Good Neighbors -- Seattle Architects Give Public Housing Special Treatment

A STUCCOED BUNGALOW COURT on Seattle's Capitol Hill looks as cozy and inviting as it did in its 1920s heyday. Nearby, a turn-of-the-century frame house and adjoining new townhouses form the borders of a safe and pleasant courtyard and play area for families. Closer to downtown, a new development combines townhouses and flats that fit effortlessly next to one of the city's prestigious First Hill mansions.

What these projects have in common is a belief that people of limited means deserve quality housing. The believers are the Seattle Housing Resources Group (SHRG) and its architect, the Seattle firm of GGLO. Since 1984, the two have formed a relationship that has resulted in some outstanding public housing. It goes a long way toward removing the traditional stigma of people's associations with "low-income housing projects."

GGLO has been in the forefront of new and rehabilitated housing in the Northwest for some time. Its projects include high-end luxury inns, such as the Inn at Langley, Inn at Ludlow Bay and Friday Harbor House; Eastside luxury condominiums; and in-town housing at Portland's River Place. The firm has just been given the go-ahead for the Port of Seattle Uplands condominiums on Seattle's central waterfront for Intrawest.

But GGLO's low-income housing work has made the most impact in urban neighborhoods. And not just in Seattle. In downtown Everett, the historic Monte Cristo Hotel had been dilapidated at-heel for years before a 1994 refurbishment to designs by GGLO turned it into a vital center for housing, arts and cultural events. The firm is currently working with St. Andrews Housing Group, a Bellevue nonprofit, on a mix of flats and townhouses under construction in Factoria.

The secret to the success of GGLO's projects is in site planning that relates the building to the surrounding community of streets and buildings. Its designs develop a personal sense of community through the use of courtyards, common areas, townhouse forms and exterior treatments that break up the monotony of facades. The firm frequently looks to the vernacular housing styles in traditional neighborhoods for inspiration. Pitched roofs and gables, horizontal siding, front porches and back doors say "home."

What firms like GGLO are encouraging are, in fact, not new ideas. In the late 1920s, developer Fred Anhalt's romantic, courtyard-centered "apartment homes" successfully fit multifamily projects into single-family residential neighborhoods. But Anhalt's buildings were as upscale as the neighborhoods in which they were built. GGLO is applying some of his concepts to affordable housing in the current high-priced marketplace.

Partner Chris Libby says, "We're trying to work with clients who are interested in the same beliefs that we have - that good design can be profitable and can be a good neighbor and help out communities." The tenants become the real winners.

Real-estate developers are frequently surprised by the level of finish materials and spaces in these low-income projects, and by how closely they resemble market-rate housing. Because SHRG manages its own projects and doesn't sell them after they are finished, the agency demands quality so it won't have to replace things for some time. Money up front reduces maintenance down the road. According to Marcia Almquist, Deputy Director of SHRG, "We really feel strongly that low-income housing doesn't have to be unattractive or uninteresting. For me, it's a very important statement to make to people. We want to create a beautiful place to live."

Lawrence Kreisman is author of six publications on regional architecture and historic preservation. He writes regularly for Pacific Magazine.

-------------- Sterling Court -------------- 1722 Belmont Avenue. Renovation completed: 1994. Number of units: 10. Construction cost: $336,000. Photographer: Greg Gilbert.

In 1984, Sterling Court became the first project that SHRG bought. Ten years later, this 10-unit, stucco-sheathed bungalow court on Capitol Hill underwent a $30,000 renovation. The exterior of the Mediterranean revival building was restored. While plumbing, electrical, kitchens and bathrooms were updated, GGLO made efforts to preserve the historic appearance of the studio apartments, which include built-in eating nooks and a large closet in the living room with built-in chests of drawers. Some of the original furnishings that did have to go were the swinging doors that hid Murphy beds. These studios bear similarities to those in the Eagles Auditorium building, which GGLO is currently refurbishing as part of the ACT Theater project. Marcia Almquist, Deputy Director of SHRG, points out that the charming Sterling Court would never be built today because it did not meet handicapped or fair-housing accessibility codes, conform to current setback requirements or include parking on site.

--------------------------- Terry and Graham Apartments --------------------------- Graham: 2014 Terry Avenue 1991. Terry: 2020 Terry Avenue 1992. Number of units: Graham Apartments: 14.

Terry Apartments: 107. Construction cost: $3.7 million. Photographs: Strode Eckert.

The first project in which GGLO and SHRG were partners is on Terry Avenue just south of Denny Way. It combines the Graham Building, a single-room-occupancy hotel, designed by the firm of Edelseard and Sankey and built in 1907, with a newly constructed apartment block that shares an internal courtyard. The Graham was converted to 14 studio apartments. Its concrete exterior walls were upgraded with paint, tile accent and cornice trim. An entry porch was reconstructed. With more than 100 units, the new building is also the densest project SHRG has done thus far. Site conditions also made it one of the most challenging. There is a 27-foot change in grade from Terry Avenue to the alley. The solution was to create two buildings: a 3-story building on Terry Avenue and a 5-story building on the alley. Both are linked by a courtyard level above the street. A handsome wood and metal staircase, right, is the visual connector. Efficiencies, studios and one-bedroom apartments accommodate residents whose income is 30 percent of median income or less.

-------------------------------------------- Pardee Townhouses and Thomas B. Foster House -------------------------------------------- 1630 Fourteenth Avenue (1992). Number of units: 9. Construction cost: $740,000. Photographs: Eduardo Calderon.

For years, Emma Pardee owned and ran a boardinghouse on Capitol Hill. It was probably the first home to many newcomers to the city. When SHRG took over ownership of the site, it seemed appropriate to name the new townhouse project after Pardee. While the boardinghouse is gone, a handsome turn-of-the-century house was moved to accommodate new construction, set on a new foundation and renovated into a five-bedroom rental. It was renamed Thomas B. Foster House, for the Foster Foundation and the law firm Foster Pepper & Shefelman, which helped finance the project and volunteered much of the labor to rehab it.

This house is the centerpiece of a development that includes eight three- and four-bedroom townhouses. With their wood siding, columns, porches and eave overhangs, the new buildings fit comfortably with the early 20th century housing in the neighborhood. Their back doors face onto a semi-secure courtyard and play area. According to Marcia Almquist, "When a child cries, all of the doors in the courtyard open." The townhouses are small, almost dollhouse-like, averaging 550 feet per floor. GGLO principal Chris Libby says, "One of the major design concerns was to provide a separate room as a living room, and a separate family room or kitchen that faces to the courtyard." The designers opted for 3 small bedrooms instead of two larger ones on the second floor in order to provide separate spaces for several children. The three-story townhouses include another bedroom, a play/study area and second bath. Pardee Townhouses takes placements from Seattle Emergency Housing, a partner in the development, and often becomes the first real home for its residents.

------------------------- Bellevue/Olive Apartments ------------------------- 1651 Bellevue Avenue (1995). Number of units: 44. Construction cost: $3.3 million. Photographs: Eduardo Calderon.

SHRG inherited this Capitol Hill site with permits approved for a market-rate housing development. Consequently, the agency and GGLO were bound by the building "envelope" of that unbuilt project, as well as by city zoning requirements for ground-floor retail. The resulting design offers families of limited income some extraordinarily large studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments. The size of the units permitted the designers to include secondary living spaces - the equivalent of a den or family room - for privacy and multiple activities among family members. Retail and office spaces face the street and open to a south- and west-facing courtyard and children's playground. Architecturally, the building was designed to blend with the scale and street facades of inter-war apartment buildings in the surrounding neighborhood. Colored bands define the retail and residential portions of the synthetic stucco facade, and a rotunda reinforces the importance of the prominent angled corner on which the building sits.

------------------------ Cascade Court Apartments ------------------------ 1201 Summit Avenue (1994). Number of units: 100. Construction cost: $5.2 million. Photographs: Yannis Paris.

The 100-unit Cascade Court Apartments is located next door to the historic Stimson-Green Mansion, completed in 1901. Priscilla Collins, owner of the mansion, purchased and re-sold the property to SHRG. It and the architects formulated a plan for a building that fits into the neighborhood. Taking cues from the brick English styled mansion, the architects designed a patterned brick base, pitched roofs and gabled dormers that allude to the neighboring house. The color scheme of browns and beige and the synthetic stucco exterior also respond to the half-timbered stucco facade of the mansion. The scale of the three-story house is respected by a U-shaped plan that surrounds a courtyard with three-story townhouses next to the mansion and then steps up to five-story apartment wing at the north end of the site. Two levels of parking are provided below the courtyard. The townhouses are popular with large families, and the midrise portion, with its studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom units, provides many housing options. The secured courtyard offers children a safe play area. Architectural critic Don Canty calls Cascade Court "an artful and energetic composition," and praises its efforts to make subtle references to the historical style of the adjoining mansion "without being cute."