In today's Statesman Dennis Thomspon writes about Waterplace, which held tours during a benefit "grand opening" yesterday. But he didn't mention bike parking and its bike parking looks pretty good!
As soon as you approach the main entry from the street, the small rack to the left of the entry is obvious.
The rack is visible from the street and from the building, and at night will be light by the entry way. It is away from the primary walking path to the door, and will not impede pedestrians.In addition to the bike parking out front, there is a shower on the bottom floor and there will be a larger configuration of bike parking in the back of the building, likely in the covered area of the parking structure.
We can only hope that Waterplace is swamped with bicyclists and has to add more parking!
Adequate bike parking is not the only reason to like the building, of course.
Thompson also writes
CB|Two hopes to earn a LEED Gold designation for WaterPlace for the building's many innovative and environmentally sensitive design features, Brandaw said.The wood used in interior finishes includes maple from diseased and old trees felled in Eugene and reclaimed wood from old barns around Stayton.
The window system maximizes natural light and minimizes the need for artificial illumination.
The building also makes use of its relation to Pringle Creek.
WaterPlace also was placed farther back from Pringle Creek than the previous building there, the Tudor Rose. The builders have re-established the creek bank and replanted it, restoring the riparian area.A bioswale drains and filters surface water run-off from the building and log. Pervious pavers drain the patio area.
Waterplace represents a good move and good direction in Salem architecture! Go check it out.
4 comments:
those bike racks look similar to wavy racks where you're lucky to get more than your front wheel looked up with a U-lock. eek! Wish they had used the preferred staple racks instead.
Glad you saw this!
They are exactly like wave racks...but you know, because they are located intelligently, and because there will be more bike parking in back, the rack choice seemed less troublesome.
In fact, the square bar/tube and square bends of the racks seem to echo the stair railing and the window mullions of the entry. The way the details echo is nice. So from an aesthetic angle the look totally works - and since the totality is so much better than usual for Salem, it seemed a quibble that they didn't use staple racks.
But you're right, a couple of staple racks would have been even better.
Has anyone else noticed that the new curb for the crosswalk across Liberty that links the Waterplace and the library cuts right into the bike lane as you head north on Liberty? Bike racks are swell, sure. But making cyclists cut into traffic to avoid hitting a curb? Not so awesome.
Yes, it looks bad. But the bulb-out is essentially in-line with the edge of parked cars. And while the bike lane striping angles towards the bulb-out, the car lane+bike lane width doesn't appear to narrow. I took photos and may post on it separately, but it seemed more like an annoyance than bike lane fail.
What do others think? Perhaps it's more significant than I supposed?
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