From the Field: Multi-Family

Revived cultural expression, a revitalized business core, new housing, and extensive green space were the focus of this Central District site renewal. This community features more than 500 market-rate and affordable homes and a large AmazonFresh with in-store shopping. Move-in ready micro-retail spaces provide high visibility for small local businesses.

More than an acre of open space includes a plaza that offers space for celebrations and performances. Outside, public art displays showcase the work of local Black artists, while art is incorporated throughout interior common area walls, floors, and ceilings. Permanent displays of specially sourced print fabrics and documentary photography are showcased in the artwork gallery. Take the virtual art walk here.

Townhomes located at the edges of the development create a scaled transition to the large podium-style apartment buildings with roof decks and terraced courtyards. The project team worked closely with the community to incorporate unique patterns and materials into the cladding to celebrate the neighborhood’s identity.

Early collaboration with the team allowed us to achieve special requirements for framing and assimilate complex fire and seismic separation requirements across multiple, adjacent levels of retail and residential uses and building materials. Generous landscaping incorporates complex stormwater management infrastructure (and creates new habitat for native pollinators) for this re-energized community.

Project Team: Owner: Vulcan Real Estate / Architect: Runberg Architecture Group / Civil & Structural Engineer: Coughlin Porter Lundeen / General Contractor: Exxel Pacific  / Geotechnical Engineer: GeoEngineers / Mechanical Engineer: Ecotope / Electrical Engineer: Rushing Co. / Landscape Designer: HEWITT

Find out more about the project here.

Images © Moris Moreno

The Mount Baker neighborhood is well-established but experiencing significant transformations as Seattleites discover the tree-lined boulevards and public access waterfront with views of Mount Baker just minutes from downtown.

Maddux North and Maddux South will capture an urban street experience that capitalizes on their convenient location near the Mount Baker transit station. Nearly half of the 166 units in this multi-family, affordable workforce community will be family size with two or three bedrooms, a key step in building community along this transit corridor. Amenities include a shared rooftop deck, multiple lounges, laundry facilities on each floor, and street level retail and dining options that complement others in the neighborhood.

A double whammy for the project is the presence of contaminated and liquifiable soils. Mount Baker Housing Association partnered with the Washington State Department of Ecology to remediate the industrial contamination on the brownfield site, a first-of-its-kind alliance.

Our team worked closely with Aspect Consulting and Condon Johnson to develop design criteria for the rigid inclusions, a ground improvement method effective against the contamination and liquefaction not commonly used in Seattle. Multiple vertical columns of concrete or grout were pumped through soft soils, deep enough to reach load bearing strata, then overlaid with a gravel load transfer platform (like a thick mattress).

Watch this short video from Aspect Consulting about completing the environmental cleanup. Partnering with the Washington State Dept. of Ecology, they created an important cleanup program for affordable housing in the Mount Baker neighborhood and beyond.

We also assisted the team in permitting the project under the amended Seattle Building Code that allows six-story wood-framed housing over a podium [read about these code changes in Ed. No. 6].

Project Team: Owner: Mount Baker Housing Association / Architect & Landscape Architect: Mithun / Civil & Structural Engineer: Coughlin Porter Lundeen / General Contractor: W.G. Clark Construction Company / Geotechnical Engineer & Remediation Consultant: Aspect Consulting / Mechanical Engineer: Emerald City Engineers / Electrical Engineer: Cross Engineers, Inc.

Rendering courtesy of Mithun / Image courtesy of MBH

This 250-foot, luxury residential community offers contemporary, neighborhood living within a vibrant city. Residents have easy access to the city’s transit system and are steps away from a robust collection of unique shopping and dining experiences as well as the downtown core and South Lake Union.

Two boxy towers atop the six-story podium are respectful of nearby structures, tempering the building’s mass by stepping away from the water and incorporating multiple materials in their facades. The setbacks present sweeping views of the skyline and Elliott Bay from the apartment homes and a shared rooftop deck.

Generous window walls and spacious floor plans were accomplished with a thin slab between floors. A cascading tower above the podium maximized unit count, while the addition of a central core and a T-shaped wall provide seismic stability between the high-rise tiers.

AvalonBay Communities prioritizes a sustainable approach. Incorporating the Growing Vine Street urban watershed preservation program created an attractive rain garden as a sidewalk enhancement and runoff control measure. In addition, the large, vegetated roof and associated bioretention planter manage and mitigate the flow of 102,000 gallons of water per year (roughly 2,300 pints of beer per day!).

Project Team: Owner & General Contractor: AvalonBay Communities, Inc. / Architect & Interior Designer: Ankrom Moisan Architects / Civil & Structural Engineer: Coughlin Porter Lundeen / Geotechnical Engineer: Pan Geo Inc. / Mechanical, Electrical, & Plumbing Engineer: Rushing Co. / Landscape Designer: Brumbaugh & Associates

Learn more about the project here.

Images © Francis Zera