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Singapore Changi Airport Fit&Fun Zone

RIOS reimagines the layover experience with a series of experiential zones that encourage interactivity and well-being at one of the world’s premier airports.

Aerial view of the future park featuring a fountain, play swings, and lawn at Universal Plaza.

Universal Plaza

Celebrating Our Shared Humanity and Planet

Universal Plaza creates a central gathering place for everyone with amenities and engaging elements, providing a central gathering place for everyone in Tigard, Oregon. Situated between the city’s main street and the wetlands of Fanno Creek, the project merges the urban realm and the natural world, connecting to the neighboring creek and designed with local plants and materials. Visitors will be invited into the plaza through various activations that inspire gathering, community, and play, including a new interactive water feature, a super-structure canopy, porch swings, ample seating, and community amenities. The plaza’s canopy and landscape will wrap around the water feature, creating a layered experience for exploration and discovery.

Colorful diagram representing the playfulness and connection to nature at Universal Plaza

The plaza features various activations to foster joy and connections in the community.

This public space represents a celebration of the universal elements of our planet, along with the universal values of inclusivity, justice, and freedom.

Porch swings and ample seating invite visitors to gather and play in new ways.

Site Plan

Located just outside of Portland, Oregon, the 1.2-acre site is located between the Fanno Creek Trail and Tigard’s Main Street and transit center. The site serves as a catalyst for downtown’s future redevelopment while balancing the neighborhood’s immediate needs by providing a cultural hub for the community.

Universal Plaza site plan that represents connectivity between downtown, the transit center, and Fanno Creek Trail.
Universal Plaza contextual site plan showing the placement of various park features.

Universal Plaza introduces a canopy, an interactive water feature, "porch swings," and two event lawns.

Accessibility and Landscape Design

The easily accessible plaza is designed for equitable communities by connecting downtown and the regional Fanno Creek Trail system, providing a boardwalk that promotes walking or cycling. Our design team ensured an inclusive design process where community members volunteered to become “Design Advisors” that allowed each advisor to weigh in several times on all aspects of the project. From extensive community outreach to an engaging test pilot program, the final design has universally enthusiastic support from the community.

The planting approach adapts to the Pacific Northwest ecology, which allows the landscape buffers on two sides of the plaza to bloom in a changing spectrum of colors throughout spring, summer, and early fall. The landscaped lawns also accommodate family-friendly programs all year long.

Rendering view of the entry to Universal Plaza from the future Fanno Creek boardwalk

Entry to Universal Plaza from the future Fanno Creek boardwalk.

The Canopy

The super-structure canopy will connect community rooms, concession spaces, and restrooms with a linear timber-frame structure. This will provide shade and weather protection, creating a promenade for markets, food vendors, education, and performance.

The canopy utilizes simple post-and-beam timber construction and angled steel bases to create a visually expressive and dynamic roof. One end of the canopy opens to downtown, while the other embraces the Fanno Creek landscape. 

Diagram of the roofs slats and timber canopy frame
Drawing of the timber-frame canopy connecting community rooms, concession spaces and the restrooms.

Water Feature

The heart of the plaza features a multi-functional interactive water feature. Working with leading-edge design collaborator Fluidity Design Consultants, the fountain will create an element of surprise and delight with a combination of a scrim pool, a mist feature, and choreographed tunnels of arched fountains, all of which can work in conjunction or in isolation. The design of this feature is scaled to consider both the immediate community, as well as those who seek destinations for events. As the city’s first splash pad, the water feature will create an element of surprise and provide a one-of-a-kind experience at Universal Plaza.

Rendering view of the communal picnic table and interactive water feature at Universal Plaza

At the heart of this project is the intent to foster, promote, and celebrate the entire community.

Collaborators

Client: City of Tigard

Project Manager: Shiels Obletz Johnsen

General Contractor: P&C Construction

Civil and Structural Engineer: KPFF

Water Feature Design & Engineering: Fluidity Design Consultants

MEP: Interface Engineering

Ecological Services: Pacific Habitat Services

Irrigation: Sweeney & Associates

Location

Tigard, Oregon

Year Completed

2022 (Anticipated)

Markets

Civic

Disciplines

Landscape ArchitectureUrban Design

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