Location: Everett, Washington

Client: Housing Hope & Human Good Affordable Housing

This mixed-use, affordable senior housing project in Everett features a large sunken courtyard adjacent to the common room at the corner of Everett Avenue and Rockefeller Avenue, with ramped exterior access. Three large existing pine trees at the corner are retained, providing an elevated canopy bracketing the south end of the courtyard. Tucked into the grade, this courtyard provides the residents with an accessible, elevated artificial turf level that includes raised garden planters, a full-sized shuffleboard court, and lush grasses and vines that provide the courtyard with an inviting and warm feeling. At the ground level of the courtyard, overhead string lights illuminate radial bands of concrete that emanate from the building’s interior lounge space. This radial epicenter is also carried into the rear courtyard to emphasize the connection through the three gathering spaces. Arborvitae trees provide the rear courtyard with added privacy and screening from the alley to the west and cars parking in the adjacent parking lot.

The addition of street trees in tree grates, bike racks, and a wide sidewalk along Rockefeller Avenue emphasizes the urban pedestrian orientation of the new streetscape. A new planting strip with street trees, shrubs, and groundcover and new sidewalk along Everett Avenue create a more intimate pedestrian realm.