11th Ave Apartments

Our task with this project—the first multifamily apartment building to go through design review in Capitol Hill’s new higher-density zone—was designing an 8-story apartment building that could relate to its neighborhood of much smaller structures. We mitigated the height differential with strategic massing: setting back the top floor to de-emphasize overall height and allow more light to the north, and breaking the structure into two differently textured volumes with separately defined masses to scale it visually to the rooflines of surrounding buildings. A neutral color palette with lighter tones above further help the building to melt into its environment, with warm coffee-colored brick below to pick up the vintage notes of Capitol Hill. Another challenge was the small urban site with access from only one side, which added to construction costs and drove the developer to seek economies with materials and unit size. We accommodated with deliberate use of modest materials, proving that cost-effectiveness does not have to compromise smart, appealing design.