Helping Youth Find Their Spark
Camp Fire Columbia, Camp Namanu Accessibility & Inclusion Redesign
Civic and Public
Over a century ago when Camp Fire Columbia was founded, its vision was to empower female youth by providing leadership opportunities and outdoor experiences during a time in U.S. history when these prospects were not readily available. The youth development nonprofit expanded their programming in the 1970’s to include the full gender spectrum. Today, Camp Fire Columbia serves Oregon with a mission to help people from historically oppressed communities - with an emphasis on supporting LGBTQIA2S+ youth in particular - build lasting, equitable, and caring relationships with nature, others, and themselves.
Camp Namanu is Camp Fire Columbia’s flagship program and one of the largest and oldest youth camps in the region. Situated on a beautiful 550 acres of forest and meadow along the Sandy River just east of Portland, Oregon, campers have been coming from around the region for almost 100 years.
In 2021, the nonprofit began collaborating with ZGF to explore updates to Camp Namanu’s facilities. They wanted to expand in place to meet the needs of future generations, including improving equity and accessibility for people with disabilities, better amenities for campers across the gender spectrum and those questioning their gender, and for individuals with neuro-sensitivity. Together, ZGF and Camp Namanu landed on a phased approach to a series of upgrades that will provide the foundation for another century of camp.
Location
Sandy, Oregon
Square Feet
7200
Completion date
2023
Project Component
Architecture services
Interior design and space planning
Accessibility and inclusion strategy
The stone fire pit forms the heart of the Sherwood cabin cluster and invites campers to socialize from day to night.
Three new cabins are designed with significant input from a diverse array of youth campers and will serve the next generation of guests.
Camp Namanu offers gratitude for the 552 acres of land, for those who have stewarded it for generations, and for the opportunity to study, learn, work, and be in community in this place. We are grateful to the Molalla, Kalapuya, Chinook and Clackamas tribes.
Camp Namanu Land Acknowledgement
Upholding a Legacy of Inclusion and Accessibility
Serving and empowering youth is at the forefront of Camp Fire Columbia and this project was no exception. Throughout the process Camp Namanu committed to listening to its staff, past and current campers, and young camp counselors who have recently transitioned from campers themselves to early leadership roles. Following the camp mission of lifting young people’s voices and discovering who they are, ZGF held 2 large group engagement sessions with 150+ people, smaller group breakout sessions, and 2 events specifically engaging with the camp’s LGBTQIA2S+ population. The team also focused on design solutions to improve accessibility and ensure that camp facilities are free of fire, life safety, structural and environmental hazards.
The first phase was completed in the summer of 2022 and reimagines one of the oldest cabin clusters on site, the Sherwood Unit. On the exterior, an updated landscape surrounds the Sherwood cabins and provides ADA accessible pathways for campers with mobility issues, giving everyone access to the same front door. Providing sightlines and balancing safety with privacy was key, but at the same time, the unit needed to establish a communal experience.
Guests enter the new cabins from a large wooden deck – perfect for lounging in rocking chairs for story time with ample space for mobility equipment.
The cabin design incorporates exposed structural members on the walls and ceilings with clerestories to admit light and fresh air from above.
The design of the new cabins balances the dual need for group connection and individual privacy, with careful consideration for the psychological safety of the campers. On one side is a horseshoe shaped bunk area with five bunks and a gathering space in the middle; sitting opposite is an alcove for two staff beds and a shared accessible restroom. The addition of an indoor bathroom offers staff and campers relief in the middle of the night in the building where they sleep rather than forcing young people to walk outside in the dark to the existing communal bathroom.
The idea of designing for separation between staff and campers while maintaining a visual connection of the spaces was important. Each bunk has its own individual operable window, a reading light and outlet, and private storage space that allows each camper to have individual control over their space while still being part of the whole.
The private bathrooms and changing rooms offer a safe and private space for nonbinary people and people who are transitioning, something ZGF heard was critical in listening sessions with campers.
Restrooms inside the cabins also reduces barriers to outdoor education by helping to ease the anxiety of parents and campers who are not accustomed to the outdoors.
Keeping the Connection to Nature
One of the tenets of this project was sustainable preservation. Upholding the historic character and craftmanship of the facilities, ensuring ample natural daylight, and maintaining the camp’s aesthetic of simple, natural materials was essential. The camp also wanted to continue to utilize its resources with the utmost regard for the natural environment and provide educational moments for budding environmental stewards.
Camp Namanu's forests are FSC certified and managed by Trout Mountain Forestry, a company that manages many small forests within the Pacific Northwest. The camp worked directly with a forester on staff to selectively and sustainably harvest the trees that needed to be removed for the project. Cabin locations and pathways were shifted based on the trees that were scheduled to be cut and those that needed to stay.
The cut trees were moved south to a small local mill, Kaster's Kustom Cutting, and ultimately returned to the camp site to be used for construction of the new Sherwood cabins.
Fun fact: roughly 60,000 square feet of excess Camp Namanu wood was purchased by the Port of Portland and found its home just 30 miles away at the PDX Airport! This wood has become part of the new 9-acre wooden roof for the PDX main terminal, accounting for approximately 10% of the airport’s total roof lattice area.
In line with Camp Namanu’s values of resource conservation and long-term durability, the Sherwood Unit decks are constructed from Eastern Oregon juniper. Each deck is oriented toward the central fire pit, improving safety of the campers and staff by establishing visual connections between the cabins.
Community Gathering for the Next Century of Camp
ZGF’s work with Campfire Columbia continues as we collaborate on the design of a new dining hall and community gathering space. The dining hall, Raker Lodge, will replace the existing dining hall on site at Camp Namanu. Raker Lodge will reflect the same design vernacular as the Sherwood cabins and continue the camp legacy of timber buildings. Many of the most beloved facilities at Camp Namanu were designed by prominent northwest architects A.E. Doyle and Pietro Belluschi. Keeping with the tradition of these significant buildings which have all included generous porches and overhangs that can be used during Oregon’s infamous rainy weather, a porch extends the length of the new Raker Lodge. The porch encourages outdoor dining with a view of the Meadow – the recreational open space that serves as the heart of camp.
Spruce Lodge is set to be the new community gathering spot for camp with 3,500 square feet of space split between indoor and outdoor areas. The interior is designed with a flexible arrangement for to account for a multitude of group activities for Sherwood Unit campers, 96 people in all. A two-sided hearth built from the Sandy River rocks straddles the indoor and outdoor activity space. The lodge will include sleeping rooms for camp staff, a small kitchenette to accommodate large group activities, and all gender restrooms.
For Youth, By Youth: Seattle’s Youth Achievement Center
