The Western Michigan University College of Engineering and the Business Technology and Research (BTR) Park was a cooperative venture undertaken by the University, City of Kalamazoo, and a Kalamazoo based economic development entity in the early 2000's to encourage the College of Engineering to locate its proposed new facility in Kalamazoo. The project goal was to take an innovative approach to design that would attract progressive private development opportunities, and promote Kalamazoo as a leader in the life sciences and high tech research and development arena.
The University retained OCBA Landscape Architects to prepare a land plan for a 260-acre farmstead located in the City of Kalamazoo. Residents of the adjacent neighborhoods were particularly concerned about storm water from the project being released into the creek that flowed through the farmstead property and into their neighborhood. OCBA's role included facilitating the input from these stakeholders to develop a land plan that would address their concerns. It was through the public input process that the storm water management for the entire site was incorporated into the master plan concept for development.
A concept of sustainable practices and natural systems served to integrate the private business technology and research facilities within the college campus while demonstrating good land management practices. The development was the City's first large scale example of a storm water management system which utilizes natural systems to accept and manage virtually all storm water from the development sites. In addition, the storm water management system:
1. Organizes and unifies the entire development.
2. Provides non-motorized transport opportunities with walking paths and bike lanes.

 
3. Provides a park for education, recreation, and social interaction.
4. Provides space for development of natural habitat/flora and fauna.
5. Preserves most of the existing fence line trees.
6. Eliminates the need for individual storm water basins on each private development site.
7. Is a unique signature for the park and campus.
The storm water management for the entire site was integrated within the master plan concept for development. This master plan concept is organized along a loop road following the natural topography of the site. The roadway system serves as a means of unifying the entire development and the parkway interior functions as the storm water management system. With prairie grass, wildflowers and native plants, walkways, bridges, boardwalks and a pedestrian underpass to the new campus, this open space network becomes a park which provides both passive recreation and environmental education opportunities. The stormwater management system is designed to store runoff equal to a one-hundred-year frequency storm after full build-out, and release the peak discharge from a five year pre-development condition. To the greatest extent possible, drainage from all impervious surfaces throughout the BTR Park is directed across the surface and into vegetated swales. The vegetated swales are directed to temporary storage basins constructed near the roadway right of way. The temporary storage basins include surface catch basins that pick up the overland conveyance of storm water and route it into infiltrator pipes that extend to the vegetated system within the loop of the central parkway. The deep-rooted prairie grasses, wildflowers and native vegetation used throughout the development provide great infiltration capacity for storm water run-off. This, in turn, reduces run-off leaving the site, improves the surface water quality by filtering impurities, and recharges the groundwater system.
The BTR Park is now in its 20th year and a fantastic success from all perspectives. It is home to 42 Companies with over 850 employees, 100 of which are WMU graduates. There are more than 40 start-ups in the Innovation Center (the BTR Park Incubator), and leveraged investments in the Innovation Center Companies are greater than $130 million. And the storm water management design of the BTR Park has won national recognition for environmental stewardship and sustainability.


The upcoming Hardscapes Issue of Landscape Architect and Specifier News saw many firms submit their projects for feature consideration. This project was not chosen for a Feature in the issue, but we at LandscapeArchitect.com thought the project deserved to be showcased online . . .

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