PCC Willow Creek

At Portland Community College’s Willow Creek campus, a new academic building and transit-oriented plaza celebrate sustainability and innovation. An installation highlighting water reuse takes center stage in the plaza, featuring three buoy tubes. Each buoy tube passes through an opening in the plaza to an underground cistern, collecting runoff from the building’s roof. As water fills the cistern, the tubes slowly rise. As water is siphoned out of the cistern, the poles recede into the ground. This dynamic and interactive feature beautifully demonstrates the building’s commitment to sustainable practices.