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Judges in a design competition to cap Interstate 5 in Vancouver picked the one concept that unbuilds more than it builds. The team of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol and Allied Works Architecture proposes to tie downtown not just with Fort Vancouver but with the history of the soil itself.

The winning concept, announced Monday morning, seeks to heal the asphalt rift I-5 carved through the center of town, said architect Brad Cloepfil, a principal with Allied Works. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very much about repairing the earth,鈥� he said.

Although the concept lacked a signature monument 鈥� or perhaps because of that 鈥� the seven-judge panel picked it over three flashier designs, on the first ballot, unanimously. The winning concept directs attention away from itself and onto the historic site and budding downtown, said judge Pat Jollota, a city councilor and a historian.

鈥淵ou come out of the library and you鈥檙e immediately on the parade ground,鈥� Jollota said, referring to a green space on the historic site. 鈥淪ome of the others wanted to make the (freeway) lid the focal point of the community.鈥�

The design is part of the effort to replace the I-5 bridge, the multibillion-dollar Columbia River Crossing project whose future is unclear. If the bridge does get built, federal rules require the cap project to accompany it.

The cap project would span the freeway to join the Fort Vancouver national historic site with downtown. That basic mission never left the winning designers鈥� minds.

鈥淲e kept going like this 鈥� bringing our hands together and interlacing our fingers,鈥� Cloepfil said.

But the concept went deeper 鈥� into the bedrock. Kathryn Gustafson, a partner with Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, researched the geology of the area to rebuild what I-5 had destroyed.

鈥淚t鈥檚 all about the land,鈥� Gustafson said. 鈥淲hen you look at the land of Washington state, it has one of the most diverse geologies in the world.鈥�

Gustafson looked to the Mount St. Helens lava tubes, violent acts of simultaneous creation and destruction, for inspiration. In the winning concept, the freeway below becomes a grotto, with the forces of nature reshaping the landscape above.

Royce Pollard has worked on both sides of the freeway divide, as a former commander of the historic site鈥檚 Vancouver Barracks and as the current mayor. Freeway planners wounded the city more than a half-century ago, Pollard said, and that wound has festered.

鈥淭hey cut a hole right through the heart of our community,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey disconnected our history.鈥�

Fort Vancouver National Trust officials on Nov. 9 will brief the Vancouver City Council on the winning design concept and seek the council鈥檚 concurrence. They鈥檒l do the same with the trust鈥檚 own board and the National Park Service leadership team before discussing the design schedule.

Then comes the hard part, said Elson Strahan, president and CEO of the trust. Getting anything built requires an agreement on the politically perilous Columbia River Crossing bridge replacement process.

Gustafson, for one, wants to start right away. She punctuated Monday鈥檚 announcement with an exclamation: 鈥淟et鈥檚 build it!鈥� she shouted.