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Cottonwood Canyon Experience Center

Signal Architecture + Research

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Bronze
The Experience Center provides an opportunity for outdoor learning, environmental education, regional activities, and cultural events that serve the community, the region, and visitors. - Gabe Border
The Cottonwood Canyon Experience Center was designed on 8,000 acres of undeveloped, under-attended riverside prairie. - Gabe Border
Interior spaces are configured to allow for maximum adaptability. A ‘heavy wall’ allows for storage of programming carts, exhibits, library media, and environmental education tools while a weather protected, open side of the building lets indoor activities spill out to the meadow and beyond. - Gabe Border
The Experience Center provides an opportunity for outdoor learning, environmental education, regional activities, and cultural events that serve the community, the region, and visitors. - Gabe Border

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Comments
Innovation
Functionality
Creativity
Eco-Social Impact
Total
JURY VOTES
Material
6.17
7.25
6.67
7.67
6.94
Luca Macri
Luca Macri Partner at Lamatilde
8
7
7
8.5
7.63
Michelle Smith
Michelle Smith Associate Designer at M Moser Associates
8
7
8
9
8
Weiping Lin
Weiping Lin Founder and Design Director at Lin Wei Ping Design Consulting
6
7
6.5
8
6.88
Ludmila Machado
Ludmila Machado Founder at Aurora Design
6
8
7
9
7.5
Mark Timo
Mark Timo Founder at De Interieur Club
8
7
7
8
7.5
Filip Milovanovic
Filip Milovanovic Design Director at Yabu Pushelberg
This project is interesting because...
8
7
7
8.5
7.63
Terry Xu
Terry Xu Chief Designer at Masanori Design Studio
8
8
7
8
7.75
Drew Gilbert
Drew Gilbert Design Manager at OBMI
7.22
6.98
7.14
8.5
7.46
Apoorva Shroff
Apoorva Shroff Founder at lyth Design
5
5
5
6
5.25
Llisa Demetrios
Llisa Demetrios Chief Curator at The Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity
8
7
7
8
7.5
Isabelle Kievenheim
Isabelle Kievenheim Head of Store Development at & Other Stories H&M Group
7
8
7
9
7.75
Alessandro Ranaldi
Alessandro Ranaldi Head of Workplace Consultancy at Foster and Partners
8
7
7
9
7.75
Jai Kumaran
Jai Kumaran Partner at West of West
The project demonstrates a consiste...
9
8
8
9
8.5
Juan Alberto Andrade
Juan Alberto Andrade Founder at Juan Alberto Andrade
7.73
7.8
7.69
8.39
7.9
Marcel Häusler
Marcel Häusler Creative Director at Karl Anders
8
8
7
8
7.75
Yuan Jiang
Yuan Jiang Cofounder at Soda
5
6
5
5
5.25
Yuanman Huang
Yuanman Huang Cofounder and Creative Designer at GS Design
7.54
7.13
7.44
7.44
7.39
Client
Oregon State Parks and Oregon Parks Forever
Floor area
1500 ㎡
Completion
2019
Photographer
Structural Engineer
Landscape Architect
General Contractor

Site-specific design has to begin from the place, selecting materials that resonate with the context, history, and resources of the region. Part of the new 8,000-acre Oregon State Park, the Cottonwood Canyon Experience Center was designed to create a destination in the remote central Oregon canyon. Rooting the Center in the place began by selecting a challenging but important material: Juniper. An invasive and abundant species in Central Oregon, Juniper does not enjoy a fond reputation—the current public and private landowner response has been to cut, pile, and burn the trees. Studies show a decreased number of animals, birds, and butterflies where Juniper propagates. In a dry landscape, water is paramount—and Juniper trees steal a lot of it. Juniper growth has also been shown to significantly increase soil erosion. Despite the challenges, Seattle-based architecture firm Signal Architecture + Research and the Oregon State Parks Forever aimed to use as much Juniper as possible, to set an example of how beautiful the wood could be and what a resource it could be to the community. The architects collaborated with forestry management to build a market example. The wood was used on the interior and exterior of the Experience Center, as well as for signage and fencing. The wood used for the signage and fencing was sourced from the private lands of Earl Mortimer, near Mitchell, Oregon, about ninety miles from the new State Park. The majority of the wood, however, was sourced through Kendall Derby of “In the Sticks: Sawmill, Kiln & Lumber Warehouse” located in Fossil, Oregon, a mere 45 miles from the park. Specializing in Juniper milling, Derby was able to work with the challenging species. The wood is prone to movement, driven by the presence of knots, the taper of the grain, and the pitch. The finest timbers are free of heart center (FOHC), have a straight grain, and limited knot size. As a generally small diameter tree with a propensity for knots and lots of tapering, Juniper does not compare well to traditional timbers—it, therefore, is not structural, clear, or quarter sawn. The result of the extra effort is a humble structure in contextual and material alignment with the place. The color of the building blends into the Canyon effortlessly, emanating a sense of belonging. Oregon State Park’s hope for the Experience Center was facilitating interpretation—communication going beyond information, revealing what things mean and why they matter—to connect people to the place. The material used to create the space in which visitors stand is not merely beautiful, it is meaningful, and it brings up a story of history, habit, and research, and innovation. In this way, Signal created a facility nestled in the Canyon in several ways, both inviting to visitors and familiar to locals. Connecting visitors with local natural resources in tangible ways is a means to help root and connect the community today, and to set a course towards a community of the future. Plus, closely related to aromatic cedar, the wood smells beautiful on the interior. The Experience Center will serve Oregon State Parks as a capstone gathering place amongst the rich scenic landscape of Central Oregon, connecting stories of history with programming and outdoor experiences for future generations. At the heart of Signal’s practice is a commitment to designing for the specificity of the place—this meant selecting materials that resonated with the texture, history, and natural resources of the Canyon, and creating a place that is at home in its context.