The national American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) recently honored the Portland Japanese Garden‘s Cultural Crossing project with its Award of Excellence. It’s the annual awards program’s highest honor.

Garden Curator Sadafumi Uchiyama and the project’s landscape architecture firm, Walker Macy, were part of a team that included Kengo Kuma & Associates, Hacker, KPFF Consulting Engineers and Hoffman Construction. The Award of Excellence recognized: execution of details; use of a cohesive, place-based and landscape-led design approach; design excellence and technical problem-solving; and balance between Japanese and contemporary design and construction methodologies.

“The Portland Japanese Garden posed highly complex geological, environmental and site development challenges – and we were challenged to create a place that expands the definition of what a Japanese garden can be,” Walker Macy principal landscape architect Chelsea McCann stated in a press release. “The project’s success was made possible by our creative and collaborative architecture, engineering and construction partners. With a shared vision of new garden spaces that seamlessly integrated buildings and the site, our process melded science and art to create a place of meaningful, immersive experiences. This project was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Crews finished building the Cultural Crossing in April 2017. The project has garnered a number of awards, including a regional honor from Engineering News-Record and one from the American Institute of Architects‘ Portland chapter.

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The Portland Japanese Garden added to its list of honors recently when Engineering News-Record (ENR) named the Cultural Crossing expansion its project of the year in the Northwest region.

ENR covers trends as well as construction, engineering and architecture efforts across the country. The organization selects specific projects in individual regions, focusing largely on engineering and construction excellence.

The Japanese Garden project, completed in April 2017, was honored for its attention to detail, craftsmanship and complexity.

“It feels pretty good,” said Chelsea McCann, a Walker Macy principal. “We are absolutely honored to be given the top honors for the region.”

Walker Macy focused on the landscaping as part of a team that included Japanese architecture firm Kengo Kuma & Associates and local architecture firm Hacker. KPFF provided engineering services for the project and Hoffman Construction was the contractor.

“It was a really collaborative project,” McCann said. “We had wonderfully supportive partners and are really happy with the way it turned out.”

ENR isn’t the only organization that has taken notice of the garden expansion. Since debuting in April, it has been honored by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) with a people’s choice award and by the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

The AIA’s Portland chapter recognized the project with its top award in its built category. The judges called it a “serene, pilgrimage-like journey from the city to the forest, drawing each visitor into a fully immersive experience of the traditional arts and culture of Japan.”

“I think what really sets this (project) apart is that the idea was to expand beyond just being a beautiful garden,” McCann said. “They actually wanted to be able do training courses for Japanese garden design. It’s an expansion as a cultural offering.”

ENR praised the intricacies of a retaining wall as well as Kengo Kuma’s designs for buildings that included irregular geometries. Fitting all of the pieces together left virtually no margin for error. To add to that challenge, construction took place during one of Portland’s snowiest winters in years.

“It was tricky,” Hacker principal Jonah Cohen said. “Hoffman (Construction) did a herculean task.”

ENR praised the end result as “one of the most authentic Japanese gardens outside of Japan.”

“Collaborating with Kengo Kuma & Associates and garden curator Sadafumi Uchiyama was a great honor and invaluable experience for Hacker as well as for me personally,” Cohen said. “The project is a true Oregon treasure.”

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