This project is about creation of low-income, below 60% area median income, workforce/artist live-work housing, needed to sustain those who help to transform our cities into the vibrant communities that we all seek.

This building takes inspiration from the industrial buildings that traditionally house artist communities in edgier urban areas, using metal siding, grouped window composition and the solid massing characteristic of warehouses. The horizontal aspect of the building is offset by the verticality of the metal siding, metal trim, and stair towers.

The building was designed as a specific response to the neighborhood plan for this urban infill site: provide mixed-use, low-income, artist live-work housing with neighborhood retail and space for community gatherings. At street level, split-faced CMU piers, stained glu-lam headers, public plaza, pedestrian lighting, bike racks, art benches, street trees and large storefront windows help create a human-scaled, pedestrian-friendly environment. The community provided public art for the project, commissioning three sculptures to be placed in the rain garden at the south end of the site - the first phase of a neighborhood sculpture park.

The commercial space was designed for small retail incubators that become lively, interactive anchors for the neighborhood. Current tenants are an art gallery focusing on artists of diversity, a bicycle repair shop, a coffee shop, and a dance studio.

The large community room is located at street level with a large glazed garage door connecting it to the entry plaza. These spaces provide a gathering place for concerts, resident art shows, and community events for the building and neighborhood. The residents' deck, located one story above the entry, overlooks the plaza. The entry plaza and residential deck create a break in the street facade for pedestrians and neighbors, and provide light, air and views for adjacent buildings.

The project includes 61 one and two-bedroom residential units, varying in size from 820 SF to 1,200 SF. Apartments are designed as blank canvases for the work of both visual and performing artists. Open floor plans and 10'-2' ceiling heights provide large volumes of space that accommodate the creation of a wide range of work. Interior finishes are relatively neutral, so as not to distract visually, and light colored, to reflect light from the floor-to-ceiling windows.

As part of the owner's commitment to sustainable design, 44 doors on sliding barn door hardware were rescued from the Seattle Municipal Tower during the City of Seattle's office renovation, and installed in the project. A rain garden diffuses some roof run-off back into the groundwater, and a green roof system of planting at the residential deck acts as a demonstration to other local low-income housing providers. The project is near bus routes and a Zipcar; 50 resident bike spaces and sidewalk bike racks encourage tenants to use the Mountains to Sound bikeway, located directly in front of the project.

Everyone's goal was to transform an unimproved urban infill site into a building that would perform for all: artists, neighbors, and visitors.