Completed in 2019, Robin’s Nest is one of the most visible and complicated projects b9 architects has ever worked on. As the former site of the first Red Robin, a Seattle institution, and being vacated since 2010, the site holds a unique place in the community. First as a local institution, and second as infrastructure, acting as both improvised parking for adjacent residences along Portage Bay, and as a pedestrian path down the slope from Fuhrman Avenue to the water. During the design and permitting process, b9 architects committed to exceeding the goals of our client, satisfying the desires of the community, and responding to the guidance of the Seattle’s East Design Review Board.

From the outset, the client and b9 architects were on the same page: for a project at this particular site, the biggest priorities were balancing excellence in both design quality and maximizing the potential of this important site. The site’s sloping topography and proximity to the Portage Bay shoreline altered the way we approached the design. The intersection of Fuhrman Avenue E and Eastlake Avenue E at the southern exit of the University of Washington bridge, is highly trafficked and prominent. It was important to both the design team and the Design Review Board, that the corner of this site achieve a scale that matched the other structures on that intersection. Unfortunately, due to the proximity to the shoreline, the expected height limit was reduced by 10 feet.  In addition, the height measurement technique in the shoreline was designed to limit the amount structure height at the highest part of the sloping site, thereby threatening the desired scale at the corner. b9 proposed a solution; instead of a single L-shaped building that would address the corner and front Fuhrman Avenue E and Eastlake Avenue E (University Bridge), the design evolved to an unexpected solution. By splitting the project into two distinct structures, the corner structure could capture the full height limit while a second structure that wrapped around the north and east edges of the site could step down the grade and respond sensitively within the bounds of the shoreline’s height limit.

By breaking the project into two structures, the design team created another opportunity. The space in between the two structures, opened up light and air to units to the north and south  and created a courtyard space at the center. These spaces also establish rhythm in the frontages to both Eastlake Avenue E and Fuhrman Avenue E. The break in the facade along Fuhrman Avenue E is extended via a breezeway through the larger structure, producing a portal to the water of Portage Bay for residents.

Early in the project, the team decided to recreate and improve the pedestrian access from the entry of University of Washington Bridge to the waterfront. The path residents had been using, was a poorly built wooden stair at the bottom of the sloped Red Robin parking lot. b9 architects began designing a public stair connecting Fuhrman Avenue E to Portage Bay below, to serve the community and create a landscape and trail buffer between the Robin’s Nest site and the bridge. Nine months into the design of this project, the city discovered a 24 inch water main running alongside the project below ground in between the property and the University Bridge. If the pipe would have been touched or moved and subsequently ruptured, the high water pressure released would have been catastrophic.  Significant explorations determined that the pipe was only 4.5 feet below existing grade. These explorations combined with a careful shoring design and installation protected the pipe and the surrounding area, but impacted the scope of the pedestrian trail. Despite this complication the final stair creates a safe pedestrian trail that connects the lower street, Portage Bay Place E, to Fuhrman Avenue E above, providing a direct connection instead of forcing pedestrians to walk under the bridge where visibility on the one-lane, Portage Bay Place E was extremely limited.

When the project began the design and entitlement process, as a one-lane road, Portage Bay Place was thought to be a “named alley”, and so any parking proposed by the project would take access from that alley, and with the slope of the site, Portage Bay Place is the only feasible vehicular access point for the Robin’s Nest project. Due to its small size and a potential loss of improvised parking spaces inside the project’s setback, the neighboring community was concerned about the number of cars Robin’s Nest would add to the narrow road. During the Design Review process, Portage Bay Place was unexpectedly determined to be a street due to a mapping distinction discovered midway through the project process  This resulted in many in the community arguing for the project to take vehicular access from Fuhrman Avenue E. A major complication, this led to a compromise with the city by which the project would widen the road surface and provide a vehicular turnout to address the narrowness and length of the one-lane, dead-end road. After substantial delays of the project, b9 took the initiative to present the compromise to the neighborhood and, after informing them of the proposed improvements along the project’s Portage Bay Place E frontage, reached a resolution that allowed the design to proceed.

In all, the client and design team embraced the opportunity to create a boutique solution that set new standards for a mixed-use multifamily building.  The overall design, exterior material palette,  exterior common spaces, provision of parking, unit mix, interior design, commitment to overall quality and high profile location make Robin’s Nest extremely unique in Seattle.  Considered by many people as impossible to develop due to the steep slope and the City’s and neighborhood’s strong connection to the former restaurant, the site presented the team with multiple challenges along the way. The height measurement technique and restriction in the shoreline overlay, the high pressure water main, and the street improvements to Portage Bay Place all required the team at b9 architects to be adaptable. By responding to each moment with imagination and critical thinking, the team at b9 architects was able to design and help execute an excellent building that highlights the gorgeous views of Portage Bay and the University Bridge.

In 2018, the Wallingford 45 project  completed construction in Wallingford, a charming, single-family neighborhood in Seattle, WA.  Designed by b9 architects as an 48 unit apartment, the project spans the transition from neighborhood commercial to multifamily zoning and is one of the first additions of its type to the area in recent years. Bradley Khouri, Principal and founder of b9 architects, and Tom Cole, b9 architects’ Associate and project designer, sat down recently to discuss how they approached the project with integrity and accountability to create an excellent building endorsed by the client and the neighborhood.

“We went into EDG with townhouses on the south parcel,” Tom Cole reflected. A four-story apartment on the prominent corner of N 45th Street and Woodlawn Avenue N had the potential to be radical for the context of preeminently single-family homes. Fortunately, the project site consisted of four parcels, with one to the south of b9’s proposed four-story apartment, which the team used to explore solutions to transition the building into the lower density neighborhood. In their initial design, the b9 team had proposed a duplex and a Single-Family house to sit in between a 40-foot apartment building and the existing lower density context. 

 “After EDG, I remember thinking we should not do this”, Khouri said. “It was impossible to park the houses, because the lot was so narrow.” Instead, the team went back to the drawing board to find a different solution. What they delivered changed the project for the better.

“We had to have hard conversations with our clients, to take accountability for what wouldn’t work in the first design,” Khouri admitted. Feeling as though the proposed duplex and single-family house isolated the apartment from the neighborhood, the design team chose to explore a more holistic solution to the project. They came up with a three-story apartment structure lightly connected to the larger building. Since the zoning transitions from the previous NC-40 zone to the lower density LR-2 zone, the two structures step down in height from 44’ to 34’ down to its Single-Family neighbor, creating a transitional moment from the commercial core to the adjacent neighborhood. To further heighten the connection to the lower density neighborhood, the front unit of the smaller apartment has a stoop leading up from the street. With their solution fully formed and approved by the client, b9 submitted for a Master Use Permit and asked the Wallingford Community Council for a meeting, to ensure their voices were heard.

At the meeting with the Wallingford Community Council, it was apparent that the neighborhood was apprehensive about the project. “This was potentially the first new project along this stretch of 45th. We were very interested in how it could be an identifier for the neighborhood,” Tom Cole reflected, but that goal would add a level of density to the neighborhood that is uncommon. N 45th Street is an important commercial stretch in the heart of Wallingford, “but it’s depth along 45th is shallow” remarked Bradley Khouri. Within a couple blocks of this strip of commercial, in which the code allows more height and density, are vast blocks of lower density uses, primarily Single-Family homes. “It’s different from many of the urban centers of Seattle, in which the concentration is more of a radius from the center, like Capitol Hill, Fremont, or Ballard”, according to Khouri. As a result the context is different from other neighborhoods in the city, as well as the priorities of its neighbors. “It became an important focus for the project,” said Cole.

“They had a concern that there was so little parking and so much density, that no matter what we did, it would be a negative contribution to Wallingford,” Khouri remarked. In addition, during Seattle’s review of the Master Use Permit application, the city eliminated the definition of “frequent transit”, due to an appeal to the Hearing Examiner on another project nearby.  This resulted in a concern for b9 that this project’s MUP would be appealed, as it relied on Seattle’s frequent transit definition to create a new mixed-use project with no parking requirement in Wallingford’s Residential Urban Village.  To allay this concern and avoid a potential appeal of the MUP, Khouri, Cole and the design team proposed two significant changes. First, they added an underground parking garage beneath the structure with twenty vehicular stalls as well as bicycle parking to reduce the amount of vehicles on the street. The second, was to re-examine the cladding in order to improve the perceived quality of the building. Up to now, the team had proposed a mix of metal and wood cladding. At this point, to give the building a more classic feel, Khouri and the client agreed to clad the majority of the project in brick and metal. These decisions not only convinced the Wallingford Community Council on the efficacy of the project, they also helped shape an elegant project.

Located at a prominent corner in a largely single-family neighborhood, Wallingford 45 creates an excellent example of a neighborhood solution.  It spans the transition from commercial to small scale residential, with a historic building to the east and quaint single-family dwellings to the south. Three high-quality massing and material strategies help to break the project into three smaller, connected structures. This is a direct response to the scale and texture of the existing urban fabric, with each approach articulating one of three prominent, visible facades. A departure for b9 architects, two community spaces are detached from the ground level and separated from the street. A raised courtyard space above the residential lobby breaks the corner volume into two smaller, somewhat repetitive elements. This internal courtyard is lifted above the street in the center of the building so as to minimize its impact on the neighborhood while activating the center of the project. Similarly, the roof deck is pulled back from the edges of the building to maximize privacy for adjacent structures. As a mixed-use building, with two commercial storefronts fronting 45th Street with one wrapping the corner to Woodlawn Avenue N, the individual cladding strategies creates a break giving each commercial space its own identity. At the corner, a space designed for a restaurant has been tenanted by Grand Central Bakery, a regional staple that makes fantastic use of a raised patio that extends into the right of way and connects the commercial space with the pedestrian area.

By approaching an impactful project from the beginning with integrity and with a spirit of collaboration, b9 architects’ and its client created an excellent project that has been well received by its immediate neighbors and its local community . The integrity of the client is visible in their creation of a program entirely of one-bedroom units, with below-grade parking and a commitment to a high quality execution. The raised courtyard provides access to daylight on two sides for a majority of the units. . The integrity of the Wallingford Community Council, after reviewing the team’s responsive design, to speak out for a project they believed in. b9 architects’ integrity in recognizing a poor design solution early on created a moment of transition that better connects the project to its adjacent commercial and residential neighbors. In this case, a values-based project design resulted in a high value project.

Join us for the opening reception of “So close. So far.”, a collection of landscape photography of the Pacific Northwest by Per Farny. The event will be hosted by b9 architects, as part of the Pioneer Square First Thursday Art Walk. The reception will be open to friends, family, and art walk participants on August 1st from 5:30PM-7:30PM. Light refreshments and bites will be provided. We hope to see you there!

Follow this link to find our Facebook event.

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“So Close. So Far.” explores the artist’s continued journey of connection. The dichotomy of presence / escape, solitude / isolation, empathy / apathy, all daily elements of his journey, surfaces across alternating perspectives: intimate scenes giving the viewer little leeway to remain removed, and more distant viewpoints challenging a familiar choice. The choice to glance from afar, to feign appreciation, to stroll and scroll on by, to take the visual for granted. Or, the choice to realize that everything has had a remarkable journey of its own to get to where it is. Every single pebble, blade of grass, drop of water, and the combination of their history, perseverance, endurance and placement in the frame in front of you is nothing short of magic worthy of pause, acknowledgement, and presence.

In mid-April, Principal, Bradley Khouri, and Project Architect, Brian Johnson, sat down with our Administrative Lead, Michael From, to have an in-depth conversation about 11th and Aloha, our latest completed project in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. The 4-story, b9-designed apartment structure, consists of 34 1-bedroom and studio units and a network of exterior spaces.  These vary in privacy and include street-level private patios, exterior walkways connecting to units, a multi-leveled courtyard, and a communal roof deck. It sits on a sloped corner lot, appearing to transition from a 4-story structure to 2-stories. The exterior facades consist a modern composition of red brick, Swiss Pearl siding, steel balconies, and stepped concrete planters. An open breezeway from E Aloha Street cuts through the massing and connects to the external circulation and multi-leveled courtyard.

This project is particularly special to us, due to its contextually responsive design and location at a transition from Single Family to Lowrise Multi-family zoning. This is a stark difference in density, height and parking requirements, and it is at the edge of a highly established and historic part of the neighborhood. With proactive engagement from the design team and neighboring residents, and investment from our client, what could have been a highly contentious design process became an adaptive and collaborative effort. Bradley and Brian reflected on this particular stage, and how it embodied our values, ultimately leading to the success of the final design.

When a project in the city of Seattle goes through the full Design Review process, it is presented at a minimum of two public meetings. First at an Early Design Guidance (EDG) meeting, where multiple massing alternatives are reviewed, and second, months later, at a Recommendation meeting, where a more developed design is presented. A board of volunteers, consisting of design professionals, development professionals, local business owners, and neighborhood representatives makes comments and suggestions to the design team to ensure that new developments meet the intent of the City’s and Neighborhood-specific Design Guidelines. At these meetings, members of the public are encouraged to provide feedback regarding the design proposal through public comment. Bradley presented the initial design for 11th and Aloha to the East Design Review Board of the City of Seattle, providing 3 design alternatives based on extensive site and context analysis. “At the time, we thought we were going to present alternative three and they’d say go for it,” Brian reflected. Fortunately for the now completed project, the presentation was not as straightforward as Johnson anticipated.

While the Board gave the project team guidance typical for a project of this type, several members of the Single Family neighborhood to the north and east of the site were vocal about their concerns, centered particularly around height, bulk, density and parking. After the meeting ended, the team from b9 architects and self-selected members of the neighborhood decided to schedule a meeting to discuss how to move forward with a design that met everyone’s goals.

The proposed building changed significantly between the first two meetings. The massing, originally bold, anchored at the corner of 11th Avenue E and E Aloha Street reduced significantly, particularly at that corner. At the first meeting with the neighborhood team, b9’s client made a pledge to the group that the building would have a high-quality cladding. “Having that pledged opened up things that we had never explored before in the practice,” Brian recalled. To complement the context of the neighborhood, the team chose to clad a significant portion of the building, notably the frontage to E Aloha Street with Inca colored, Mission brick from local Mutual Materials. Two volumes, one clad in high-quality white Swiss Pearl panel, and the other in gray corrugated metal panel rise above the brick volume. The materials help indicate the change in scale as the building moves away from E Aloha street and articulate variation in the building massing.

Another significant change was that the main entry was relocated from E Aloha Street to the southernmost edge of the building on 11th Avenue E. “We had to think of 11th Avenue E as a front. When it became the more prominent facade, we were able to shift the entire building away from the street and create a strong brick base with landscaping buffering it from the street,” Bradley said. By placing the entry on 11th Avenue E, a flat street at a lower elevation, the design team was able to maintain the project’s unit count, while lowering the overall height of the building. 11th and Aloha, in its finished state, rests under the allowed height limit by almost a full story. Even though the move created a few basement units, b9’s signature courtyard community space (in this instance with multiple levels) hollowed out the southeast corner of the structure allowing an additional light source to all units adjacent to it.

After the three weeks of intensive redesign, b9 invited the neighborhood team into their office to see a newly revised project, designed around the feedback shared. The neighborhood group stood behind and celebrated the changes made. They became advocates for the new design, recommending it to the full group. In the end, they endorsed the project with a letter to the city, and their support played a significant part in the final approval by the Design Review Board at the Recommendation meeting.

The core of 11th and Aloha is a story of a collaboration between the design/development team and the neighborhood community group surrounding the project. “This group of neighbors knew what they could do, and they actually wanted to work toward a solution,” Brian remembers of the process, “a lot of the success can be attributed to both groups acting proactively”. What resulted is an elegant solution to a specific zoning condition, one that is both unique to the site and also prevalent throughout other Seattle neighborhoods. The final design reconciles the contrast between an established Single Family neighborhood with the necessity of increased density, and a development boom happening in Seattle’s Lowrise and other multifamily zones.

“My proudest moment was winning over the group in that first meeting in our office”, Brian said, “feeling the camaraderie after we showed them that brick building. From that moment on, they were 100% behind it.”

“They became part of our team,” Bradley attested.

As a part of this year’s Seattle Design Festival and in contribution to our hosted panel discussion called “Urban +: Adding Density while Retaining Character, b9 architects progressed on our research on Urban + by examining Seattle’s current zoning, explicitly looking at opportunities in Single-Family zones with Wallingford Residential Urban Village as our case study area.

Visit this page for updates post-panel discussion.

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Seattle’s zoning code governs the use and development of land in Seattle.* It determines not only what and where types of structures can be built, but also the density of dwelling units and businesses throughout the city. Areas of more intensive development are focused in designated Urban Centers, Hub Urban Villages, and Residential Urban Villages.  Wallingford and South Lake Union are two examples of these areas and generally walkable communities that are well served by amenities.

* Seattle.gov/dpd

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Using data from the City of Seattle data portal, we examined Seattle’s current distribution of zoning by land area and dwelling units. In addition, we compared the current density, measured by number of units per acre of land, to the density assumptions determined by the city by zoning.*

*All data is derived form the City Of Seattle data portal at https://data.seattle.gov/. Specific files used for these calculations are; “City Of Seattle Zoning” (Updated 2018), “Zoning Density Assumptions For Zoned Development Capacity Model” (Updated 2017), and “Capacity For All Parcels 2015” (Updated 2017).

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ZONING BY LAND AREA

Currently, nearly 65% of Seattle’s land area is reserved for Single-Family zoning. The next largest zone is Industrial at 12.0% of land area.  These two zones present the lowest development potential for new dwelling units based on the Seattle’s zoning code.*

ZONING BY DWELLING UNITS

While over 75% of Seattle’s land area is dedicated to Single-Family and Industrial zoning, the majority of dwelling units (just over 60%) currently reside in other zones throughout the city, primarily Lowrise, Midrise, Highrise, and Neighborhood Commercial.*

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With this information in mind, we then examined development opportunities in Single-Family zones, choosing the Wallingford neighborhood as a case study, due to the significant amount of Single-Family zoning in the neighborhood’s Residential Urban Village. Though a key goal of Seattle’s Urban Village Strategy is to “Increase residential and employment densities...” within its villages, Wallingford’s Residential Urban Village remains predominantly comprised of single-family homes, which accounts for between 50-75% of its total land use. 

This research explores the possible densification benefits of re-thinking the ends of blocks.  Examples here introduce a variety of block-end development solutions to the portions of the Wallingford Residential Urban Village currently zoned Single-Family Residential. This strategy suggests that units can be added to corner lots while the interior of residential blocks are allowed to retain their current residential fabric. Moreover, this strategy presents a possible incremental approach to densification upon implementation of MHA or similar up-zoning in the area. Precedents such as this, set in a neighborhood like Wallingford, can provide examples for strategic densification in other predominantly Single-Family neighborhoods throughout Seattle. 

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BLOCK-END OPPORTUNITIES

The following iterations to the right are feasible strategies for adding units based on lot conditions and zoning.

The major factors in land use code that determine building footprint* are lot coverage and yards for Single-Family zones, and FAR (floor area ratio) and setbacks for Lowrise zones.

*The building footprints represent general potential building area on the lot. They do not factor in design and modulation.
**In land use code, the distance between building structure and property line is called a yard in Single-Family zones and setback in Lowrise zones.