The design team wanted to ensure that the best and most desirable aspects of the existing site condition we’re not infringed upon while simultaneously filling any inadequacies with energy producing educational kiosk’s. The Walkway was planned in concert with the existing dirt foot path, as to
not further intrude on the surrounding natural ecosystem. As the existing path undulates with the terrain, the proposed walkway neutralizes the terrain where necessarily for safe access. There are moments where the pathway submerges into the landscape and the existing dirt footpath is utilized, and moments where the elevated pathway safely transitions over steep terrain. To create micro destinations along this adventurous walkway, we positioned “info nodes” at strategic points. Each info node contains an educational element to edify uses of the sites ecosystem and its history. Primarily, however, the Nodes were designed to be exemplary of innovative sustainable technology. The inner nodes are solar energy collectors, while the entrance node is the public showers station that collects
runoff to re-use on site and process grey water for re-use.The Node over the wetlands is designed to harvest algae for bio-fuel through a coiled bioreactor that also filters water for the wetlands ecosystem. Overall, the design is meant to minimize the intrusiveness of human development on existing ecosystems while also trying to create an innovative and exciting experience. The design team concluded that building a bridge over train tracks would be visually obstructive to this natural landscape and a tunnel would be a great disturbance to the site. Our solution was to create a designated crossing with an “info node” nearby to display the history of the California railroad. Instead of distancing visitors from the train, we wanted to create a low impact solution that would heighten the visitor’s awareness.