I would like to take a moment to welcome Parkour Visions, our new building mates, to our corner of Freelard. We’ve always tried to keep a fun group of creative folks in our building and I think we are set to continue the trend. This weekend Parkour Visions had their grand opening, and all of us at CAST are looking forward to getting to know Rafe and Tyson better as we take them up on some lunch time workouts! There has to be some form of symbiosis (or karmic irony) that an architecture firm and a Parkour gym are sharing the same building, but we are all excited to find out what it is like to play more directly in our built environment!
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CAST has been involved in a number of pro bono projects over the years, such as parks, community gardens, community centers, art installations, and smart development, and one of those, the Interbay P-Patch, is being published in an upcoming book on pro bono design by Public Architecture.
This project was originally headed up by Nathan Walker, and after he left town, we’ve continued our involvement, adding a kiosk, arbor and most recently cool signage at the street.
We’re really excited about the P-Patch, one, because it is a project that is near and dear to our hearts, and two, it can inspire more firms to offer their expertise to help civic and community causes, and more citizen groups to see that if they can dream it, they can build it.
Tags: Architecture, community garden, p-patch, pro bono design
northwest perspective showing clerestory band wrapping studio and office
north elevation: office over guest suite to the left/studio to the right
With the impending vote on the backyard cottage ordinance, everyone in the office has been doing a little daydreaming about the DADUs and what they would build. I have been working on a idea that started with a little ink drawing. It’s now developed into a preliminary model/floor plans. I’ve flipped the shed roof to have more volume in the shop/studio and worked out the bathroom so that my shop could easily be converted into an open kitchen/living space.
I have also been working out a simple steel structure, clad with structural insulated panels for easy construction and minimization of waste. The goal is prefabrication of the components offsite, then assemble.
I’d love to try out using a geothermal pre-heating loop, with a hydronic radiant system run of a domestic hot water heater and test the new PV shingles, but that might get a bit expensive.
We’re almost there–the committee passed the measure to allow backyard cottages in Seattle. Next stop will be City Council.
There are some notable amendments to the ordinance–the 50 per year allowed cap has been eliminated. The heights have changed somewhat. A discussion to limit the cottage height to no more than 15′ above the primary residence’s roof (which would affect sloped lots primarily) was tabled without conclusion.
The discussion is a little strange, in that some of the requirements being tossed around are more stringent than for building a single family house. Case in point–if this relative height limit section passes, you will need a topographic survey to prove that the cottage conforms (not required on a new house if well within setbacks and under height), thus added about $2000 to the pricetag for the drawings. This doesn’t make any sense if the city is serious about this as being an affortable option.
Another case in point–Councilmember Rasmussen was leaning toward a neighborhood notice, similar to a MUP, but the neighbor’s recourse, provided the cottage design fits the requirements, is nil. The cottage is a Level 1 decision (no notice necessary, just like a new single family house), but creating such a provision would form a special class of notice (”Here is what is happening next door, but there is nothing you can do about it. Thanks for coming down.”).
Unfortunately, I had to run out before the discussion on the privacy issue, another NIMBY favorite, but in the end the ordinance is one step closer to fruition.
You can see the entire meeting online at the Seattle Channel here. Backyard Cottage discussion starts at 107.30.
Tags: Architecture, backyard cottages, communities, Seattle zoning code
Thanks to Stefan for hosting our seasonal CAST dinner. Great food and a big turnout, and it felt like some of the events we hosted pre-construction industry implosion. We had a lot to celebrate: our 11th year in business, and some great new projects on the boards, such as Vagabond Ranch, the Causey’s Learning Center expansion, and Zander and Megan’s new house, plus welcoming aboard Forrest Murphy, our latest collaborator.
This product isn’t new, but new to us: sheep wool insulation.
Sheep wool insulation has some advantages over other forms of insulation, especially fiberglass batts. It stays lofted, retains R-value even when there is moisture penetration. It installs like fiberglass batts, but there are no masks, no off gassing, no itchiness. Plus the product is all natural, and there aren’t the environmental impacts of making fiberglass.
There are a couple big downsides:
1–this is not a local product, and there are carbon costs associated with bringing the insulation to our neck of the woods (although bringing together the elements to make fiberglass isn’t carbon free either)
2–the cost is about $2.16 per sf, which is roughly three times the cost of fiberglass, or 50% more than spray foam.
Tags: materials, Sustainability
Seattle’s DPD just announced a program to accelerate permitting for sustainable projects, called Green Q, as in ‘queue.’
Applicants need to commit to construction waste recycling, dwelling units under 2400 sf, and meet LEED silver or better, or BuiltGreen 4 star or better.
Tags: Seattle zoning code