There’s always a place for colour and new combinations of design elements for our multi-dwelling developments in this city. Last month I had a rainy day to kill in Seattle so I quickly photographed as many examples of materials, colours and building forms for new architecture I could find. Here is a quick and dirty photo dump of the booming residential infill and commercial projects throughout the Emerald City.
Part 2 features the booming Cascade/South Lake Union neighbourhood centered on Westlake Avenue N & Harrison Street.
Seattle’s urban Silicon Valley, the neighbourhood is dominated by Amazon’s campus and other Tech startups. Buzzing with energy, new and historic building fabric is juxtaposed, feeling somewhat like a cross between Vancouver’s Olympic Village and the Pearl District in Portland.
The detailing and materials on the Amazon Apollo Building is impressive, no doubt backed by a big budget. (325 9th Ave N)
Well detailed zen like Landscape at the Amazon Campus.
Softer White and Blue tones of the University of Washington School of Medicine contrast the districts bolder architecture (850 Republican St).
One corner of the Amazon Nessie Building. Linear metal facade against patterned concrete. Notice the rusted metal sculpture trellis anchoring the corner, soon to be partially filled out by the vine on the left (500 9th Ave N).
More metal facades. This time a galvanized against open glass aesthetic, clean and bright. The louvers and multiple windows create a nice scale (225 Terry Ave N).
More photos of the Westlake Avenue Corridor Tomorrow.
Thank you once again Scott. These buildings are ‘comfortable urbanism’ and architecture. I wonder if mixed use with residential at a similar scale would animate and round out the human and ground scale?
Author
Good point Alex. There are are some great restaurant and courtyard designs that interface well with the streetscape along Terry Ave, Westlake is a larger scale. Go to the intersection of Terry and Harrison in Google Streetview and you can see the restaurants anchoring the corners along with the streetcar and a lush planted streetscape. We went to Local Eatery and the scene was bumpin’
South Lake Union is different than anything in Vancouver because its impetus is rapid job growth. Amazon, Facebook, and other companies are hiring like crazy and trying to build offices as fast as they can. That in turn is leading to new residential developments.
Vancouver is building housing, but without job growth that even comes close. A million people are moving here. Why? I often wonder what they will do when they get here. Is there some sort of stratospheric resource sector boom going on that I haven’t heard of? Are companies in Vancouver hiring so fast and paying so well that housing just can’t keep up (like San Francisco)?
Instead of growing mainly due to high tech workers, are we growing mainly due to international students?
Anyway, South Lake Union has their own development website:
https://www.discoverslu.com
This video is 4 years old now, but still relevant:
Author
Totally Agree Kirk,
The economy their is booming and you could feel it in the city, people were out and about seemingly in great spirits. They consider housing costs to be really high and the market is on fire but make 100k plus softens the blow. I spoke to some Amazon employees and they said the spillover effect of Amazon and Tech has been huge. I also saw numerous Microsoft shuttle vans in this area presumably ferrying the techsters from were they have to be (Suburban Redmond Campus) to where they want to be (South Lake Union). Vancouver’s economy is Condo construction, Foreign luxury buyers and some Film industry sprinkled in for good measure.
Excellent bldg design but more attention could have been paid to the urban design at grade to enhance the pedestrian experience. By enticing people out of their cars through pedestrian oriented urban design and more intensive building edge programming, it could significantly reduce GHG emissions as well be a vibrant people magnet on a regular basis. Passive spaces are okay as a respite from the bustle of city life but as the dominant theme, it may lack the spark.
Author
Hi Gloria,
Per my comment to ALex above There is better interface with pedestrians along Terry Ave, Westlake is a larger scale. Go to the intersection of Terry and Harrison in Google Streetview and you can see the restaurants anchoring the corners along with the streetcar and a lush planted streetscape.
Hi Scot,
I am not sure if any block or part of the neighbourhood could or should be relegated to an encompassing “back-of-house” function, unless it is a vigorous industrial loading zone 24/7. All parts of a neighbourhood have city pressures that are never suspended and require the 24/7 “eyes on the street ” design and programming solutions.
While it may be challenging , even at the conceptual design stage, to incorporate intensive building edge programming where the continous , passive glass edges seem like efficient solutions, much of it could be adapted at the pre-design stage. It’s the brass ring for city building and owner reputation.
Kudos to Seattle for the jobs!!
I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss Vancouver’s burgeoning tech industry, which surpassed resources in 2009 in total economic output. The turning point came in 2006 when tech employed more people than mining, forestry, oil & gas combined.
Since 2008, the B.C. tech sector has been an engine of growth for the province, growing at twice the rate of the overall provincial economy. The recently published 2016 B.C. Technology Report Card showed that the tech sector grew by more than 14 per cent in the past two years, far outpacing the growth rates in Ontario and Quebec and even the entire U.S. market.
This amazing growth story has led to a tech sector that now accounts for $26 billion in revenue, $15 billion in GDP, 92,700 employees and $8 billion in wages
The most remarkable aspect of the B.C. tech story has been the growth in jobs and wages. Tech jobs earn wages that are 76-per-cent higher than the average B.C. wage. At an average of nearly $82,000 per year, tech jobs represent one of the few safeguards against rising affordability issues.
http://vancouversun.com/opinion/opinion-super-technological-british-columbia-b-c-s-tech-sector-leads-economic-growth
The issue in Canada has never been tech capability, innovation and creativity. We have as much or more so proportionately in spades even compared to Silicon Valley or Seattle. The real issue is bringing innovation forward into full commercialization with a complement of Canadian intellectual property patents before being bought out by wealthy companies like Google and Microsoft, who in turn absorb or kill the ideas. To counter that we need innovation labs and well-financed incubators and a continuing commitment to sustained levels of R&D for thousands of smaller outfits that are less attractive to the biggies down south.
Why do you need to live in Vancouver if you work in tech?
90% of the work can be done remotely from anywhere with a broadband connection
I’m only staying here for personal reasons
Author
I suggest reading Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida, that may answer your question.