luna apartments

Luna’s story is about reimagining ways to create experiences not typically considered for a mixed-use project. This building was designed to express universal values inherent in the site’s context – access to fresh air, sunlight, and a common connection to one’s surroundings.

Location

2745 California Ave SW, Seattle, WA

typology

Mixed-Use, Mixed-Use Residential

Client

Madison Development Group

Status

Completed 2020

Services

Architecture, Landscape Architecture

LIGHT AND AIR ARE AS IMPORTANT AS EVER

Situated in West Seattle’s Admiral neighborhood, Luna is located across the street from the Hiawatha Playfield. In 1908, the Olmstead Brothers landscape architecture firm planned for a park to be within a half mile of every house in Seattle. Luna’s values are the same as the Olmsted Brothers’ vision – providing access to fresh air and sunlight. The neighboring Playfield inspired the design team to search for ways to embed these values into the project in an unusual, engaging way.

5 little buildings atop of a grocery store

The team considered the site’s size and shape, a long 113′ by 301′ rectangle, to apply the Olmstead Brothers’ values into the project. The size and shape allowed for a conventional double-loaded corridor arrangement to be pulled apart, creating five smaller buildings sitting on top of a grocery store. This provided an opportunity for the apartments to have windows at both ends, allowing for cross ventilation and sunlight into the center of the project.

Corridors are often long, nondescript and without natural daylight

The design team sought to challenge the conventional idea of a corridor. We wanted corridors that were not dimly lit, windowless places to move along but places to be moved by. To do this, we created access to the five little four-story buildings with open air bridges or “circulation spines” centered in the outdoor space between them.

CIRCULATION SPINES

Along the spines, we created a series of curated vignettes between the buildings outward to the neighborhood. We added greenery along the paths and opened views between the floors up to the sky. We considered the idea of stepping outside an apartment door and experiencing the changing weather patterns within the structure. We imagined moving through the levels and within the spaces between revealing a variety of views: to the playfield across the street, a glimpse of the sky, a connection to the water and mountains beyond.