Schemata 101: Summer Studio Session

In May and June, Schemata Workshop hosted a summer studio for Washington State University. We had 11 students in the office to study cohousing on an infill lot, incorporating the single stair code provision and mass timber construction.

The students toured and interviewed residents from Jackson Place Cohousing and Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing to learn what they liked about their built communities and what they wished were different to support their community life.

We had lectures from Mike Eliason, a single-family residential expert from Larch Lab, Bec Wilder from Green Canopy Node about cross laminated timber, and Joel Esselstrom - acoustical engineer from SSA. Mike Mariano gave a talk on EcoDistricts, and Grace Kim gave many talks related to cohousing design.

Students had 3 contiguous sites to work on. They were divided up in teams to develop buildings, establish building programs and identify a shared community resource for all 3 sites. They came up with strong design solutions - including a few unexpectedly innovative solution. The students were very engaged in the intense 6-week course. They were also extremely collaborative and collegial - taking full advantage of their physical environment and access to each other as resources.

Thanks to our final reviewers, John Abell (professor at WSU), Barbara Busetti (Allied 8), Susan Jones (Atelier Jones), and Mike Eliason (Larch Lab).

SAF Youth Workshop: Eco Villages

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!

Beyond Housing: Activating the Downtown Core Through Community Components

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.

Cited Sources

Studies for Office-to-Residential Conversion

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.

Studies for Office Vacancy

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

UW Distinguished Alumni Awards

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

2023 Schemata Workshop Staff Retreat

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.