The Vineyards at Porter Ranch

Los Angeles, California

Cascading water features honor 9/11 memorial fountain while enhancing experiential retail center.

In Spring 2019 the Porter Ranch neighborhood of Los Angeles, California welcomed The Vineyards at Porter Ranch, a 220,000 square-foot lifestyle center that embodies the very latest in retail development: experiential retail.

Inspired by the most elegant and eclectic wine-making regions in California, the expansive center offers guests a variety of walkable amenities, play areas, gathering/event spaces, and dining experiences, as well as two stunning water features engineered and built by OTL in partnership with Moorefield Construction, Inc.

While each water feature serves as a central gathering place for guests to relax and enjoy, one of the fountains also honors the beautifully moving National September 11 Memorial fountains in New York City – albeit on a scale that aligns with the lifestyle center’s needs.

 

IDEA

The client envisioned an iconic fountain featuring a cascading water effect inspired by and paying homage to the water flow at the National September 11 Memorial.

OTL’s artisans created a collection of artificial boulders around and within the fountain’s basin which help geologically tie it into its surroundings in the north valley.

OTL’s design and construction team worked with landscape architect LRM Landscape Architecture and project architect Architects Orange to bring this vision to life.

To accomplish this, OTL designed a 44-foot long ‘L’-shaped stainless-steel weir that re-creates the water effect experienced at the larger-scale memorial fountain.

During planning, OTL’s artisans created a custom mock-up that was designed, constructed, tested, and shared with the client before fabrication to ensure that the effect would achieve all project goals.

One primary variation between the new fountain at The Vineyards and the one at the World Trade Center Memorial is a difference in scale; as a result, OTL carefully refined the detailing of the texture on the weir in order to create an effect that is similar to the national memorial, making it recognizable to the general public.

Creating the effect successfully required perfectly leveling the weir and making sure it was free of warpage. The OTL team implemented adjustable supports spaced underneath the weir to achieve this perfect leveling after installation.

OTL also designed and constructed a second fountain within the lifestyle center to embody the beauty of reflection. This fountain was designed with infinity weirs and custom SS receivers, creating five water spouts that appear to flow into a lower, static basin without creating any splash, ripples, or waves. By creatively integrating static and dynamic water flow, OTL was successful in accomplishing a powerful balance of movement and stillness.

 

IMPACT

The cascading water features created by OTL provide this destination shopping center with two balanced enhancements – delivering both a stirring and a calming feeling to visitors and guests at The Vineyards at Porter Ranch. The fountains evoke a relaxing backdrop to the hustle and bustle of the retail center.

In addition, by paying tribute to the 9/11 World Trade Center Memorial, the water features afford guests the opportunity to connect with a national monument located on the other side of the country and experience its significance in a meaningful way in their local community, adding another dimension to this experiential retail center.

The water features at The Vineyards at Porter Ranch are more than just breathtaking decor – they represent a monument to our endurance as a nation that guests will appreciate for years to come.