Patterns for Rain: Exploring a Stormwater First Pattern Language for Campus Development

Abstract

To robustly implement low impact development stormwater solutions, the University of Oregon would benefi t from using a pattern language approach to plan East Campus. Most stormwater on the UO campus now disappears into pipes and is accelerated away to the Millrace and Willamette River. These practices exacerbate flooding, damage water habitats and contribute pollution to stormwater in the Willamette Basin, particularly from streets. Without an integrative stormwater management plan, the UO risks loosing the valuable opportunity to change this age-old habit and use one of their most abundant resources to create a ‘campus water aesthetic.’ A series of design experiments for creating stormwater infrastructure systems on East Campus were produced. Proposed stormwater runoff management strategies indicated what type of structural development could be built and where. These six alternative designs were evaluated against a set of UO Pattern Language Standards and stormwater issues appropriate to the design concept. The designs were evaluated against a criteria and ranking outcomes were presented graphically to visually show the strengths and weaknesses of each design. This was followed by a fi nal design critique for each of the six-alternative design. The product of this process was a set of Stormwater First Patterns for the University of Oregon’s East Campus.