to mainte-

nance lapses. Added costs of design and materialsaside, it has been shown that creative and experientialland development design solutions add significantvalue to land development projects (Bookout et al.,1994). In this regard, perceived value has been createdat High Point, a new neo-traditional residential com-munity in West Seattle, shown in Figures 18 and 19.

The intent of adding perceived value is observedthroughout the High Point design in elements thateither market stormwater treatment as a communityand ecological good or by bringing a sense of whimsy,enjoyment, and aesthetic pleasure to the appearanceof its stormwater system. In regard to the former, anextensive signage system coupled with strategically lo-cated stormwater treatment facilities line every streetright-of-way. In regard to the latter, water-related im-agery is much in evidence_even the splash guards atthe base downspouts are decorated with water relatedesigns, while decorative concrete castings of dragon-flies adorn drain inlets. This combination of colorful,upbeat signage proclaiming the importance of thestormwater treatment systems and thematic gesturesoffered in an artful way make it impossible to missthe message that this stormwater is of great value tothis community.


FIGURES 16 AND 17. Pierce County Environmental Services Facility.

Municipal Commitment. Rainwater designs are bestdeveloped as interdisciplinary projects supported incommunities that provide inter-agency cooperationfor planning, design and management, as well as,proactively overcoming or removing regulatory obsta-cles. For example, community regulations often re-quire developers to pipe rainfall to a centrally locatedregional stormwater management facility; in addition,regulations may prohibit using untreated rainwater fornon-potable uses in publicly accessible buildings.Thus many opportunities to create rainwater designsthat could lower annual water use or reduce the cost ofmunicipal stormwater management systems are sum-marily eliminated. To overcome these problems, localpublic works, planning departments, building regula-tors and utility companies need to work together toencourage greater rainwater design integration. SeattlePublic Utilities has demonstrated exemplary munici-pal commitment through the Natural Drainage Sys-tem Program. Part of Seattle’s Natural Drainage Sys-tem Program, the Street Edge Alternative program is

based on retrofitting existing residential streets usingplants, trees, and soils to clean runoff and managestormwater flows, as shown in Figures 20 and 21.

The program started with the Street Edge Alterna-tive on Melrose Avenue at a cost of $850,000 includ-ing an extensive design and communications budgetdue to the city’s recognition of the need to work closelywith local residents. The design was so successful atMelrose Avenue that Seattle Public Utilities has com-mitted to retrofitting many more existing curb, swale,and pipe-drainage facilities in northern Seattle usingnatural systems to better manage runoff dischargedinto Puget Sound. Moreover, the city has recently im-plemented several other projects, including those atMelrose Avenue, Broadview Green Grid, High Point,and 110 Cascade (Seattle Public Utilities, 2007).

CONCLUSIONSRainwater management is a long standing concernfor architects, landscape architects and engineers,one that will only be extended as development rates


FIGURES 18 AND 19. High Point Residential Development Signage and Splash Blocks.

continue to rise and once-porous acreage is con-verted to impervious surface. Dealing with runoff isof paramount importance to property owners anddevelopers who are faced with the challenges of man-aging rainwater on site. Stormwater design needs tobe reconsidered and transformed from a reluctantlyaddressed, regulated requirement into a clear value-added component of good design. To help accom-plish this, designers can seek out, examine, and learnfrom a collection of highly successful rainwater de-sign examples that:

• provide inspiration and vision to make rainwaterdesign a focal point of beautiful, interestingplaces to live and visit; and

• demonstrate rainwater design ideas that add tan-gible value to properties and encourage appropri-ate development investment.

There are many examples starting to appeararound the country in which innovative designersand communities have recognized opportunities touse artful rainwater design project attributes to en-hance a project’s attractiveness or value. However,

there are also many examples in which such opportu-nities have been missed. All of the study projects inthis research successfully manage urban stormwaterfor the intended hydrological outcome. Some filterstormwater, reduce the frequency of excess runoff,and reuse stormwater for irrigation and non-potableuse. Others use detention, infiltration, or bioreten-tion to reduce peak flow rates and recharge groundwater. However, it is one thing to divert rainwater tounderground facilities such as filters and detentionvaults, managing and disposing of stormwater as anunwanted waste product. It is another thing to ad-dress stormwater in environmentally responsible waysin order to ensure the ecological health of the rainwa-ter’s destination. And it is still a better thing to em-ploy these methods as artful, expressive designs thatcall attention to rainwater in ways that create value.


FIGURES 20 AND 21. Street Edge Alternatives at Melrose and 110 Cascade.

This study demonstrates that many designers haveseized opportunities to combine beauty with practi-cality to address both long-term ecological outcomesand added value in the urban landscape. However,this study also found that some have not. For exam-ple, the Outwash Basin at Stata Center MIT in Cam-bridge, Massachusetts, is likely one of the most inno-vative stormwater-management designs in thiscountry because of its ability to control peak flowrates, filter all stormwater runoff to a very high stan-dard, recirculate stormwater to irrigate landscape andreuse filtered stormwater for non-potable use. Yet,many of the attributes identified in this study as cre-ating value are not part of the Outwash Basin’s de-sign. The design does not allow the public to see orunderstand ecological and hydrological function;trash and weeds that collect in the basin can only beremoved by hand; and people cannot see, touch, orplay with the water. No information system exists toraise public awareness of stormwater issues and no ac-count is given in site of the system itself. The only sig-nage that existed at the time of the site visit was an 8'' × 11'' photocopied paper posted in the publicrestroom explaining how filtered stormwater is usedin the building for flushing toilets and urinals. Fit-tingly enough, the entire stormwater managementsystem is underground and out of sight. It has thebenefit of not being unsightly, but it is a clear exam-ple of so many opportunities lost. Contrast this withthe Siskiyou Green Street Project in Portland, Ore-gon, which is also an innovative stormwater manage-ment design, but for different reasons. This is a smallproject intended to capture, retain, and filter small-stormwater volumes and demonstrate how small, re-versible non-threatening design interventions can beintegrated into existing residential streetscapes (Lip-tan, 2005). The ecological and hydrological functioncan be easily understood because the system is builtentirely above ground with a visible stormwater path,and the pollution is captured and clearly visible to thepublic and maintenance crews. Further, on-site sig-nage includes Portland’s Bureau of EnvironmentalServices URL, which offers information about design,construction, and maintenance processes, as well aswater-quality reports, construction documents, fund-ing, and many other types of educational informa-tion. The project allows people to see, touch, and play

with rainwater; fulfills a traffic-calming function;beautifies the streetscape in part because it integratesvisually into the residential area; and educates thepublic regarding stormwater issues. Originally de-signed so that it could be removed if the residentswere not happy with the outcome, the system has metinstead with public acceptance; other neighborhoodshave asked Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Ser-vices to construct similar projects on their streets—some have even offered to pay for the constructionand maintenance costs themselves (Liptan, 2005).

Clearly there are opportunities for artful rainwaterdesign to contribute to the quality of urban land-scapes. However, additional design information andresearch is needed. Additional photographs and casestudy information regarding the artful rainwater de-signs discussed in this article, as well as others, is avail-able at this website: www.artfulrainwaterdesign.net.Additional research is also needed to more specificallyaddress these questions: Why does the public valueartful rainwater design and what attributes are consid-ered most desirable? What are the goals and objectivesof stormwater management conceived as site amenityand what design techniques can designers use in theirown “artful rainwater designs”? What are the specialmaintenance and management needs of artful rainwa-ter design? How can current green- building ratingsystems be adapted to recognize the value of artfulrainwater design? What are the life cycle costs andwhere are the best retrofit opportunities? And mostimportantly, how can we make sure that artful rain-water design ideas are considered early in the designphases of new projects?

Water is far from being just a designer’s resource ora material: it begs to have its vital possibilities re-discovered. This starts at the beginning of theplanning process . . . and involves linking up andintegrating elemental themes.

—Dreiseitl et al. (2001)

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ARTFUL RAINWATER DESIGN IN THE URBAN LANDSCAPE · project examples to illustrate these project attributes and design possibilities. The article concludes by discussing some of the