8th & Republican
Located in the South Lake Union neighborhood, this mixed-use development maximizes the site’s potential for housing, retail, and a quality public realm by providing 211 residential units, a showroom for a local camera retailer, a neighborhood cafe, and a pedestrian-oriented streetscape with a public plaza. The layered integration of residential stoops, elevated decking, raingardens and water feature enlarge the civic contribution to public space and give the residential neighborhood a shared community “stoop.”
Location
Seattle, WA
TYPOLOGY
Urban Housing
Client
The Wolff Company
DESIGN PARTNERS
Miller Hull + Runberg Architecture
SIZE
0.5 block
A Layered Approach
The streetscape network was identified in neighborhood planning as a focal piece in the creation of a high quality public realm, not only as a set of connectors but as places unto themselves. Under that guidance, the design maximizes the site’s potential through a layered approach, where each gesture was thoughtfully designed to serve multiple benefits. The central design moves were:
- Setting the building back from the street
- creates a generous open public courtyard
- maximizes sun exposure
- Expanding the softscape
- create a green oasis amongst a predominately hard, urban context
- build an onsite stormwater system connecting rooftop to at grade bioretention gardens to collect and slow rainwater
- Blending the public and private realm
- the “mega stoop” – a yellow fiberglass boardwalk over recessed rain gardens that serves as an outdoor area for the residents. The boardwalk links patios of individual units to create a semi-public layer before connecting to the sidewalk.
- A generous sidewalk parallels the “mega stoop” through a grove of honey locust trees, with small seating areas carved out along its length.
- Ground floor retail is perched slightly above the entry plaza to provide activation of the space while clearly delineating uses.
- An interactive water feature welcomes visitors and residents to the lobby.
Sustainability spotlight
A Blue Oasis
The project collects and slows all rainwater on site through a series of connected green roofs and bioretention gardens at the rooftop and at street level. The expansive raingarden along 8th Avenue not only provides a lush public amenity, providing a clear separation between public sidewalk and private patios, but also mitigates the entirety of stormwater falling on the site.
