On May 14th, the Schemata staff spent a Saturday hosting a youth workshop in partnership with the Seattle Architecture Foundation. In the workshop, the students learned about ecovillages and used recycled materials to create an eco village of treehouses. Looking forward to hosting again next year!
Central business districts across the U.S. are experiencing a degree of emptiness. Despite return-to-office efforts, Seattle’s downtown commercial core is currently five times more vacant than before the pandemic. ¹
Many firms have studied the feasibility of converting office space to residential units, with a close eye on existing building types, cost efficiency, and economy of space.² However, an increase in residential units alone will not revitalize downtown.
This proposal offers a vision for a vibrant city center in which the community components of daily life are integrated. Mixed-income housing must be supported by education, work, green spaces, arts, culture, services, and street initiatives. Investing in amenities and a diversity of space types creates resilience and adaptability while supporting a dynamic urban life and transforms underutilized areas into livable, equitable, thriving urban communities.
Housing
Providing mixed-income and multi-generational housing with supportive housing, cohousing, and coliving for people of all backgrounds.
Green Spaces
Infusing the city with amenities for recreation, growing food, and engaging with nature through parks, gardens, and plazas.
Goods and Services
Incentivizing building owners to attract small businesses providing access to food, healthcare, and childcare for all.
Education + Work
Collaborating with schools and vocational training providers to bring educational facilities to downtown.
Streets
Applying Seattle Streets Illustrated guidelines to prioritize multi-modal and pedestrian travelers while redirecting through traffic to key streets.
Arts + Culture
Prioritizing additional funding to expand the existing Metropolitan Improvement District, creating and supporting the development of third places.
Badger, Emily, and Larry Buchanan. “Here’s How to Solve a 25-Story Rubik’s Cube.” The New York Times, 11 Mar. 2023, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/03/11/upshot/office-conversions.html?searchResultPosition=107.
Paynter, Steven. “What We’ve Learned by Assessing More than 300 Potential Office-to-Residential Conversions.” Gensler, 16 June 2022, www.gensler.com/blog/what-we-learned-assessing-office-to-residential-conversions.
Phillips, Eric, et al. “Reinventing Aging Office Buildings.” NBBJ, www.nbbj.com/ideas/aging-office-buildings-are-having-a-midlife-crisis. Accessed 11 May 2023.
Roberts, Paul. “Seattle-Area Office Market Makes Painful Adjustments.” The Seattle Times, 5 Feb. 2023, www.seattletimes.com/business/seattle-area-office-market-makes-painful-adjustments-to-post-covid-normal/.
Soper, Taylor. “Seattle-Area Office Market ‘clearly Struggling’ and ‘Highly Volatile.’” GeekWire, 6 Apr. 2023, www.geekwire.com/2023/seattle-area-office-market-clearly-struggling-and-highly-volatile/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CLooking%20forward%2C%20future%20office%20demand,nearly%20double%20pre%2Dpandemic%20levels
On April 13th, 2023. One of our principals, Grace Kim, was regarded by the University of Washington as a Disntingushed Alumni. The award recognizes Kim for all of efforts in mentoring for her efforts in creating opportunities for future generations of architects. The following is her reflection on the evening:
“ I was honored to be recognized along with some impressive practitioners. But we were awed and inspired by the GOLD recipients- they have accomplished so much in their first decade of their career. Allan is doing meaningful community work, Yasaman and Megan are teaching and inspecting a new generation of architects. Having met them early in their careers, it was rewarding to see what they’ve accomplished already. We are so hopeful of what they will achieve through their career.”
- Grace Kim
On May 1st, the Schemata staff came together virtually and in person for our annual staff retreat. This year's theme, “Frogger Happiness,” served as a framework for discussions about improving efficiency in our work environment so that we can make time for our individual passions and areas of interest both at and outside of work. The retreat also included a collaborative art project and a walk down to the Seattle waterfront to visit one of our recently-completed projects, the Union pedestrian street bridge. We ended the day with happy hour at Old Stove Brewery on the Pike Place Marketfront.
The 26th International Passive House (PH) Conference took place in March 2023, in Wiesbaden, Germany, located some 30 minutes from Darmstadt, where Dr. Feist's pioneering doctoral research began in 1988. As I traveled to the conference venue by train in the freezing cold weather, I reflected on the significance and legacy of his "House without Heating".
Instead of the obvious PH benefits of reduced greenhouse gases, superior indoor air quality, and thermal comfort, let's consider four additional advantages.
Energy independence and security - Current political and military tensions on energy markets result in hyperinflated utility costs that ultimately put customers in danger.
Energy capacity reduction - Relieving aging and vulnerable power grids saves tax payer money on costly and protracted infrastructure upgrades, and gives residents the ability to comfortably endure power outages.
Lower energy costs - Critical upkeep costs for public buildings, such as affordable housing, schools, and recreational facilities become more affordable for budget-strapped neighborhoods.
Decarbonization - As cities all over the world are ratcheting up to hit their 2030 climate goals, the most practical option is improving energy efficiency in existing building stock. In contrast, alternative solutions, such as large scale renewable energy production, mass electrification of cars, and large public transportation improvements face significant challenges in implementation.
