DESC_NorthStar-3.jpg

The North Star

The north star

Awards: 2023 Gold Nugget Award for Best Supportive / Transitional Housing; 2023 Puget Sound Regional Council's VISION 2040 Award

Location: Seattle, Washington

Client: DESC (Downtown Emergency Service Center)

Completed: 2022

This affordable housing project, housing formerly homeless tenants, provides indoor and outdoor amenity spaces, as well as supportive services and 24-hour staff. The large tenant courtyard allows for a generous common space with several integrated seating areas, and substantial landscaped areas with trees, shrubs and groundcover to provide a private oasis in the surrounding area which is dominated by paving. Similarly, the staff patio area to the north is surrounded by a large bioretention pond and several trees, creating a feeling of privacy and treating stormwater from the site.