University of Oregon Knight Campus for Accelerated Scientific Impact

Project Title: University of Oregon Knight Campus for Accelerated Scientific Impact
Landscape Architect: PLACE
Category: General Design, Public Ownership
Award: Award of Merit
Location: Eugene, OR
Description:

Climate Change is a Water Story. Landscape architecture enhancements heighten the unique nature of a world-class research facility in a sublime setting. The campus gateway experience is an all-stone water feature known as “The Source” traversing the site towards the restored Millrace. Eugene’s earliest European settlers built the Millrace in the mid-19th century to spin waterwheels to power the city’s first industrial development and to lead today’s scientific discoveries. The waterway, which runs between what is now Franklin Boulevard and the Willamette River, soon became a major recreation canal for city residents and the university community, with boathouses renting out skiffs and canoes, starting in the 1890s.Envisioned as an extension of the Millrace’s riparian corridor along the Knight Campus’ northern edge, plantings wrap the building, providing a layer of green. Native and naturalized vegetation extends out to Franklin Boulevard’s edge, allowing the sidewalk to dip from the street into the site. This unique condition creates a green-blue corridor and connecting the Knight Campus with the world, as an oasis for local and global visitors.

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