Our Office and Landscape
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Get inspired!
Our office and landscape showcase some of the many practices we promote and help people learn about.
- With the water-saving features, wildlife habitats and water quality treatments we’ve installed, our landscape demonstrates key urban conservation practices. Contact us to ask for a tour.
- We have signs throughout the landscape explaining each feature, so you can tour the site even when the office building is closed.
- We care about accessibility. Our parking area is flat with ADA spots and a ramp for getting into our building. The paths through our landscape are made of well-packed crushed gravel. We also offer covered bike parking and nearby bus stops.
Please contact us with your accessibility needs.
If you would like to visit us and require accommodation or translation services, we’re here to help. Please contact us at least 48 hours before your visit.
Our Historic Building
Built in 1904 at 5211 N. Williams Avenue in the historic Albina neighborhood, our office was originally a family residence. In 1924 the building became a women’s hospital and maternity ward, and by 1954 it was Vann’s Mortuary – the first African American funeral home in Oregon, which employed Mrs. Roberta Vann, the state’s first licensed female mortician.
We purchased the home from Noell Webb in January 2008.
Conservation Features
Naturescaping
Our landscape features 100+ different native species, showcasing their beauty, color and variety. Once established, native plants need little to no watering or fertilizing. They are also less susceptible to pests, and they attract a variety of native birds and butterflies.
Learn more about the benefits of native plants.
Ecoroof or Greenroof
The plants and soil on the ecoroof help absorb rainfall. In addition, the vegetation provides pollinator habitat and helps cool the air – reducing summer temperatures on the roof. A bonus is that the layers protect the roof from the elements and are estimated to double its lifespan.
An ecoroof weighs significantly more than a conventional roof, so it was necessary to make significant structural reinforcements to the building to be able to handle the weight of the plants, water and soil.
Containing the Rain
Our landscape is built to absorb rainfall. In addition to the ecoroofs, which absorb up to 60% of the rain that falls on them, we disconnected our downspouts from the sewer pipes so that we could direct runoff from our roof to five rain gardens in our landscape. These rain gardens also absorb any stormwater that flows off our building, sidewalks, etc. This provides free water to our landscape plants and helps reduce the amount of pollution that makes its way into our streams.
Learn more about rain gardens.
Pervious Paving
Rain soaks down deep into the ground through pervious surfaces used on our walkways and parking lot. That means no polluted runoff, which is much better for rivers and streams.
Composting Toilet
Did you ever think about the fact that our toilets use clean, fresh drinking water to flush our waste? Inside our office, we showcase a different kind of water conservation. Our composting toilet uses nature’s natural processes to handle human waste without flushing valuable clean water. It is a miniature, on-site waste treatment plant right beneath your feet. Best of all, unlike a latrine, it doesn’t generate any bad smells!
More Features
Inside Our Building
- Metal roof: We were careful to select metal roof shingles that don’t contain or are coated with zinc. Stormwater runoff that contains zinc is harmful to salmon and other fish.
- Insulated window shades
- Cloth hand towels that are washed and reused
- On-demand water heating
- Sectional carpeting to reduce materials use
In the Landscape
- Large woody debris added to the landscape to provide wildlife habitat
- Corner bench and pathways are made of recycled concrete
