2010 EEA National Gold Award Winner – MKA’s Magnuson Park

Gold Award – Water Resources

Magnusson Klemencic Associates (MKA) – Magnuson Park Wetlands and Athletic Fields

Client: Berger Partnership

Whether spying a Marsh Hawk soaring over wetlands, or scoring a goal on the sports fields, visitors to Magnuson Park might find it hard to imagine the site's previous life as an active military air base. Yet, in a remarkable transformation that improves upon nature, the site now boasts 28 acres of four different wetland habitats, five heavily used athletic fields, and a constant parade of visitors above, at, and below water level.

The City of Seattle's restoration plan called for a blend of active and passive uses - something the many interested citizen and environmental groups were doubtful could be accomplished without compromise. Rising to the challenge, the design team exceeded expectations in the form of high-end playing fields holistically integrated with pristine and level wetlands, a designation typically reserved for places untouched by humankind.

Critical to the transformation was a groundbreaking hydroperiod analysis developed by Magnusson Klemencic Associates (MKA) to address complex questions: How can storm water be made to flow across an almost flat site? What is the optimum number, size, depth, and location of ponds to attract and sustain the most diverse wetland habitats? Is it possible to collect, convey, and cleanse seven acres of off-site runoff before it enters the new wetlands? Will projected water-level fluctuations provide “edge habitat” sufficient to support a flourishing wetlands system?

The answer is a mix of naturalistic engineering solutions- “leaky berms,” “log weirs,” “rice paddies,” “willow-wattles” “sponges”- guiding a daisy-chain flow of water around 11 acres of new playing fields and through 63 interconnected ponds to Lake Washington’s shore. The project provides a groundbreaking example of the built environment co-existing with nature, a new model for collaborative water resource design, new analytical tools for sustainable water resource design, advanced applications of naturalist engineering interventions for water flow control, and a water management strategy that maximizes natural and human habitat.

The holistically integrated storm water solution created for Magnuson Park heals the site, increases sustainability, offers both aesthetic and active appeal, and far surpasses the City's wildest dreams.