LA 403: Natural Environments Design Focus Studio.
Spring 2024 Studio: Native plant restoration, entry plaza design, wayfinding for a multiacre preserve in Cambria, California
Project: students worked with the nonprofit Friends of Fiscalini Ranch Preserve, the organization that holds the conservation easement for a 437-acre coastal preserve in Cambria, CA. They selected optimal site locations for native, coastal sage scrub plant community renewal in a site largely covered in invasive annual grasses. Using GIS extensively, students suggested site locations based on soil type, slope aspect, and hydrology to begin replanting and researched the site clearing and restoration process. Models on coastal sage scrub plant species’ ideal conditions helped explain their concepts.
Additionally, students designed an entry plaza to invite visitors to the park as they enter the hiking paths and inform them on wayfinding, how to not track in seeds of invasive plants, and which plants and animals are indigenous to the site.
Site Background: the Fiscalini Ranch Preserve is an inviting, historic oceanfront sanctuary offering visitors a rare expanse of nature and solitude within walking distance of the California Central Coast village of Cambria. The Ranch features remarkable biological diversity with more than 150 different native plants and 430 birds, including some rare species. It is bordered on the north by a mile and a half of riparian habitat that encompasses tidal effect zones, seasonal freshwater marshes, and wetlands. The Monterey pine forest (one of five remaining native stands in the world) serves as habitat and cover for wildlife moving between the coastal range and the ocean bluffs.
The most outstanding natural feature of the preserve is the dramatic ocean bluff that runs more than a mile along the shoreline. The rocky coast rises to a 200-foot ridge with breath-taking views of migrating whales, birds, and playful otters before sloping southeastward to the willow-edged creek. Each spring, the meadows boast beautiful wildflower displays.
Student Designs
