University of Oregon Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact by PLACE

Built in 2021 / 2025 Built Landscapes / 2025 Campuses and Corporate / 2025 Entries / Oregon / USA /
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With a commitment to creating a hub of innovation and collaboration, the Knight Center for Accelerated Scientific Impact (KCASI) launches the University of Oregon into a bold new direction of scientific discovery. Set along the south bank of the restored Millrace corridor, the site supports the alliance of science education, research, and entrepreneurship. A series of gathering spaces climbs from the water’s edge to the terrace, serving KCASI, the campus, and the community. The site assists daily circulation, ecological care, service, and informal gathering.

KCASI extends the University to the north side of Franklin Boulevard, embracing the Millrace with gathering spaces that invite people into the Knight Campus to exchange ideas and be inspired. It brings together people, ideas, and entrepreneurship, enabling translation of concepts into products that benefit society and the economy. The landscape supports this process and fosters the Knight Campus mission.

Through its location and architecture, KCASI is a key addition to the north campus and a link to the Willamette River. It serves as a circulation feature, destination, and gateway for those crossing or traveling along Franklin Boulevard. The north campus has entry points like bridges and tunnels that regulate access. Entries focus circulation through the KCASI site, creating clear wayfinding and a welcoming campus experience.

Besides informal connections, outdoor events on the Millrace Terrace and roof garden create programmable spaces of varied scales. Entry courts reinforce wayfinding and arrival. At the front, a water feature rises from Franklin Boulevard and Agate Street, inspired by natural stone formations. Along Franklin, dense plantings shelter the south entry and filter views, contrasting with the north side’s connections to nature through boardwalks and overlooks that bring people closer to the water.

As an extension of the Millrace’s riparian corridor, planting wraps the KCASI in greenery. Vegetation reaches Franklin Boulevard’s edge, letting the sidewalk dip into the site. This envelopes pedestrians in a tree-lined corridor, shielding them from traffic and linking them to campus. Students, staff, and visitors pass through campus grounds into the building. Groves of Heritage River Birch and Serviceberry filter the frontage and echo the Jaqua Center, offering dappled light to a fern-clad stormwater basin near the entry. The basin is densely planted with rush and sedge, filtering rainwater before release into the Millrace.

Millrace

Knight Campus and the Innovation District benefit from the Millrace’s renewed quality as a campus and community asset. Native vegetation restoration and water quality efforts have been amplified by dredging contaminated soils and easing side slopes, making the Millrace a vital natural resource. Boardwalks, bridges, and seating areas invite inspiration and reflection.

Southern bank alterations—slope easing, planting, tree preservation, and access—are balanced with building near the top of bank. Physical and visual Millrace connections are explored through boardwalks, overlooks, bridges, and trails.

Native plantings offer shelter and food for birds. Red Elderberry feeds over 50 bird species and some mammals. In sunny spots, native roses provide flowers for pollinators. Along the restored banks, logs, root wads, and boulders form a natural barrier. Strategically placed boulders reduce erosion, offer seating, and trap sediment.

On the second-floor terrace, native trees and ferns create a garden in the sky for gatherings or conversation. Vine Maples and Dogwood bring the Millrace canopy into the terrace understory, linking the green corridor to views of the Coburg Hills. Evergreen plantings offer year-round interest with occasional flowers. Heated benches and gas fire tables extend use. A translucent rooftop canopy offers rain protection.

Ecological Uplift

Water welcomes visitors to the Knight Campus via the Source water feature. Inside, views lead to the Millrace terrace, where a recirculating element lifts Millrace water into a basin and releases it back in a cascade of sound and energy, enriched with oxygen. Water unifies the urban south and natural north sides, bringing life and movement through the site.

KCASI enhances campus ecological diversity and expands research north of Franklin. As a north campus catalyst, the development promotes resilience, climate awareness, and Millrace restoration. The site and plantings reflect Knight Campus goals—connecting to place, supporting stewardship, and offering opportunities for research, pilot projects, and curriculum aligned with service to humanity.

• All landscape architecture offices involved in the design of landscape:
PLACE

• All architecture offices involved in the design:
Ennead Architects
Bora Architects

• Other credits:
University of Oregon
Hoffman Construction
Jacobs Consultancy
AEI Affiliated Engineers
Thorton Tomasetti
KPFF Engineers, Inc.

• Location of the project
1505 Franklin Blvd #131, Eugene, OR 97403