Uytae Lee of About Here ticks through the design entrants at a recent mass timber architecture competition, showcasing the vast architectural diversity possible with the eco-friendly construction method.
Clark/Barnes architects want to transform a landmarked office building at Second Avenue and Pine Street into housing, adding 12 additional stories of mass timber construction to accommodate more homes. The innovative project is meeting significant opposition from nearby residents and historic preser
The Low Income Housing Institute won the bid to develop Sound Transit’s surplus site near U District Station. The project will bring 160 affordable homes in a 12-story tower that is slated to be the state’s tallest mass timber building.
Update: On January 20th, 2023, the City of Kirkland announced that Google will not be proceeding with the sale of the Lee Johnson site and proposed development plan. The tech giant’s development concept is rapidly growing Kirkland’s most ambitious proposal To close out The Urbanist’s series on
Few things perfectly encapsulate the problems of planning like a city’s land use code. Unlike the building code, which dictates the life safety requirements to make sure a building doesn’t burn down or collapse, the land use code simply sets your building’s height, location, and how much
As Seattle’s economy adapts to the crisis of the global pandemic, our city still faces pressures of a growing population. Articles have littered the airwaves asking if Seattle is Dying, is the city dead, and are people fleeing Seattle to the suburbs? The answer, unequivocally, is no.  Housing costs
On Tuesday, My Ballard published that the state was looking for input on a nearly 25 acre parcel of land that it owns, adjacent to the BNSF railyard in Interbay. The site is presently utilized by the Washington National Guard, who will likely be relocating their armory out of the
It is a little known fact that one of the biggest drivers of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is the construction of new buildings. Together, cement and steel production account for 14% of global emissions, and in 2016 buildings and construction accounted for 36% of global energy use and 39%
We are facing the twin crises of housing affordability and climate change, but solutions at the state level appear too timid while the federal government is coated in Orange Cheeto fingerprints right now and is trying to go backwards. King County decisively backed the I-1631 Climate Pollution Fee in 2018
Housing policy was a big issue during the 2018 legislative session in Olympia. Washington legislators considered dozens of housing-related bills, including bills to end to the state’s ban on residential rent regulation, require additional notice time to terminate a tenant’s lease agreement, and create a property tax exemption
Lid I-5 hosted a charrette on September 16th dedicated to sketching out a design for a freeway lid on the stretch of Interstate 5 that separates Wallingford and the University District. Breaking into five teams, participants brainstormed and drew up designs to realize that freeway lid. The results demonstrated how
Seattle is in the midst of one its largest booms in a history that is almost nothing but a string of booms and busts. The city is changing at breakneck pace. A street one has known for years is rendered almost unknown in a short span. The change is so
Tacoma Untapped broke the news that Horizon Partners NW has proposed a 14-story tower in Tacoma’s Brewery District that incorporates cross-laminated timber (CLT). If built, it would be Washington state’s first tower to use CLT, and be even taller Portland’s 12-story Pearl District CLT tower, which just
A bill working its way through the Washington State Legislature could make it easier to build cross-laminated timber (CLT) buildings in Washington state. State Senator Marko Liias authored Senate Bill 5450 which is cosponsored by State Senators Judy Warnick, Kevin Ranker, Joe Fain, Mark Miloscia, Hans Zeiger, Lynda Wilson, John
This is the second in a two-part series on cross-laminated timber; read the first here. I’ve proposed creating a cross-laminated timber (CLT) bonus by adding 35 feet to allowable height and 1.0 to FAR. The goal of this bonus is to speed the adoption of CLT as a
The Urbanist has covered how 85- and 125-foot zones are not very effective. Since 65 feet is the sweet spot for Type V construction (also known as 5-over-1) which is up to five light wood-framed floors over a one or two story concrete podium. Adding just 20 feet in height
Over the last decade, excitement about a new strong, green, and beautiful building material has been growing. Developed in Central Europe in the mid-1990’s, Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) is a constructed wooden panel. These panels are made up of smaller timber pieces laminated together to create large and very