ISLAND STATIONPROBLEM: Transform a decommissioned coal power plant and its surrounding land along the Mississippi river into a usable site for the National Park Service and St Paul residents alike.In "The World Without Us," Alan Weisman explores how our planet would respond without the relentless pressures of the human presence. By adapting that concept into a design scope for Island Station, a mysterious landscape focused around urban degradation has been imagined.PROGRAM: Multiple program elements have been applied to the site in this project. The main non-landscape elements include National Park Service offices, an REI canoe outlet that will be used with a new Urban Canoe Wilderness program, museum space, and research/classroom facilities. The original building on site will be renovated, yet keep many of its original bones. The canoe rental program takes advantage of the unique history of the site. Using water intake tunnels previously used to collect water to cool the coal, the canoers will travel through history to return their canoes, adding to the educational value of the program. Old barges are used to create extra gathering space for the public, and NPS employees, as well as adding a cafe space directly behind the building. Grassy pave is used to create an expandable parking area, to accommodate the NPS employees most days, but also can accommodate a greater group of visitors on popular canoeing days during the summer months. An exciting ecological corridor is threaded through the entire site, to aid migratory birds and other wildlife with their travel along the Mississippi river. High quality habitat is restored in a corridor like fashion, traveling all the way through the existing building. In the main entrance, vegetation climbs and catches on existing steel beams, while trees grow up from the ground in the center. The trail system can be described as similar to "animal trails" as they meander through the site following the topography and change in vegetation. Flooding that is common on the site also dictates when certain routes are naturally open, to humans and wildlife alike. Patio gathering spaces are recreated using remnant material from the building renovation. An old stream corridor located on the site is reconstructed into a chain of wetlands, to help control flooding.

Master PlanISLAND STATIONPROBLEM: Transform a decommissioned coal power plant and its surrounding land along the Mississippi river into a usable site for the National Park Service and St Paul residents alike.In "The World Without Us," Alan Weisman explores how our planet would respond without the relentless pressures of the human presence. By adapting that concept into a design scope for Island Station, a mysterious landscape focused around urban degradation has been imagined.PROGRAM: Multiple program elements have been applied to the site in this project. The main non-landscape elements include National Park Service offices, an REI canoe outlet that will be used with a new Urban Canoe Wilderness program, museum space, and research/classroom facilities. The original building on site will be renovated, yet keep many of its original bones. The canoe rental program takes advantage of the unique history of the site. Using water intake tunnels previously used to collect water to cool the coal, the canoers will travel through history to return their canoes, adding to the educational value of the program. Old barges are used to create extra gathering space for the public, and NPS employees, as well as adding a cafe space directly behind the building. Grassy pave is used to create an expandable parking area, to accommodate the NPS employees most days, but also can accommodate a greater group of visitors on popular canoeing days during the summer months. An exciting ecological corridor is threaded through the entire site, to aid migratory birds and other wildlife with their travel along the Mississippi river. High quality habitat is restored in a corridor like fashion, traveling all the way through the existing building. In the main entrance, vegetation climbs and catches on existing steel beams, while trees grow up from the ground in the center. The trail system can be described as similar to "animal trails" as they meander through the site following the topography and change in vegetation. Flooding that is common on the site also dictates when certain routes are naturally open, to humans and wildlife alike. Patio gathering spaces are recreated using remnant material from the building renovation. An old stream corridor located on the site is reconstructed into a chain of wetlands, to help control flooding.

ISLAND STATIONPROBLEM: Transform a decommissioned coal power plant and its surrounding land along the Mississippi river into a usable site for the National Park Service and St Paul residents alike.In "The World Without Us," Alan Weisman explores how our planet would respond without the relentless pressures of the human presence. By adapting that concept into a design scope for Island Station, a mysterious landscape focused around urban degradation has been imagined.PROGRAM: Multiple program elements have been applied to the site in this project. The main non-landscape elements include National Park Service offices, an REI canoe outlet that will be used with a new Urban Canoe Wilderness program, museum space, and research/classroom facilities. The original building on site will be renovated, yet keep many of its original bones. The canoe rental program takes advantage of the unique history of the site. Using water intake tunnels previously used to collect water to cool the coal, the canoers will travel through history to return their canoes, adding to the educational value of the program. Old barges are used to create extra gathering space for the public, and NPS employees, as well as adding a cafe space directly behind the building. Grassy pave is used to create an expandable parking area, to accommodate the NPS employees most days, but also can accommodate a greater group of visitors on popular canoeing days during the summer months. An exciting ecological corridor is threaded through the entire site, to aid migratory birds and other wildlife with their travel along the Mississippi river. High quality habitat is restored in a corridor like fashion, traveling all the way through the existing building. In the main entrance, vegetation climbs and catches on existing steel beams, while trees grow up from the ground in the center. The trail system can be described as similar to "animal trails" as they meander through the site following the topography and change in vegetation. Flooding that is common on the site also dictates when certain routes are naturally open, to humans and wildlife alike. Patio gathering spaces are recreated using remnant material from the building renovation. An old stream corridor located on the site is reconstructed into a chain of wetlands, to help control flooding.

Island Station Presentation Boards