Landscape Architect Articles

LASN Stewardship August 200808-04-08 | News

Convention to be a ?EUR??,,????'??Green?EUR??,,????'?? Affair

By Christine Rombouts for EDAW/AECOM (Denver)

EDAW AECOM rendering of the ?EUR??,,????'??greening?EUR??,,????'?? of Auraria Parkway adjacent to the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo., site of the Democratic National Convention.
PHOTOS: EDAW/AECOM

To roll out the ?EUR??,,????'??green?EUR??,,????'?? carpet for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, and to underscore the City of Denver?EUR??,,????'???s commitment to sustainability, the city and the Denver office of EDAW |AECOM have joined together to implement a design plan to revitalize and reimage the landscape along Auraria Parkway. Recently, city and EDAW | AECOM employees, along with community volunteers, planted 150 new trees as the first phase of the greening program.

A leading international land planning, design and environmental firm, EDAW | AECOM created the design plans on a pro bono basis for the city and is engaging its Denver area clients to assist with funding and in-kind contributions. ?EUR??,,????'??The public realm is a critical component of any city,?EUR??,,????'?? says Jason Uyeda, vice president and principal of EDAW | AECOM?EUR??,,????'???s Denver office. ?EUR??,,????'??Finding opportunities to create sustainable landscapes in the urban environment is key to EDAW?EUR??,,????'???s overall global sustainability platform. Auraria Parkway is a perfect example of how the built environment – such as an existing roadway – can be redesigned and upgraded to significantly enhance its sustainability.?EUR??,,????'??

Auraria Parkway is a primary gateway to Downtown Denver as well as the front door to the Pepsi Center, the main venue for the Democratic National Convention confab in August. Now being implemented, the new landscape program will greatly enhance the sustainable character of the parkway and its immediate environs within the Pepsi Center?EUR??,,????'???s three-block sphere of influence. ?EUR??,,????'??In recent years the trees and landscape along Auraria Parkway deteriorated severely?EUR??,,????'??, Uyeda says.

Jason Uyeda, vice president and principal of EDAW | AECOM?EUR??,,????'???s Denver office, plants a tree along Auraria Parkway as part of a landscape revitalization project in preparation for the Democratic National Convention.

When EDAW | AECOM set out to lend a hand to the City of Denver for the DNC, he says it was not only to bring knowledge and practical experience to the public realm for the DNC and related visitors such as the news media, but to also build a legacy for the green infrastructure in the city ?EUR??,,????'??that we live, work and appreciate every day. We will also create a vision that the Auraria Parkway would be a model urban sustainable landscape that could be replicated in the neighborhoods, urban centers, and communities of Denver.?EUR??,,????'??

Working closely with the office of Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, the EDAW | AECOM design team created a green landscape plan that promotes a diversity of sustainable elements including water quality filters, xeric planting and highly efficient irrigation technologies. The key items included in the redesign program are bio-swales to cleanse storm water before releasing it into the storm sewer system where it ultimately finds its way to the Platte River; native and ornamental grasses to create bold, dramatic bands that establish patterning along the parkway, replacing the water-intensive bluegrass; low-water trees in the median to create shade and reduce the urban heat island effect; and highly efficient irrigation that will ensure that this new landscape will thrive on a minimum amount of water.

Uyeda points out that sustainable landscapes such as that planned for Auraria Parkway create opportunities within urban areas for carbon capture through landscape materials, create lower water requirements through native plant selections, and become models for enhancing urban infrastructure.

?EUR??,,????'??While small in actual landscape area, the medians on Auraria Parkway hold a special significance as a gateway to Denver?EUR??,,????'???s urban core, and also as the front door to the Pepsi Center and the venue of the Democratic National Convention,?EUR??,,????'?? he notes. ?EUR??,,????'??Auraria Parkway can be a model for urban sustainable landscapes, not only in the City of Denver, but across the nation.?EUR??,,????'??