2023 Company Retreat

Since the pandemic, the Lotus team has expanded remotely beyond the Bay Area, with employees hailing from the Pacific Northwest, up the Rockies, and across to the East Coast. While we love seeing everyone in our weekly lunchtime staff meetings on Teams, there’s no replacement for spending time all together in the same place to exchange ideas, problem-solve, catch up….and go on safari?!… That’s right - thiis year, Lotus brought together the entire team from across four states for our a first-ever overnight retreat in Santa Rosa, hosted at Safari West. The team kicked off the morning with small-group workshops and breakout activities to envision company goals, culture, ways to balance the convenience of remote work and the collaborative benefits of in-person interaction, and how to best align projects with Lotus’ values and mission.

Of course, no trip to Safari West would be complete without a tour of its 400-acre free-range preserve. With important business planning and staff recognition awards wrapped up, it was time for the retreat’s main event. Starting with a walking tour of the preserve’s aviary habitats, our expert guides shared a brief history of the safari’s conservation mission and introduced us to a flamboyance of flamingos and other colorful birds before guiding us on a grand tour of the preserve in restored military jeeps. Complete with the sweltering inland air of late spring to properly transport us to the African savanna, we not only saw unique mammals like the aoudad, but learned fascinating trivia, while taking turns braving the blazing sun to enjoy prime views from the rooftop seats.

As our day at the safari wrapped up and evening crept in, the team headed up to a house nestled in the hills of Santa Rosa for sunset drinks by the pool and dinner locally catered by Epicurean Escape, taking advantage of the beautiful weather and setting to share good food and laughs with each other. Though departing early the next morning was a struggle for some, the retreat was a wonderful reminder of why we all have chosen to work together at Lotus to tackle projects that seek new ways of protecting and managing water resources for our communities.

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A playful baby southern white rhino, the crowd favorite

Team Events in 2022

Always up for taking advantage of gorgeous weather in the Bay and opportunities to break up the routine of WFH, Zoom calls, GIS, or H&H modelling, the Lotus team still finds time to get together for outdoor fun, food, laughs…and a rare chance to see each other IRL!

Spring Fling // Oakland Waterfront

Our spring event was the perfect opportunity to check out Brooklyn Basin and Township Commons, a beautiful public park plaza on the Oakland waterfront, whose design by Einwiller Kuehl integrates community priorities, sea level rise adaptation, and sustainable stormwater features with the area’s rich shipping history.

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After an amazing lunch at Brotzeit Lokal biergarten (Oktoberfest in May, because why not?), we strolled (and kayaked!) along the water to Township Commons for music, suprisingly competitive games of Spikeball and Throw Throw Burrito, and just kicking it. Throughout the afternoon, we observed how thoughtful public spaces like the Brooklyn Basin can recall its historic past in design elements echoing the spacing of the former loading docks. We also saw how spaces can adapt to a post-Covid world; the large, open spaces at the Basin easily allowed for social distancing, while its waterfront location lends itself to be a destination for all kinds of recreation and activities. It was wonderful to see the park full of people roller skating, running, playing with their dogs, and to be reminded how important shared open spaces are to creating connection and community.

(footage courtesy of Brooklyn Basin/Township Commons)

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Fall Picnic // Presidio of San Francisco

Once again inspired by innovative design and a new waterfront park, the Lotus team gathered for an afternoon picnic at San Francisco’s new Presidio Tunnel Tops Park in early October. Over frosty drinks, a spread from Souvla and Gregory’s Underground Bakery, and frisbee with furry friends, the team enjoyed a chilly but beautiful sunset while exploring the 14-acre park overlooking Crissy Field and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Despite the wind and a strong appearance by Karl the Fog, we toured the grounds to appreciate various design elements included by the James Corner Field Operations team. Partitioned spaces of lawns, meadows, outlooks, and outposts throughout the park allow for varied programming and a plethora of gatherings to take place simultaneously. Imaginative nature-inspired seating areas made of tree trunks, reclaimed wood, and boulders are sprinkled throughout for visitors to take a load off and enjoy the views. The design also incorporates bioretention areas to manage stormwater, infiltration galleries for groundwater recharge, and sea level rise and saltwater intrusion measures along the park’s lower outpost play area.

We had a blast together and look forward to exploring other new parks being built around the Bay, including India Basin Waterfront Park and Lotus’ own Mission Bay Bayfront Park!

Breaking Ground: New California College of the Arts Campus

Despite a prolongued delay due to the ongoing pandemic, construction for the new California College of the Arts (CCA) extension campus in San Francisco succesfully resumed in 2022. The CCA gathered with the community, city officials, and the project team in November to officially celebrate with a ceremonial groundbreaking and reception showcasing the campus’ vision of sustainability.

Designed by a team led by Studio Gang, the new campus will feature overlapping courtyards and plazas that tie in a campus vision of interdisciplinary practice, engagement, and connection to the surrounding urban neighborhood. Both the construction process and the completed campus’ functionality are meant to be resource efficient. Lotus provided all civil engineering design for the campus and public realm spaces from concept phase through final design, and continues to provide support during construction.

live webcam of the work site

“To fuel culture and industry, a great city needs a great art school. CCA is building the most exciting urban art and design campus in the country, the only independent, privately endowed art and design school in Northern California. We educate students to meet the many challenges of our world with creative problem-solving, to become the innovators and game-changers of the future,” said Stephen Beal, President of CCA. “We know that diverse perspectives and experiences are critical to innovation and that educating students from diverse backgrounds is essential to realizing the full potential of art and design to positively impact the future of our communities,” said President Beal. “These valued organizations share our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in the arts and design. Together, we are empowering talented students from historically underinvested communities to focus not only on their education but on becoming creative leaders who will make powerful contributions to shape our world.”

We’re excited to watch this project unfold and come to life!

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat...and WATER!

CAUTION!

sous-chefs @ work

You know what they say about company culture:

“A team that okonomiyakis together, stays together. ”

Joking aside, Lotus Water fully embraced the spirit of okonomi (“what you like”) and yaki (cooked”), by taking time to enjoy each other’s company, learning some tasty new culinary skills, and celebrating a successful 2019 with a home(office)-cooked meal with the folks at 18 Reasons.

The cooking class and menu were collectively chosen by Team Lotus as our company’s annual holiday event. Everyone had a blast in the kitchen, from mandolining carrots, searing pork belly, flipping okonomiyaki pancakes, to whipping up matcha soufflés…and of course EATING with each other and looking forward to another big year in 2020!

Want to put on your chef’s toque? Menu + recipes here!

Half Dome Village vs Camp Curry...?

Ahead of the restoration of historic National Park Service placenames, Team Lotus hit up Yosemite in July for its 2019 Leadership Retreat, using the 12-hour out-and-back trek up Half Dome as an opportunity to bond, conquer some serious vertigo, appreciate some of California's natural beauty, and reaffirm company culture + business strategy goals.

Green Thumbs + Green Nodes for Visitacion Valley

Under sunny skies, community members and local officials gathered Saturday to celebrate the reopening of the newly spruced up McLaren Community Garden, which features a series of rain gardens designed by Lotus as part of the SFPUC’s Visitacion Valley Green Nodes project. The new green infrastructure will manage 800,000 gallons of stormwater each year from approximately 1.5 acres of impervious surface, while providing a pedestrian and habitat connection to McLaren Park from Leland Avenue. “I am thrilled to see the community and environmental improvement projects at McLaren Park,” said Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco). “We are lucky this year to have gotten so much rain, but that’s not always the case. The new rain garden will help us to reuse hundreds of thousands of gallons of rainwater each year. We need more projects like these that bring benefits to local communities while helping advance our broader environmental goals.” The ribbon-cutting ceremony was followed by community yoga, gardening activities, and a walking tour of the rain gardens where community members were able to see the bioretention areas in action after the rainy week. Attendees also learned about how the City is implementing green infrastructure through capital projects, programs, and grants to sustainably manage stormwater. Read more about the Visitacion Valley Green Nodes here!

New GI Grant Program is a HIT!

The SFPUC GI Grant Program has launched!  Lotus helped developed the program and will be providing ongoing technical support during implementation.  The first public workshop about the program sold out with over 100 attendees, and the first applicant has already submitted!  The SFPUC aims to award $6M in GI grants during the first two years of the program, with up to $2M max per project. Learn more about the program and how a grant could benefit you!

Holidays @660 Mission

Taking advantage of our wonderful new shared space, Lotus celebrated our first holiday season at 660 Mission with our friends and neighbors at SITELAB. After a hard day’s work, everyone was treated to a Winter Wonderland-themed happy hour, complete with a lively white elephant gift exchange that went into extra innings, fueled by the office’s creative spirit...along with a tasty, Spiked Cocoa Bar featuring a homemade hot chocolate recipe!

New Kids On The Block

What do you get when you mix great people who share a passion for engineering innovation, collaborative design, sustainability, and add a splash of water? Welcome to 660 Mission, Lotus’ new 4,700 square-foot home and office space shared with SITELAB Urban Studio in San Francisco’s dynamic SOMA neighborhood.

The two firms celebrated our new space with an Open House in October with friends, colleagues, and clients. We delighted our guests with a gourmet spread from Oakland’s Roux and Vine, sweet treats from Churn Urban Creamery, and craft brews from Black Hammer, including the limited release Sea Puppy created in homage to the Embarcadero Sea Wall.

We were thrilled to see so many familiar faces and are loving our new digs!