We’ve completed the second round of design on our CAST architecture case study backyard cottage.
The plan has been fine tuned to optimize it for advanced framing. We adjusted the spaces to work better with Kate and Ric’s needs and have started looking at potential materials and finishes.
Good turnout for the Phinney Ridge Home Fair. I spoke to a few friends who had exhibited and the consensus was that the outlook for 2010 was pretty good. Their anecdotes reinforced my feeling that we’ll see a bounce in work and the industry will get back on track (although not the bubble-hot track we’d been on). Since architects are the canaries in the construction coal mine, it was great to hear other design professionals seeing the uptick in new projects that we have been seeing.
Also, I wanted to hit one point I missed in my presentation about How to Work with an Architect – taking the first step:
As part of the interview process, get the architects that you are interested in out to your house, your site. It is critical to get their impression of your project, and plus in talking through the project on site you’ll get a window in to how they process information, how they work, communicate and if they have good ideas right off the bat.
We offer the first consultation free of charge, of course, because it is also critical for us to get an understanding of the project, the challenges, and get to know you as a client.
If you have additional questions about things I said in the presentation, or topics I didn’t have time to cover, please email me at matt@CASTarchitecture.com and I’ll be happy to address them!
We’re looking forward the annual Phinney Ridge Home Fair this Sunday, the 31st, from 10 am to 4 pm. Usually we have a table there, but we jumped on it a little too late.
I’ll still be there. In fact, I’ll be giving a little talk on How to Work with an Architect to help people looking to build understand the role of the architect, and the design process. I’ll talk about how to select an architect, how much it will cost, and go in deep about what to expect every step of the way.
If I’m lucky there’ll even be time for some questions!
Starts at 1:50 and runs to 2:30. I’m going to hang out afterwards as long as there are curious minds with questions.
In case you can’t make it, I’ll post the handout that goes through the process afterwords.
The Seattle channel recently interviewed myself and CAST clients Kate Lichtanstein and Ric Cochrane regarding the backyard cottage we are currently working on together. They included our project in a broader story that profiles an owner of a recently completed backyard cottage and gives a basic outline of the new Seattle backyard cottage ordinance.
aerial view
Here’s another new project in the office, an addition to a residence on Capital Hill. The existing house is a tiny 750 sq. ft. bungalow on one of Seattle’s steepest streets. The owners found the compact plan a perfect fit when they first moved in, but two kids later, they desperately need more room. They are drawn of the core values of modern architecture – emphasis on natural light, spaces that flow together, honest and straightforward materials – and want a house that expresses that. They are comfortable making a pretty bold statement, but they also want the addition to feel comfortable in the existing fabric of the neighborhood. They are interested in sustainability that is designed in from the ground up, which led to the early decision to preserve the existing structure instead of starting from scratch on the site.
How to add onto an existing building that has a well-defined or historical style is a perennial architectural puzzle (and hip roofs are especially difficult to achieve seamless integration). In this case, we approached it by creating a clear contrast between the new and the old through form, material and color. But it’s not enough to just plunk a contemporary form next to an old house and expect a real conversation to take place. In this addition, the new and old talk to each other both in how the volumes intersect and in how the two differing styles overlap.
In the fall, we started the design for a new house in Sand Point. Although the project stalled here in schematic design, we were very excited about the work, and hopefully it will come back in some form (we recycle!). Here are the three schematic designs we presented:
Scheme 1: PLUS
The clients wanted to have a ‘permeable’ house with soft transitions that welcomed neighbors but kept private space private. The design delineated the corner site into 4 quadrants with varying degrees of privacy. A manicured garden graces the stepped path from the very public corner, while the upper drive on the southwest provides the day to day family entrance (at grade for the client’s aging parents. One the northeast, a wide terrace off the living spaces provides a great entertaining space that opens to the more quiet neighborhood edge. The two volumes of the plus create a very private backyard on the southeast.
The house has a very clean organization–living spaces are lined up in the lower volume, each with access to the eastern terrace/backyard, with the bedrooms stretched across the second story volume. The second story volume bridges over the first story, bookended with a mudroom and a semi-detached mother-in-law, creating two apertures–one for the entry, the second for an covered outdoor living room. At the intersection of the two volumes we have an atrium with a sculptural stair.
PLUS-aerial view
PLUS-street view
We are very excited to begin a new project for the Sunset Hill neighborhood to transform an abandoned City Light substation parcel into a pocket park. Based on the input from the community thus far, the program is very intriguing: a community space with an artist-in-residence caretaker, powered by a serious photovoltaic array.
There may be more or different elements as the project evolves in the community design process, and as we navigate through various City agencies and funding sources, but fundamentally this has all the values we expound as a firm: sustainable building, energized public space, housing options/density, and an interactive process that invests people in the civic life of their neighborhood.
In 2008, I designed a structure with a similar program for a Dwell Magazine conceptual competition:
Crissy Field House
Tags: Architecture, community garden, seattle, sunset substation, Sustainability
Are you considering building a backyard cottage?
We’ve put together a Seattle Backyard Cottage Quick Start Guide* to help homeowners better understand Seattle’s citywide backyard cottage ordinance and the opportunities available to them.
| BASIC SITE REQUIREMENTS: | |
| Minimum Lot Size | 4000 sq.ft. |
| Minimum Lot Width | 25 feet |
| Minimum Lot Depth | 70 feet |
The next step is to figure out what portion of your lot is buildable under the backyard cottage ordinance. Setbacks, yard requirements and maximum lot coverage all factor into whether or not a cottage is feasible.
| SETBACKS AND YARDS: | |
| Setback from lot lines | 5′ unless adjacent to an alley in which case the setback is 0 |
| Setback from other structures | 5′ |
| Maximum Lot Coverage | Lots less than 5,000 sq. ft. – 1,000 sq. ft. + 15% of lot area |
| Lots 5,000 sq. ft. or more - 35% of lot area | |
| Maximum Rear Yard Coverage | 40% of the area required for the rear yard. |
| Maximum Front Yard Coverage | Cottages not allowed in front yard. |
| Off Street Parking SMC 23.44.016 |
One space required – some exceptions apply. |
| Entry Location | May not be located on the side facing the nearest lot line unless that lot line abuts an alley or other public right of way. |
Once you’ve verified that your lot can accommodate a backyard cottage the next step is to take a look at the the floor area and height restrictions in order to determine if you can meet your objectives within those boundaries.
| FLOOR AREA: | |
| Gross Floor Area SMC 23.86.007 |
800′ square feet max.
Gross Sq. Ft. is measured from interior finished surface to interior finished surface. If you are planning a two story structure the floor area of each story counts toward the total. |
There are three factors that set the height limit for your cottage, the width of your lot, the type of roof you choose and the height of your home.
| HEIGHT LIMITS: | |||||
| Lot width | |||||
| < 30′ | 30′-35′ | 36′-40′ | 41′-50′ | 50′ < | |
| Max base height | 12′ | 14′ | 15′ | 16 | 16 |
| Max height with pitched roof | 15′ | 21′ | 22′ | 22′ | 23′ |
| Max height with shed or butterfly | 15′ | 18′ | 19′ | 20′ | 20′ |
| Max height above peak of existing home | 15′ | 15′ | 15′ | 15′ | 15′ |
| REFERENCES | |
| CAST Architecture | tim@CASTarchitecture.com
Feel free to email me with any questions you may have regarding Seattle’s Citywide backyard cottage ordinance |
| Seattle Department of Planning and Development (DPD) | Seattle Backyard Cottage Ordinance
This is the definitive legal document covering Seattle Backyard Cottages. |
| DPD’s Land Use Q&A Service
Any ambiguities or clarifications unanswered by the ordinance document (above) can be addressed through the DPD’s Land Use Q&A Service |
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| DPD CAM 116B – Establishing a Backyard Cottage
The DPD’s client assistance memo (CAM) outlining the citywide backyard cottage ordinance. CAMs are guides intended to help people navigate the building permit processes in the city of Seattle. |
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| A Guide to Building a Backyard Cottage in Southeast Seattle
This is an out of date but very useful guide put together by the DPD for Backyard Cottages in Southeast Seattle. The ordinance the guide was written for has changed (proceed with caution) but the value of the guide is still intact. It covers many of the issues you are likely to encounter and does a good job of mapping out design considerations you should be aware of. |
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Download guide as a printable pdf
We’ve seen an unexpected level of interest in backyard cottages in the 2 months since the new ordinance has been in effect. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the projects is the diversity of needs for each one…
We have a young couple with a small house on a large lot that would like an outbuilding with a workshop and guestroom. We have a couple planning to build and occupy a cottage in their backyard in order to open up their home for their children and grandchildren to live in. We have a third couple who have separated but are committed to raising their children together. They currently live in the same house and believe that adding a backyard cottage to the property will maintain the proximity they need to raise their children together while providing them the space they need as individuals.
In a bit of a surprise, we have yet to see anyone looking to build a cottage for the sole purpose of rental income. Although one of the guys here at the office has been running the numbers and is strongly considering building a cottage for rent in his backyard.
We’ve completed the first round of design on our CAST architecture case study backyard cottage.
Kate and Ric’s cottage is intended to serve as an art studio, workshop and guest house. It is also designed so that it may function as a rental home if needed. Our initial round of planning looked at how the spaces might work as a rental thinking that those functional requirements would be more restrictive than the requirements for an art studio and workshop.