The Beach

As we experience dense fog and a temperature inversion in Eugene today, we thought it would be pleasant to remember “the Beach” near the University of Oregon.

In the University’s “hippie” days, the stretch of sidewalk on 13th Avenue between Alder and Kincaid Streets was dubbed “the Beach” for the throng of students who sunned themselves on the curb.

When we were designing Flock13, a recent mixed-use student housing project, we factored in this historic beach. Through its transparent ground-floor retail and open second-floor amenity room and terrace, Flock13 creates a new kind of beach with restaurants and social space facing outwards toward the street and the sun.

The intentional outward, street-level and overlook positioning contrasts with the trend in student housing toward internally focused amenities, often at roof level. This beach is for everyone—it is retail for the city, for faculty, for visitors, embedded in housing for students.

Diagram by John Rowell. Professional photo by Brian Davies. Snapshot by Greg Brokaw.