2008 ASCE North Coast Chapter Project of the Year

The Humboldt County Office of Education (HCOE) Educational Resource Center was completed in January 2009. Extensive site design was required to develop the site due to geologic setback restrictions on the project parcel and additional buffer setbacks for Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Areas (ESHA), including tidal wetlands, in the adjacent Cooper’s Canyon.

The 6,500 square foot facility and associated parking areas required a reduced buffer width from the Cooper’s Canyon ESHA to accommodate the proposed project within the building envelope. The reduced buffer was designed to function in a capacity to best protect the ecological function of the ESHA. Due to the lack of any significant ecotones, or edge communities, within the lower portion of the site, the solution for the reduced buffer zone was to create a functional ecotone in this area.

The ecotone was designed to provide a functional buffer between the hardscape of the building and parking lot and the ESHA that it is intended to protect. The ecotone includes a bioretention cell, designed to capture and filter runoff from the developed project areas, and a low-gradient vegetated drainage swale, designed to route treated runoff from the northern portion of the site to an existing swale that discharges to Cooper’s Canyon.

Upon completion of the facility construction, the grounds and ecotone areas were landscaped utilizing plant species native to Humboldt County. The ecotone was also planted with native herbs, shrubs, and trees. It is our opinion that the reduced buffer for this project will not only fulfill its function as an effective buffer to the ESHA, but the creation of an ecotone will establish lasting ecological benefits to Cooper’s Canyon, especially in comparison to pre-construction site conditions.

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