Hardscapes - From Olmsted Point to Silicon Valley

Editor, Stephen Kelly

A new granite wall provides an edge to the viewing area of Yosemite Valley. The granite blocks have a rough split-texture finish with a hand-dressed top. This rustic design is similar to other walls in Yosemite built in the 1930s.

• Project: Olmsted Point Rehabilitation, dedicated Sept. 13, 2006.
• Funding: The Yosemite Fund, a San Francisco nonprofit group.
• Landscape Architects and Planners: Royston Hanamoto Alley and Abey (RHAA), Mill Valley and San Francisco, Calif. In business since 1958, incorporated in 1967. The RHAA firm has also completed Yosemite National Park rehabilitation projects at Glacier Point, Happy Isles and the Tuolumne Grove Trailhead.
• RHAA Principal Owners: Aditya Advani, ASLA, Cordelia Hill, ASLA, Manuela King, ASLA, Harold Kobayashi, FASLA, Barbara Lundburg, ASLA, Douglas Nelson, ASLA.
• Principals: Craig Hanchett, ASLA, James Ingels, ASLA
• Senior Associates: JC Miller, ASLA,Jimmy Chan, ASLA.
• Associates: Rizaldy Gache, ASLA, Lisa Orr, ASLA, Paul Stevenson, ASLA, Nathan Lozier, ASLA, Samir Khanna, ASLA, and Janet Rector.

Interpretive exhibits are integrated onto the granite blocks of the new wall. The interpretive exhibits are porcelain enamel in a Cor-Ten steel frame and attached to the granite base.

Royston Hanamoto Alley and Abey (RHAA), landscape architects of Mill Valley and San Francisco, Calif., recently completed two projects with interesting hardscapes: Olmsted Point Rehabilitation in Yosemite National Park, and the Guadalupe River Master Plan in San Jose, Calif.

At the primary viewing point, with views to Half Dome, the new large terrace gives visitors more seating space along its 300-foot length. The terrace includes interpretive exhibits and a bronze topographic map of the terrain. The rustic granite stairs (foreground) lead to area hiking trails.

Olmsted Point Rehabilitation

In 1961, after completion of a reconstruction and realignment of Tioga Road, vista point in Yosemite National Park, Calif. was named ?EUR??,,????'??Olmsted Point,?EUR??,,????'?? honoring Frederick Law Olmsted Sr., the father of American landscape architecture, and his son, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. Father and son played important roles in the establishment and development of Yosemite National Park. Olmsted Sr. chaired the first Yosemite Commission, tasked with managing the transfer of Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove from the federal government to the state for creation of a park. Olmsted Sr. wrote ?EUR??,,????'??Yosemite and the Mariposa Grove: A Preliminary Report, 1865,?EUR??,,????'?? presenting the importance of preservation of Yosemite?EUR??,,????'???s spectacular scenery and the need to give access to all people. Olmsted?EUR??,,????'???s writings voiced an emerging conservation ethic and the later precepts of stewardship adopted by the National Park Service.

Belvederes are constructed at key points along the wall to provide a larger viewing space for visitors. The eastern-most belvedere (pictured) has views to Tenaya Lake and the high Sierra.

Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. served on the Yosemite Board of Expert Advisors from 1928 to 1956. Olmsted Jr. and the advisory board assisted the National Park Service in managing the park, stressing preservation of the scenic values. He authored reports on traffic and circulation in Yosemite Valley, improvements to the Glacier Point and Tioga roads, and preservation of meadows. The Olmsted firm also designed the grounds of the park?EUR??,,????'???s Ahwahnee Hotel.

Olmsted Point, elevation 8,400 feet, is the largest overlook on Yosemite National Park?EUR??,,????'???s Tioga Road. The overlook affords visitors expansive views of the dramatic granite landscape of the high Sierras, including Half Dome, Cloud?EUR??,,????'???s Rest and Tenaya Canyon.

Olmsted Point at sunset. The paving selection had to withstand heavy snow conditions, yet be appropriate to this remote setting. Plain broom-finished concrete was thought too finished and urban. RHAA looked to the existing road and parking lot paving, which was asphalt. However, the aggregate below the asphalt was crushed granite, now exposed after several decades, revealing a rough texture and granite-colored finish. For the new concrete paving and curbs, RHAA went with crushed granite aggregate and a washed finish to expose the granite color and texture, providing a more rustic feel.

Degradation of the scenic point prompted the rehabilitation project. A small stone wall supporting the narrow viewing area failed due to undermining. The Yosemite Fund, a San Francisco nonprofit that supports projects and programs to protect, preserve and restore the national park, funded a $1.6 million rehabilitation project for Olmsted Point. The design for the project went to the landscape architecture firm Royston Hanamoto Alley & Abey (RHAA) of Mill Valley, Calif.

RHAA?EUR??,,????'???s new design enlarged the viewing areas and built a new rustic stone wall to provide a safe edge and informal seating along the 300-foot length of the area. Pocket belvederes and a larger viewing terrace provide comfortable areas for visitor viewing of the dramatic granite landscape. The rehabilitation also included accessibility improvements, interpretive exhibits, a bronze topographic map and trailhead information. These significant upgrades to the site were dedicated on September 13, 2006.

Guadalupe River Park: San Jos????(C), Calif.

ABOVE & BELOW: A woman tracing the ?EUR??,,????'??tributaries?EUR??,,????'?? of the Guadalupe River and Coyote Creek at Confluence Point Plaza. The circle that contains the spiral is set in a field of grey quartzite schist stone. The spiral is a combination of white, red, black, and charcoal granite.

• Project: Guadalupe River Master Plan, San Jose, Calif.
• Owner: City of San Jose, Calif. Redevelopment Agency
• Sponsor: Santa Clara Valley Water District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Guadalupe River Park

Guadalupe River Park is a three-mile ribbon of parkland that runs along the banks of the Guadalupe River in downtown San Jos????(C) Calif., Royston Hanamoto Alley & Abey (RHAA) designed the final 2.6 miles of the river park.

The Braided Paths Plaza represents the intersecting, weaving heritage of San Jose?EUR??,,????'???s immigrants. The paving is poured-in-place concrete with decomposed granite fill where the planters narrow. White granite blocks form the seatwalls. The focal point of this plaza is a concrete and granite cap fountain.

A riverwalk system was developed that runs from Park Avenue to Coleman Avenue. The riverwalk not only provides opportunities for pedestrians, joggers and bicyclists, but affords people in this urban setting opportunities to enjoy the river environment. The riverwalk frames East Confluence Park, situated at the meeting of the Guadalupe River and Los Gatos Creek. Many of the city?EUR??,,????'???s cultural attractions are within the Guadalupe River Park. Through a combination of educational and interpretive plazas, the park explores the meaning of confluence in multiple ways: the confluence of two streams, the confluence of technology and ecology, the confluence of hardscape and nature and the confluence of diverse people who represent the multicultural depth of today?EUR??,,????'???s San Jos????(C).

Up close the Pool of Genes reveals river-washed stones etched in black with the common first names of American Indian children and those of the earliest European settlers to the region.

The park encompasses 150 acres and has 2.6 miles of trails. It also provides 100-year flood protection for downtown San Jos????(C). The flora includes 15,000 trees, 9,000 shrubs, and 60,000 groundcover plants. The Heritage Rose Garden has over 3,700 varieties of roses.

The flowing river terraces are a major feature of River Park. The terraces are concrete with a gabion mattress infill between the walls to allow planting. The riverwalk is asphalt with a concrete band edging on the riverside of the path.

Hardscapes

The hardscapes include Crossing Paths Plaza, a triangle of banded red granite on the perimeter, juxtaposed with charcoal granite for the interior, laser engraved with names of the earliest native people of the area and the earliest settlers.

Taiko drummers celebrate the opening of Guadalupe River Park at Crossing Paths Plaza. The plaza is triangular with a band of red granite on the perimeter and charcoal granite on the interior. The interior is laser engraved with names of the earliest native people of the area, including the family names of the earliest settlers.

The circular and spiraling Confluence Point Plaza hardscape depicts tributaries of the Guadalupe River and Coyote Creek. The circle is a field of grey quartzite schist stone with spiraling white, red, black and charcoal granite.

San Jose ?EUR??,,????'??Mounties?EUR??,,????'?? stop at the watering hole, the Pool of Genes. The pool basin is poured-in-place concrete with black granite coping. The basin holds washed river cobbles. The water source for the pool is piped in city water, not water pumped in from the Guadalupe River.

The Braided Paths Plaza honors San Jos????(C)?EUR??,,????'???s immigrant heritage. The hardscape is poured-in-place concrete paving with decomposed granite fill where the planters narrow. White granite blocks form the seatwalls. The plaza focal point is a concrete and granite cap fountain.

Guadalupe River Park encompasses 150 acres. Royston Hanamoto Alley & Abey (RHAA) designed the final 2.6 miles of the river park.