Click to enlarge these images.
Babbitt Warehouse
Project Approach
The Babbitt Warehouse — a two-story, concrete building — was constructed to house the Pendleton Wholesale Business on the ground floor with apartments on the second floor. It sits on a small, rocky hill surrounded by ponderosa pine and Gambel’s oak trees. Our goals were to reconstruct the landscape using drought-tolerant plants and to recycle rainwater runoff from the roof.
Project Scope & Design Features
Schaafsma Design built the irrigation system and planted a screen of incense cedars mixed with Arizona cypress on the south side of the property. This screen helps block out the adjacent building next door while maintaining a view of the forest. Native shrubs were planted around the building as well as piñon pine. Water from the roof is channeled into 4-inch pipes that lead to a large French drain in front of the building. This drain is lined with landscape fabric and filled with cobbles that were left over from construction. A penstemon and native grass garden grows above the drain.
Awards
In 2007, Schaafsma Design won an award from the Arizona Native Plant Society for this project.
Since we completed this work, the plant palette has increased in size and variety with the help of the building’s owner, Jim Babbitt.
