Yesler Terrace Blocks 5.3 + 5.4

Ankrom Moisan Architects

The project includes two buildings, 550 units in 690,000 sf, a Public Park/Plaza, Community Center, a private street-woonerf and an array of street activating programs at the base. Retail, ground-level units with walk-up entries, amenities, and building lobbies are porous to pedestrian movement inside and outside of the building. We combined amenities with entry lobbies and public community center spaces to make the whole amenity package greater than the sum of it’s parts. Rooftop and view-oriented amenity spaces allow occupants to spread out and acquire some level of privacy. Views also provide awareness of nature and inspiration to investigate it. It is hard to imagine a wood frame mid-rise that is denser or more complex than Yesler Terrace. Elevation gain on the site is 50 feet, creating a nine-story mid-rise type III over type I construction. The project interfaces with four street types, including a private woonerf and a public park in addition to a major thoroughfare and a neighborhood street. Each street requires a diferent presence from the building. Yesler Terrace Blocks 5.3 & 5.4 have a large courtyard that surrounds it’s community center and is open to the street. The courtyard is placed at the end of a hill climb on the adjacent block and acts as an urban terminus that collects neighborhood meeting participants. Announcing this public space, and the community center, is a 30-foot by 50-foot public art mural that is visible from 500 feet away.

Role on this project: concepting, exterior design, and entitlements (Early Design Guidance, Design Review, MUP).