Port Orchard council reviews Community Event Center design; council favors glass canopy, nano walls and nautical playground sculpture

Rice Fergus Miller architect Dean Kelly presented refined designs for the Port Orchard Community Event Center and adjacent waterfront plaza at the Oct. 28 council meeting, seeking council feedback on several late-stage elements including second-floor restrooms, folding "nano" wall systems, a converted meeting room, and plaza furnishings.

Restrooms and circulation The design team proposed gender-specific men's and women's rooms on the second floor with full-height stall privacy and a shared basin area separated by a screening wall. "We've added a wall separating the men's and the women's area, where you have kind of the hand-wash basins and things like that," Dean Kelly said, showing renderings and a rope-screen material used as a unifying design element between levels. Council members asked about privacy for handwashing and engineering progress; Kelly said the project is in late-stage construction documents (roughly 70% complete) and privacy is managed by partitions while leaving visible hand-wash areas at arrival points.

Folding walls and ballroom connectivity Kelly proposed three nano-wall folding systems: a pre-function area and two locations in the ballroom(s). When open, the walls would create a strong indoor-outdoor connection to the public deck and views of the sound. Council members endorsed the concept: "If it's all the way open ... you could have two of those nano walls open, out to the outside," Kelly explained, and the council agreed the option improves flexibility for large events.

Meeting room conversion and capacities The former co-working space was presented in three layout options (boardroom, classroom, rounds) and a hospitality counter. Designers said storage sized to hold banquet tables and chairs is planned adjacent to the space. Capacity estimates discussed in the meeting included about 60 seats for the small multipurpose room in a banquet layout and a rough estimate of about 120 for the larger upstairs configuration, though exact capacities will be finalized in the construction documents.

Outdoor plaza features and children's play On the plaza, the design team proposed two Seattle-style swings flanking the main waterfront performance area and offered two options for a children's feature: a teeter-totter or a climbing-sculpture (examples included an orca or —kraken— motif). Council members generally favored a more interactive climbing sculpture to accommodate more children at once; Council Member Diener said the orca design "offers more people more opportunity at the same time." The council asked the design team to pursue a nautical climbing structure and to present multiple options in subsequent materials.

Shade structure and materials For a smaller covered platform near the lift station, the design team proposed either a slotted metal structure or a glass canopy incorporating colored glass elements to tie into the building's palette. Several council members favored the colored glass canopy for additional light and cohesion with the building's design; the council also discussed solar panels and staff noted the roof has been structurally designed to accept future solar arrays.

Next steps and LEED target Kelly noted the team is finalizing documents for bidding and that the project is pursuing LEED Silver certification; council members asked for larger printed or electronic materials for close review. The design team will return with refined options for the climbing sculpture, canopy details, and finalized restroom signage and mirror placement.

Why it matters: The event center and plaza aim to create a year-round civic venue and waterfront destination; council direction on fixings such as nano walls, child play elements and canopy material will guide procurement and construction design in the next months.