Taking cues from Colman Tower’s architecture, Weber Thompson’s landscape architects created a design that is simplicity itself – with clean, pure lines and strong minimal plant palette.
The landscape is focused in four areas: The ground level plaza, within which sits a transparent, two story structure called The Cube; the public terrace on the roof of the cube; the bio-retention garden on level six; and the top level roof deck.
On Columbia Avenue, adjacent to and under the Colman Ferry pedestrian bridge, WT’s designers created a grove of honeylocust trees that encapsulates The Cube and its granite plinth. The honeylocust trees’ fine foliage reflects The Cube’s delicate transparency and frames the pedestrian bridge and sidewalk. Above The Cube is a roof terrace with wood IPE decking and small trees creating a public oasis. On ground level new street trees and fragrant ground cover plantings line Western and shade garden understory on Marion Avenue soften the urban edge.
On the sixth level of the building bio-retention planters of native plants catch and store roof rain water and create a visual amenity for the surrounding resident units.
The roof top level is the hub of Colman Tower’s amenity spaces. Simple, plantings define outdoor sitting areas with long low planters filled with ornamental grasses creating foreground views from the indoor amenity spaces. The main roof garden feature is a reflecting pool with a tigerwood platform, wide enough for lounging. A large specimen Japanese Maple anchors one end of the pool and creates a focal point.