Wenatchee Wastewater Treatment Plant

2013
Wenatchee Engineering Department & Wenatchee Arts Commission, HDR Inc, Seattle, WA

Moonbeam Lighting, Seattle, WA; Artistic Sandblasting, Snohomish, WA; Waterscapes, Whidbey Island, WA, Rauda Scale Models, Seattle, WA.

Various LED lights, computer program, aluminum, refractive tape, sandblasted glass, waterwall technology

The Wenatchee Wastewater Treatment Plant is located in downtown Wenatchee along the river that runs through town. It is unusual for a plant like this to be in such a prominent location. Given that, this project took on framing the plant as a form of biological theater — where dramatic processes happen that are essential to allowing people to live in this community as they know it. The multiple plant parts that are necessary to clear the waste and produce clean water were revealed through various layered artworks placed in multiple locations throughout the plant. The artworks took on the idea that this is a 24-hour plant with mysterious, wondrous biological processes. Bringing attention to this essential service through the artwork helped connect people to all of this. This was a design team project working within the overall design and ultimately involved sculpture fabrication, intricate plant-wide computer driven lighting, waterwalls, and etched glass panels.

View the Art Plan PDF >>

View the Lighting Plan PDF >>