pike motorworks AWS
PIKE MOTORWORKS LOT SIZE BUILDING SIZE LOCATION PROJECT TYPE
53,319 SF 323,761 GSF SEATTLE, WA RESIDENTIAL
PIKE MOTORWORKS SEATTLE, WA 323,761 SF Pike Motorworks is located on the former BMW Seattle dealership site on Capitol Hill, including an historic showroom structure, and the service bay between Pike and Pine streets, plus three parking lots. It’s a difficult configuration, large for an urban site but oddly shaped with limited street frontage and only one corner. The placemaking challenge was to create coherent identity on a site with small, separated facades at each frontage while addressing circulation. Our strategy was to open the site to the public, introducing mid-block connectors with portals on all four streets leading to a central courtyard. These portals provide sightlines into the block, inviting exploration. At side streets, large hanger-style doors fold up to shelter the entryways. The Pine street portal incorporates a massive rolling gate while the south portal utilizes the historic curved facade of the existing structure to draw people in through the public plaza and two-story retail volume. Against conventional wisdom, the owner agreed to locate residential entries, leasing office, retail and commercial office space inside the courtyard. This bold strategy has proven very successful. The entry process through the courtyard creates a buffer between the vibrant, sometimes gritty Capitol Hill neighborhood and the sanctuary of home. For first-time visitors the process of discovering the internal courtyard surprises and delights. Additionally, there are two large public
art pieces in the space, a commissioned sculpture by DeWitt Godfrey and a wall installation along an existing wall of the old service bay, retained as a privacy screen because of a beloved mural on the other side which faces an adjacent restaurant’s patio. Internalizing the lobbies preserved street frontages for retail activation. The broad mix of uses at grade include: live/work units, retail, and public plazas along the perimeter; office, retail, leasing and residential units and amenities in the courtyard; and light industrial/brewing, restaurant use, in the volume behind the historic showroom facade. Inside the light filled historic volume, an open catwalk crosses the commercial zone connecting residential units on either side with a clubroom amenity overlooking the active restaurant, blurring the line between the commercial and residential uses. The great success of this project has been the weaving together of elements. Historic and new, public and private, inside and out, commercial and residential, all blending together in a highly activated and connected set of spaces that reflect the diversity and vitality of one of Seattle’s oldest neighborhoods.
SITE CONFIGURATION The site drove everything. For this jumble of properties cobbled together to span a full block – touching each street yet controlling only one corner – the architecture needed to create urban passages to be a cohesive development.
PUTTING THE PUZZLE PIECES TOGETHER To that end, our designers turned the Pike Motorworks inside out, developing two internal, public, mid-block connectors, north/south and east/west, lined with live/ work, commercial, residential entrances and focused retail, all destined to draw residents and passersby through the project.
HISTORIC FAÇADE Internalizing the lobbies preserved street frontages for retail activation, and supported the preservation of the historic BMW showroom façade on Pike Street. The retail space behind the facade will be a new Capitol Hill brewpub for Redhook Brewing.
HISTORIC FAÇADE Here, the historic facade is seen in 1926, while crews repaired the street. This district is know as Seattle’s auto row, because nearly every block contained an auto showroom or service center.
RETAIL MEETS RESIDENTIAL Recognizing the opportunity that the historic building presented, the design team took advantage of the retail volume behind the historic façade, creating a unique experience for residents and retail customers alike. A catwalk for residents passes through the retail volume, connecting units to a unique V.I.P. style amenity lounge.
UNIQUE AMENITY SPACES An amenity lounge floats above the future brewery space. It contains a lounge area, kitchen and dining area. It is designed with a ‘northwest modern’ meets ‘luxe’ concept in mind.
PEDESTRIAN CONNECTIONS Multiple paths criss-cross through the site, connecting to the central courtyard. A custom sculpture adorns a retaining wall along the north entrance, which was saved because a beloved mural decorates the other side of the wall. The mural is part of the charm of the beloved next-door bar’s back patio.
THE COURTYARD The interior courtyard features lush, modern landscaping, creating a calming atmosphere from the outside hustle and bustle, grounded by a large sculpture that can be viewed from the street to entice passersby and draw them in.
NORTHWEST MODERN The interior design is inspired by Northwest Modern, and amenities support relaxing and working. Live/work units are located just off the main commercial streets and the pedestrian passageways, and a leasable office space fronts a portion of the courtyard.
SUSTAINABILITY Sustainability features include green roofs to mitigate storm-water impacts to infrastructure, low-flow plumbing fixtures, LED light fixtures, rapidly renewable and recycled materials, energy star appliances, and sustainable construction practices. The site required some brown-field cleanup as a former auto-garage, and is an urban infill site with great walkability.
RECLAIMED ELEMENTS Sliding wood doors and parts of the casework in the residential units have been made of locally-reclaimed wood. A massive steel fire door salvaged from the nearby Sunset Electric site was used as the door to a retail space adjacent to the north building.
CONVENIENCE Pike Motorworks provides much-needed density in an urban neighborhood close to downtown, with excellent connections to transit, jobs and amenities.
MODERN DESIGN MEETS HISTORIC FABRIC Rising from the base of the brick structure is a subdued, seven-level building with a quiet, controlled palette, designed to mitigate the size of the project and help the mass recede into the background allowing the complex, engaging pedestrian experience to shine.
53,319 SF 323,761 GSF SEATTLE, WA RESIDENTIAL
PIKE MOTORWORKS SEATTLE, WA 323,761 SF Pike Motorworks is located on the former BMW Seattle dealership site on Capitol Hill, including an historic showroom structure, and the service bay between Pike and Pine streets, plus three parking lots. It’s a difficult configuration, large for an urban site but oddly shaped with limited street frontage and only one corner. The placemaking challenge was to create coherent identity on a site with small, separated facades at each frontage while addressing circulation. Our strategy was to open the site to the public, introducing mid-block connectors with portals on all four streets leading to a central courtyard. These portals provide sightlines into the block, inviting exploration. At side streets, large hanger-style doors fold up to shelter the entryways. The Pine street portal incorporates a massive rolling gate while the south portal utilizes the historic curved facade of the existing structure to draw people in through the public plaza and two-story retail volume. Against conventional wisdom, the owner agreed to locate residential entries, leasing office, retail and commercial office space inside the courtyard. This bold strategy has proven very successful. The entry process through the courtyard creates a buffer between the vibrant, sometimes gritty Capitol Hill neighborhood and the sanctuary of home. For first-time visitors the process of discovering the internal courtyard surprises and delights. Additionally, there are two large public
art pieces in the space, a commissioned sculpture by DeWitt Godfrey and a wall installation along an existing wall of the old service bay, retained as a privacy screen because of a beloved mural on the other side which faces an adjacent restaurant’s patio. Internalizing the lobbies preserved street frontages for retail activation. The broad mix of uses at grade include: live/work units, retail, and public plazas along the perimeter; office, retail, leasing and residential units and amenities in the courtyard; and light industrial/brewing, restaurant use, in the volume behind the historic showroom facade. Inside the light filled historic volume, an open catwalk crosses the commercial zone connecting residential units on either side with a clubroom amenity overlooking the active restaurant, blurring the line between the commercial and residential uses. The great success of this project has been the weaving together of elements. Historic and new, public and private, inside and out, commercial and residential, all blending together in a highly activated and connected set of spaces that reflect the diversity and vitality of one of Seattle’s oldest neighborhoods.
SITE CONFIGURATION The site drove everything. For this jumble of properties cobbled together to span a full block – touching each street yet controlling only one corner – the architecture needed to create urban passages to be a cohesive development.
PUTTING THE PUZZLE PIECES TOGETHER To that end, our designers turned the Pike Motorworks inside out, developing two internal, public, mid-block connectors, north/south and east/west, lined with live/ work, commercial, residential entrances and focused retail, all destined to draw residents and passersby through the project.
HISTORIC FAÇADE Internalizing the lobbies preserved street frontages for retail activation, and supported the preservation of the historic BMW showroom façade on Pike Street. The retail space behind the facade will be a new Capitol Hill brewpub for Redhook Brewing.
HISTORIC FAÇADE Here, the historic facade is seen in 1926, while crews repaired the street. This district is know as Seattle’s auto row, because nearly every block contained an auto showroom or service center.
RETAIL MEETS RESIDENTIAL Recognizing the opportunity that the historic building presented, the design team took advantage of the retail volume behind the historic façade, creating a unique experience for residents and retail customers alike. A catwalk for residents passes through the retail volume, connecting units to a unique V.I.P. style amenity lounge.
UNIQUE AMENITY SPACES An amenity lounge floats above the future brewery space. It contains a lounge area, kitchen and dining area. It is designed with a ‘northwest modern’ meets ‘luxe’ concept in mind.
PEDESTRIAN CONNECTIONS Multiple paths criss-cross through the site, connecting to the central courtyard. A custom sculpture adorns a retaining wall along the north entrance, which was saved because a beloved mural decorates the other side of the wall. The mural is part of the charm of the beloved next-door bar’s back patio.
THE COURTYARD The interior courtyard features lush, modern landscaping, creating a calming atmosphere from the outside hustle and bustle, grounded by a large sculpture that can be viewed from the street to entice passersby and draw them in.
NORTHWEST MODERN The interior design is inspired by Northwest Modern, and amenities support relaxing and working. Live/work units are located just off the main commercial streets and the pedestrian passageways, and a leasable office space fronts a portion of the courtyard.
SUSTAINABILITY Sustainability features include green roofs to mitigate storm-water impacts to infrastructure, low-flow plumbing fixtures, LED light fixtures, rapidly renewable and recycled materials, energy star appliances, and sustainable construction practices. The site required some brown-field cleanup as a former auto-garage, and is an urban infill site with great walkability.
RECLAIMED ELEMENTS Sliding wood doors and parts of the casework in the residential units have been made of locally-reclaimed wood. A massive steel fire door salvaged from the nearby Sunset Electric site was used as the door to a retail space adjacent to the north building.
CONVENIENCE Pike Motorworks provides much-needed density in an urban neighborhood close to downtown, with excellent connections to transit, jobs and amenities.
MODERN DESIGN MEETS HISTORIC FABRIC Rising from the base of the brick structure is a subdued, seven-level building with a quiet, controlled palette, designed to mitigate the size of the project and help the mass recede into the background allowing the complex, engaging pedestrian experience to shine.
