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.