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Architects: HyBrid Architecture
- Photographs: Lara Swimmer, Nick Williams, Cleary O’Farrell
Text description provided by the architects. HyBrid Architecture + Assembly acted as architect, developer, and construction manager to empower their decisions from inception to the built form. To break down the massing of the two buildings to address the small scale of the adjacent neighborhood, the two structures were sited to allow southern solar access and view corridors to all four units. HyBrid chose to respect the small single-family homes neighboring the property by creating a detached single family home at the rear alley.
This house has similar characteristics including a horizontal paulownia open-joint rainscreen enclosure assembly which mimmicks the lap-siding of the existing homes in the neighborhood. The three units facing the street reach out to pedestrians akin to the rowhome developments that were prevalent in larger cities. The front stoops reach to the ground inviting neighbor interaction, while the penthouse stair towers reach to the sky, engaging the Seattle skyline in the near distance.
A building should be designed to be adaptable for the many generations that will enjoy it. In 100-years the building will likely have a completely different use as the city and zoning change. Because of this, HyBrid chose to allow the building to adapt over time. The bottom floor has rough-in plumbing for a future kitchen, its own entrance, a 3/4 bathroom, and is designed with a demountable wall to be built-out to completely separate it from the 2 floors above. This simple design technique allows the building to double its occupancy if necessary. The roof gardens are equipped with 9" of soil to allow for gardening by the inhabitants.
