Growing Vine Street

Growing Vine Street is an inspirational concept developed back in the ’90’s by a group of Belltown neighborhood residents in downtown Seattle that revolves around expanding the Belltown P-Patch and merging it with the idea of turning the 8 blocks of Vine Street into a green street that would provide public access to the waterfront. These blocks are intended to act as an example for urban greening, to provide a desireable setting for pedestrians within the streetscape while capturing and treating stormwater through biofiltration and enhancing natural habitat.

The plan, via growinvinestreet.org:

“Central to the Growing Vine Street concept is the runnel, an urban stream running the street’s entire eight-block length surrounded by native greenery. Storm runoff from the roofs of buildings bordering Vine will be collected in large cisterns in each block to supply the water for the stream. As the water flows through the plantings lining the watercourse, it will be treated through the process of biofiltration, which will remove many of its impurities so that it will be clean enough to be released directly into Elliott Bay-without passing through the City’s overworked water treatment facilities.”

“Between Fifth Avenue and First Avenue, Vine Street is relatively level. In this section, the public right-of-way will be reconfigured so that one side is narrow (with a sidewalk and narrow planting strip) and the other is wide. The runnel will meander through the wide side of the street, surrounded by as much greenery as developers and residents can manage. These wide segments will form a refreshing linear park, a setting for creative public art as well as nature.”

“At First Avenue, Vine Street slopes to Elliott Avenue, where it again levels out. Here the street right-of-way will be reconfigured in a switchback alignment to allow for more dramatic water features. One such project is the Cistern Steps adjacent to the Belltown P-Patch. The Cistern Steps is planned as a series of terraced planting areas stepping down the slope. Water from the runnel will flow into the top garden, overflow into the next, and continue to a small pool at Elliott Avenue.”

The entire length of Vine Street was not intended to be built all at once but rather incrementally as new development occurs with each segment connecting into the larger plan over time. So far, two of the planned projects have been completed, the first was the Beckoning Cistern in 2003 which went in as part of the development of The 81 Vine Building. This is the first of what is planned as at least one large cistern for every block to collect rooftop runoff. The next project to follow was the Cistern Steps in 2004, the cascading water feature that runs alongside a flowing set of stairs along the edge of the Belltown P-Patch. Eventhough the entire plan has not yet been completed, the project is seen as a success, has brought about a great deal of praise and is looked upon as one of the pioneer projects of the Seattle green streets.

Beckoning Cistern
The first project to emerge from the plan, the streetscape and artwork of the Beckoning Cistern were constructed along with work at The 81 Vine Building. Local designer Buster Simpson saw inspiration from Michelangelo’s painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Like Adam reaching out to touch the hand of God, the 10-foot tall cistern is designed like a hand that reaches out over the sidewalk from a shirt sleeve and towards the downspout which leans out from the building.

The connection from the downspout to the index finger allows some of the rooftop runoff to run into the cistern with the rest cascading over and down into the water garden and series of stepped pools that run along the sidewalk along with native vegetation. A smaller vertical pipe garden also runs up the side of the building.

The Cistern Steps
The steps are an extension of the Beckoning Cistern that flow the two blocks from it’s base and alongside the Belltown P-Patch down towards the waterfront. Seattle-based firm SvR Design, an integrated group of civil engineers, landscape architects and planners provided the streetscape and stormwater design for this dramatic cascade of stormwater terraces and pedestrian steps.

“The Cistern Steps consists of a series of three terraced concrete planters tapering from a wide plaza at the alley to the narrow sidewalk right-of-way at the intersection of Vine Street and Elliott Avenue. The runnel will flow from planter to planter, ending in a pool formed from a large, rough-hewn piece of Northwest jade at the foot of the slope. In this segment of Vine Street, there is no adjacent building to feed the runnel, so water will be received from the newly constructed Vine Building across the street, which was designed with a special collection system for roof runoff just to supply the runnel.”

“Like the Beckoning Cistern, the Cistern Steps has been designed to delight pedestrians as well as to process and use roof runoff in an ecological manner. The water gardens of the planters will echo the lush greenery of the adjacent Belltown P-Patch. Even more color will be added with inlaid tile signage on the plaza walls at the alley and on the risers of the steps in the sidewalk passing between the P-Patch and the Cistern Steps. Even the stair railings will be works of art forged by Belltown’s own Black Dog Forge.”

photos (c) Lisa Town, concept graphics via growingvinestreet.org

SvR Design is also the firm responsible for the Thornton Creek Water Quality Channel previously posted about here and with an update after a rain event with pictures here.