The East Design Review Board was not convinced plans for a project that would meld a net-zero energy apartment development with an early 1900s house on Capitol Hill are ready. Wednesday night, board members asked for changes to the development that will eventually rise behind Broadway Hill Park kicking the project back to architects for at least one more round of review.
The board favored many aspects of the project, but felt the addition to the to-be-relocated building needed some work and didn’t seem to, yet, fit well in the neighborhood.
“That’s my biggest concern with the entire project,” board chair Natalie Gualy said.
The problem could be resolved by changing the roof form or the style of the addition or by making other changes, board member Barbara Busetti said.
The project calls for relocating an early 1900s house, adding five units to it and combining it with a new four-story, 12-unit apartment for a 20-unit residential building.
The architects asked for seven code departures for the project, including reduced setbacks and decreased amenity space. The board was in favor of six departures. It was not in favor of an increase in facade length on the north side, but felt it could be resolved with the concerns about the addition.
About 15 members of the public, most neighbors the proposed project site, and board members expressed support for keeping the existing home.
“It really adds something to the neighborhood,” board member Amy Taylor said about the existing house.
Some members of the public disliked the contrast of the white existing home and the dark new building, and another said he would like to see the early 1900s style carried through to the new building.
According to NK Architects, their project preserves the historic house on site and meets passive house standards. A passive house is highly insulated and draft-free with fresh ventilation and high performance windows, according to the presentation.
Area resident Mark Stoner said he really likes the project. “We definitely need more passive house projects,” he said.
The existing house would be retrofitted, and the new structure would be designed to meet strict environmental standards. It will include passive ventilation to reduce energy consumption and solar panels. The architects are aiming for a net-zero energy project. A 1950s addition to the house and an existing garage would be demolished and parking for 15 vehicles would be added to the site.
One resident said she is concerned about safety for kids at the park next door. Children often draw with chalk on the park wall at the property line, and Kathleen Scea said it is a “real safety issue” with the underground parking entrance next to the wall of the park.
Board members suggested the architects include mirrors, speed bumps and other safety features for building residents.
The house on site would be relocated to the southeast corner of the lot. The new building would have 20 total units — mostly studios and one bedrooms with some two bedrooms.
An outdoor courtyard would connect the two buildings.
Private patios will overlook Broadway Hill Park. A wall similar the park’s existing wall, will separate the property from the park. Some area residents expressed concern that the project will create too much shade.
Plans for the project have been under review since 2011.
Has there been a study to determine how much shade, and for how long, will be caused by this building? My guess is that the effect would be minimal, because the sun comes from the south and would bathe the park in light for most of the day. The only shade effect would be for a relatively short time in the morning hours.
Hi Bob —
Shadow studies can be seen on the last page of the Land Use Corrections v2 document for 8am, 10am, and noon:
http://web6.seattle.gov/dpd/edms/GetDocument.aspx?src=WorkingDocs&id=612107
And on page 45 of the design review proposal itself for 10am, noon, and 2pm, though for reasons I don’t understand, the images shown in the meeting last night seemed to differ from these:
http://web6.seattle.gov/dpd/edms/GetDocument.aspx?src=WorkingDocs&id=640511
All public documents that the city’s put online related to the project can be found here by entering the street address:
http://web6.seattle.gov/dpd/edms/
I would say that the building looms too high over the park due to the slope between 11th and Federal. The park already has a wall along the one side. This proposal would put another wall just beyond that, and then a dark building towering over that. It is a menacing design that would cause park-goers to feel like they are intruding on the privacy of an apartment complex, when in fact park-goers are not intruders at all. If I were on the board, I would not allow a structure taller than the white house that’s already there, nor with such a looming, box like design.