June 1st : Pioneer Square Art Walk with Orlando Orozco

JUNE 1ST :
FIRST THURSDAY ART WALK WITH ORLANDO OROZCO

Due to popular demand and the unfortunate weather conditions during our last First Thursday in May, we are having an encore show of "Landscape Obscura: Landscape Paintings by Orlando Orozco" as part of Pioneer Square's First Thursday Art Walk!

Join us for fantastic art that celebrates the PNW, light snacks and drinks, and good company June 1st from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. All are welcome - friends, family, gallery hoppers and the like. We hope to see you there!

Landscape Obscura features atmospheric landscape paintings by Orlando Orozco who obsesses over the tree-lines and mountain ridges of our coveted region, as they contrast with the constantly changing skies and inescapable darkness from shadow. Through the exploration of this darkness and ample nebulae, his pieces seek to appreciate these less than idyllic conditions that provide the necessary precipitation for our specific flora to thrive.

Link to the Facebook event

Office News, CommunityAngela YangMay 29, 2017pioneer square art walk, first thursday art walk, orlando orozco, landscapeComment

SolHaus wins 2016 Green Builder Home of the Year Award!

We're pleased to share that SolHaus, co-developed by b9 architects and Cascade Built, has won the "Home of the Year" award in the category of "Best Urban Infill Project."

Clad in a mix of reclaimed barn wood and modern materials, the project is comprised of 10 uniquely designed townhomes that reflect careful attention to detail and energy efficiency. SolHaus was designed and constructed to rigorous passive house standards to significantly reduce energy consumption and offer superlative comfort for occupants. Located in the city’s urban core, SolHaus owners enjoy large windows overlooking a common courtyard and private rooftop decks with sweeping city views for vibrant indoor/outdoor living. Additional project features include double-height spaces, all LED lighting, zero VOC paints, high-performance European tilt & turn windows, and continuous fresh air filtered and free from pollution, dust and mold by state-of- the-art systems. SolHaus was completed in summer 2016.

Click the articles below for more information:

"2016 Green Home of the Year Award Winner: Ultra Efficient" in Green Builder Media

b9 architects website

"SolHaus wins green award" in the DJC (Daily Journal of Commerce)

"Passive townhouses in Capitol Hill win national award for green building" in Curbed Seattle

Project NewsAngela YangMarch 17, 2017award, green builders, cascade built, urban infill, solhausComment

View Haus 5 On Archello!

We're happy to share that architecture/design media platform Archello recently published View Haus 5.

To learn more about this innovative project, check out the article HERE

And to see more images of View Haus 5, see our project page HERE

Project NewsAngela YangJanuary 24, 2017view haus 5, archello, passive house, green buildingComment

SolHaus on Architizer!

This month, Brad Khouri was interviewed by Architizer to discuss the process of designing SolHaus and how ArchiCAD played a significant role in that process.

Check out the article HERE! And our project page HERE

Project NewsAngela YangDecember 28, 2016solhaus, green building, capitol hill, archicad, architizerComment

First Central Station Update

Our team is happy to report that First Central Station, a 385 unit mixed-use development in Seattle’s central district, has received unanimous approval from the East Design Review Board. b9 architects, Build LLC, Karen Kiest Landscape Architects, and local artist Paul Rucker presented the design.

The meeting was the second and final stage in the city’s design review process and highlighted the team’s efforts to work with neighbors, community organizations, city officials, and the design review board to provide a unique project that is sensitive to a variety of concerns. The collaborative efforts of the architectural design team, b9 architects and Build LLC, have resulted in a project that captures the distinct design philosophies of each office and projected them on to different portions of the site, a strategy that produces a sense that the buildings have emerged from multiple voices as opposed to a single master plan.

The team utilized a variety of communication tools to bring the design review board up to speed on the project – renderings, diagrams, and a presentation model assisted in making plain the complexities of the design. In the end, the support of the board was a reminder that successful design can emerge from complex collaboration and neighborhood inclusion. It can be hard work, but the result, we believe, will be one of a kind.

To learn more about First Central Station and its design philosophy, be sure to check out Build LLC's blog post HERE

All images courtesy of b9 architects, Build LLC, and Karen Kiest Landscape Architects

Massing evolutions of each building:

Landscape Plan by Karen Kiest Landscape Architects

Site Plan Diagrams

Site concepts by local artist, Paul Rucker

"On June 10, 1918, Seattle saw its first local jazz band perform in Washington Hall, at 14th Avenue and Fir Street. In the 1920s and 1930s jazz flourished in the Central District. We have an opportunity with the construction of First Central Station to acknowledge this legacy by integrating musical notation and themes in the wayfinding. The example shown here uses quarter notes as directional signs to bordering neighborhoods.

Naming of buildings uses solfège

Do= Building #1

Re= Building #2

Mi= Building #3

Solfège is a system for singing notes. If you’re familiar with the famous Rogers and Hammerstein song “Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound of Music, you already know the solfège note names: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la and ti."