Plymouth on 7th

Rendering 1

Plymouth Housing Authority is one of many extraordinary low-income housing providers in Seattle Washington. This particular project was located on an extremely steep slope in the heart of Downtown Seattle. It is located on the corner of 7th Avenue and Cherry St on an L-shaped lot. The building had a few unique requirements and budgetary challenges, which made the design process quite difficult.

Challenges

The site had an East-West elevation change of 34′ over a 200′ lot
The entire building had to be ADA accessible
The client expressed a desire to create a multi-purpose space which could be used as a fully secured cold-weather shelter
The north leg of the L-shaped lot is only 40′ across with 10′ setback requirements, making it difficult to use for more than mechanical purposes
The small size of the site coupled with the large unit-requirement (80 units) made it difficult to incorporate sufficient usable outdoor space
The site is located immediately adjacent to the widest part of Washington’s busiest Freeway, the I5 Corridor which created issues for both air and noise pollution.

Opportunities

The sidewalk along Cherry Street was very wide and in desperate need of redevelopment, allowing for the creation of a rain-garden to treat both site water and street water and enhance the pedestrian experience
The steep slope created a natural condition for submerged mechanical rooms
An alley on the East side of the site was an obvious choice for mechanical and waste access
The location of the site was at one of the only locations where pedestrians could safely cross under the I5 corridor to reach the 1st hill neighborhood to the East of downtown, making the site an important landmark and way-finding tool for pedestrians
The corner site with an alley on the east side and a parking lot in the corner of the L-shaped lot allowed for units on virtually all sides of the building.

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