Focus on 12th Apartments
Where Photography Meets Multifamily
Location
Seattle, Washington
Project Size
7 story – 170 Units
103,312 SF
Building Types
Mixed Use
Residential
Client
Vibrant Cities
Located at the end of the block fronting 12thAve., E. Marion St., and 13th Ave., this project proposes a new seven-story mixed-used institutional and residential buildings designed with its adjacency to the Seattle U. campus, the commercial corridor along 12th Ave., and the residential neighborhood to the east in mind.
The current site is occupied by a two-story building and a surface parking lot. The existing building is home to a photography school – Photographic Center Northwest (PCNW), which is a long-time Seattle institution that moved into the neighborhood in the ’90s. The proposal includes the demolition of the existing building and surface parking lot to make way for a brand new space for the school on the ground floor along with retail and residential lobby spaces that serve roughly 170 apartment units above.
Material Concept Diagram
Design concept diagram
With the goal of further enhancing active uses at the ground level on all three street frontages, the proposal includes building servicing and back-of-house access that is limited to the NE corner of the project along 13th Ave., along with one level of below-grade garage accommodating about 44 parking spaces.
The School’s new front door will be located at its original street corner location on the southwest corner at 12th Ave. and E Marion St. – facing the Seattle U. campus. The residential entry located on the southeast corner at E Marion St. and 13th Ave. bookends the other side of the project, which is about one level
taller in street elevation as E Marion St. slopes uphill going east. This transition of street uses from Institutional to residential also mirror’s the site’s transitional quality between the Seattle U campus and the predominantly residential neighborhoods to the east.
Form Generation Diagram
Section through photography school entry vestibule
