Parkview Terrace Fountain
Redlands, Calif.

STB Landscape Architects, Inc.

The client wanted a fountain with a 10-ft. column of water in the existing landscaped median (bottom right image). As the existing median was 8-ft. wide, it was necessary to redesign the entry roadway to accommodate a 20-ft. wide basin to contain the ?EUR??,,????'??splash-out.?EUR??,,????'?? The planter walls were raised 18-24 inches higher by using the old walls as forms for a new gunite shell to receive a precast concrete cap with a natural stone veneer. The existing small upper basins became low bubble-jet fountains. The planter?EUR??,,????'???s stepped walls created multitiered spillways into the new lower basin. The pump equipment pad (left) makes routine servicing easy.

Professional watershape designers occasionally face the harsh reality that all the time and effort that goes into a fountain installation could eventually be reduced to nothing more than a very expensive planter. This project, outside a high-end apartment complex in Redlands, California, put a unique spin on that experience.

A new management company in charge of the apartment complex asked STB Landscape Architects, Inc., to develop a water feature within the street median at the main entry to the property. The project?EUR??,,????'???s clubhouse was also in the design stage of a total remodel, and the property managers wanted to add an attractive entry point for current and prospective tenants. At the time, the median consisted of raised planters, filled with a variety of small shrubs, flowers and trees. Research of the area uncovered that the planters had originally been developed as a water feature, so creating a new fountain in a planter that was originally built as a water feature gave the project a curious sense of karma.

The new design for the median centered on a fountain with a 10-foot water column. Unfortunately, the existing median was only eight feet wide, and a 10-foot column of water needs a minimum 20-foot wide basin to account for ?EUR??,,????'??splash-out.?EUR??,,????'??? This led to a redesign of the entry roadway to accommodate a new, larger basin. Once construction started, the submersible pumps for the original water feature were found in the lowest basin, in a vault five feet deep. No wonder the original fountain was abandoned! Scuba gear or total drainage would have been necessary to conduct even routine maintenance and repairs. The planter/fountain walls had to be raised 18?EUR??,,????'???24 inches higher for functionality, and the existing walls were not sound enough to tie into. The old walls were used as forms for a new gunite shell, and a precast concrete cap with a natural stone veneer was added. Contractor Glenn Douglas of L.A. Custom Pools and Spas, Inc., was recruited to assist on the project details, including using the small existing upper basins for low bubble jet fountains, and turning the stepped walls of the planters into multi-tiered spillways that lead to the new lower basin.

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The existing median that was to be converted into a fountaining water feature, the designer team discovered, was originally built as a fountain, but poor design led the previous owners to give up on that idea and just turn it into a planter. Once construction started to widen the median to create larger fountain basins, the submersible pumps for the original water feature were discovered in the lowest basin in a vault five-feet deep.

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The clubhouse architect and interior designer assisted in matching the materials and colors in the new fountain with the remodeled building. The cultured stone selected for the face of the clubhouse was complemented in the fountain by a durable natural stone veneer. An above ground equipment pad adjacent to the roadway was also added so routine servicing could be completed easily. New and resilient lighting, water level sensors and wind controls were put in place to ensure that this fountain does not go the way of its predecessor.The reincarnation of this street median has been a welcome change for the apartment complex and the surrounding area. Not bad for a space that had been all but robbed of its potential as a water feature.

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Project Team
Architecture (Clubhouse):
J. Gary Stegemann, Keith Suchow Architects
Client: Starpoint Property Management, LLC
Parkview Terrace, Redlands, Calif.
Contractor: L.A. Custom Pools and Spas, Inc., Glenn Douglas
Fountain Equipment: Roman Fountains
Landscape Architect: STB Landscape Architects, Inc.
Precast Concrete Cap: Pacific Stone Design, Inc.
Professional Watershape Designer: Shawn T. Burch
Stone Veneer: Desert Gold Natural, Premier Stones, Inc.
Tile: National Pool Tile Group