Platt/Whitelaw Architects provided architectural design consulting services to an Engineering prime for this pump plant designated to serve and supply the community of Encanto in southeast San Diego. The firm was brought into the project by the City because the local community required the assistance of an architect to redefine the relationship of the facility to the community; specifically, its appearance and interaction with the site and neighboring areas.

The plant has been redesigned as a contemporary reflection of the architecture of the Public Works Administration program of the late 1930’s. The design was developed, presented to and approved by the community review committee in a series of workshop meetings. A walkway with a flowing pattern of smooth and aggregate concrete leads pedestrians from the street to a viewing window, framed above by a concrete panel incised with phrases describing the significance of water to different cultures. The landscape evokes the attributes of a riparian habitat in color, texture and materials, intended to attract passers-by to read and ponder the importance of water in our lives.