National Cohousing Open House Day

Last month, the Puget Sound Regional Cohousing Network celebrated National Cohousing Open House Day with a two-part virtual event. In the first half, Grace presented an overview entitled “Cohousing: The New American Dream,” where she spoke to the benefits of cohousing and provided insight on how members of her cohousing community, Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing, navigate their relationships on a day-to-day basis. The event was then followed by virtual tours of both completed and developing cohousing communities throughout the region including the following:

Skagit Commons

Sunnyside Village

Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing

Puget Ridge Cohousing

Quimper Village

Vashon Cohousing

Winslow Cohousing

The Tours were broken up into 15-minute segments so that each participant had the opportunity to “visit” all properties. During the sessions, each community representative presented the layout and amenities associated with their community and answered participants’ questions.

Some of the participant feedback was:

“Informative and enjoyable presentations. Thank you!”

“Thank you to everyone who helped develop, run and host this virtual open house. It is difficult to fit everything into a relatively short time. Although meeting people and seeing places in person is ideal, Zoom allows those of us not in the immediate area an opportunity to at least get a sense of a community.”

“Thanks to all who put this together. It was very helpful. I wish there were more opportunities to move into established communities!”

If you’re interested in getting involved with a forming cohousing community, Sunnyside Village is currently looking for community members. For more information, visit their website by clicking here

If you’re interested in learning more about cohousing in general, visit https://www.cohousing.org/ and note that there is a National Cohousing Conference in Madison, WI this August.

Project Spotlight: Russo Apartments

Russo Apartments is a two-story rooftop addition containing 28 new units to accommodate a growing demand of residents in the heart of Seattle’s Queen Anne / Uptown Neighborhood. The original building was constructed in 1906 and featured six street-facing commercial spaces and two stories of residential units. Throughout its history, the building has experienced several significant alterations and survived two fires.

To bring the 111-year-old building up to twenty-first century standards, improvements included a complete fire, structural, seismic, energy, and building code upgrade to the existing residential units. Re-imagining the circulation of the existing structure as an efficient interior corridor, stair and elevator systems created an opportunity for the exterior walkways to be converted into private balconies for each unit. 

The contemporary two-story rooftop addition is set back from the street and contrasts with the historical building below. The addition’s exterior is clad in a dark tone with vertical bands. Large, floor-to-ceiling windows and little ornamentation add to the minimalist aesthetic. Below, the existing building’s exterior stucco was removed and replaced with light-colored horizontal siding, reminiscent of its original lap siding. The contrast in exterior treatments nods to Russo Apartments’ history while embracing the inherent juxtaposition of old and new. At street level, the six commercial spaces continue to activate the already walkable neighborhood and provide a pedestrian-oriented anchor to the homes above. The storefronts benefit from the removal of an oversized awning that was replaced with a modern, lighter canopy.

In total, the renovations and additions to Russo Apartments provide much needed modernization to the building, the final product being contemporary, while still appropriate and contextual within the historic, vibrant, and expanding neighborhood.

Planting the SEEDS of Social Equity

Recently, we featured a few members of our staff were accredited for  SEED (Social Economic Environmental Design) is a network of design professionals interested in community-based design practice. This network provides guidelines for pursuing a design process informed by inclusivity and participation, which can lead to SEED Certification.

Recently, four Schemata staff members (below) received their SEED certification, joining Joann Ware, who has been SEED-certified for some time.

SEED Projects

Two of our current sites, PAHO and Acer House, are also currently in the process of being SEED certified Click the below for project updates.

PAHO

Acer House 23rd & Cherry

What is SEED?

Social Economic Environmental Design or SEED is a credential sought after by those in the architecture and design industry that are interested in developing community based design principles. Unlike other certification programs such as LEED, Built Green, Passion House; SEED focuses on building a design process that achieves their mission To advance the right of every person to live in a socially, economically, and environmentally healthy community.

5 SEED Principles

1. Advocate with those who have a limited voice in public life

2. Build structures for inclusion that engage stakeholders and allow communities to make decisions

3. Promote social equality through discourse that reflects a range of values and identities

4. Generate ideas that grow from place and build local capacity

5. Design to help conserve resources and minimize waste

Application Process

To apply for SEED certification, visit the SEED Homepage and select “Start SEED Evaluation Application”

Spatial Hierarchy- Cohousing Patterns

Spatial hierarchy is exhibited when physical changes in architecture, paving, or landscaping help differentiate and provide a hierarchy of adjacent spaces. The tables outside each residence within the public street at Drivhuset did not exhibit any spatial hierarchy but residents tried to achieve a defined space through landscaping. However, at Leerbjerg Lod, spatial hierarchy was each achieved at the transition from public path to each individual unit entry. And at both Ådalen 1 and 2 an implied hierarchy was achieved by recessing the unit entries. However, no evidence of spatial hierarchy was exhibited within the Common Houses visited. The employment of this pattern in conjunction with alcoves could lead to the dining room becoming a highly functional, all-purpose, 24/7 space. This pattern evolved out of the the single-purpose nature of the Common House dining room. Common Houses are heavily used around the meal times, but this primary function prohibits daily use of the dining area since other uses would deter set up/clean up of tables.

The majority of the Common Houses tried to create a sense of intimacy through seating areas, but they were contained within the main volume and lacked any architectural differentiation between the supposedly intimate space and the greater room. Ascending 2-3 steps and passing between a cased opening would help reduce the scale and create an alcove worthy of use.

New Faces at Schemata

Over the past few months, we’ve added a few new members to our team. Meet, Pim, Shweta, Kaylah and Miles. We’ve asked them a few questions to help us get to know them and here’s what they had to say:

Pim

Shweta

Kaylah

Miles

To learn more about their professional experience, check out their bios on our Staff Page.