CAST PRINCIPAL MATT HUTCHINS RECEIVES 2020 AIA SEATTLE VOLUNTEER AWARD

CAST co-founder and principal Matt Hutchins was honored at the 2020 AIA Seattle President’s Dinner with the Volunteer Award.

Matt has spent more than twenty years working to increase the vitality of the city and the environment. With AIA Seattle, he has been a steadfast advocate and public educator on abundant urban housing options, backyard cottages, Residential Small Lot Zoning, sustainable building and zoning reform. He co-chairs AIA Seattle’s Housing Task Force and serves on the Public Policy Board, and served in the past on the Housing Design Forum Committee, and co-facilitated the chapter’s ADU tour and City Leader Breakfast.

CAST is thrilled to have Matt leading our firm!

Thank you to all the people who were honored in 2020 by AIA Seattle for your work to keep Seattle a beautiful and inclusive place!

Experience the Canyon Street Neighborhood:
13 permanently affordable homes situated in the Town of Twisp.

CAST has been working with the Methow Housing Trust (MHT) to create affordable housing in the Methow Valley. Five 2- and 3-bedroom homes are now occupied in Twisp, Washington. An additional 8 units are under construction as part of a second phase of construction. The design phase of the project was completed on an extremely aggressive schedule due to the Valley’s short building season.

While modest in size, the homes combine a high design sensibility with an incredibly tight budget. The homes are durable, easy-living, energy efficient, and designed for accessibility to allow residents to age in place. CAST collaborated closely with the MHT to make tough decisions about value and optimize efficiency.

Video courtesy of Danica Ready, Executive Director of the Methow Housing Trust

Cedar Cottage

The Cedar Cottage has been selected as one of ten cottage designs highlighted by the City of Seattle’s Pre-Approved DADU Design program. Our design, based on a custom cottage in progress, has been tailored to be economical, flexible, and accessible. It will be 4 star BuiltGreen certified, and work an most Seattle sites. We’ll have a one and two bedroom version.

The city’s website will come out soon, but you can find more information on our special stand alone site www.CASTcottages.com and find out how you can get great design at a reasonable cost.

New Ideas for Constructing Affordable Homes, May 13th, 2020

Palo Alto, like many cities throughout the region, has failed to construct enough homes to create the diversity of housing stock needed for our community members. But it doesn’t have to be this way. In this workshop, we’ll explore new and creative ways to build more housing at every income level through shared equity, small lot zoning standards, and talk about what we can do locally.

Co-hosts: Palo Alto Forward, League of Women Voters of Palo Alto

Panelists: Lisa Ratner, League of Women Voters of Palo Alto

Matt Hutchins, CAST Architecture

Elaine Uang, Co-Founder of Palo Alto Forward

Moderator: Gail Price, Palo Alto Forward

Kelsey Banes, Peninsula for Everyone

Cedar Cottage, originally designed for the Phelan family

Recently, Seattle put out a call for lower-cost designs to be ‘pre-approved’ for building permits. One of the biggest challenges for backyard cottages is the uncertainty and permitting difficulty for many people who may never have taken on a big project like this before. CAST answered the call, putting together four designs ranging in size and features, derived from our long experience with the backyard cottage market. Here is a preview of the four models, each has its own special hook—sloped lots, accessibility, expandability, or super small size:

Cloud Cottage, 481 sf footprint, multiple configurations from studio, or 2 story version with studio over garage, 1 bedroom or 2 bedroom.

Kestrel Cottage—one or optional two bedroom (not shown here), all on one level for accessibility and aging in place.

Crow’s Nest, original design for Matt and Amy Stevenson, adapted for Seattle’s Pre-Approved Cottage program

Over the next month, regardless of what this City does, CAST will be developing some or all of these designs and making them available for purchase with an agreement to use CAST for the site specific engineering, permitting and zoning work. If you are interested in finding out more, contact Matt@CASTarchitecture.com.

This year Matt has been honored by Seattle Magazine as one the city’s 35 Most Influential People for his work around abundant housing options:

———

Urban Density
Matt Hutchins
In Seattle’s ongoing civic war over density versus “traditional neighborhood character,” backyard cottages and mother-in-law apartments (accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, in city parlance) might seem like an unlikely battleground. The small, secondary units can provide extra income for homeowners or an extra living space for family members or guests. But some opposed legislation making it easier for homeowners to build these units, arguing that the bill would allow developers to blanket Seattle’s single-family neighborhoods with luxury apartments. Matt Hutchins used his expertise as an architect who actually builds backyard cottages to make the case that housing diversity does not mean development run wild. A member of More Options for Accessory Residences (MOAR), Hutchins was a constant presence during the ADU debate, arguing forcefully and effectively that Seattle’s neighborhoods should be places for everyone, including people who don’t make six-figure incomes.

———

Movers & Shakers: Seattle's Most Influential People of the Year 2019

Meet this year’s class of our Most Influential People: 35 Seattleites who are altering the fabric of our city.

Seattle Magazine, November 2019

——

I will be out and about talking about the opportunities to make our cities more vibrant, equitable and affordable by ‘Greenzoning’ ie, putting more people’s homes near the jobs, parks, schools, in neighborhoods that already exist.

-Matt

1.City of Kenmore ‘Missing Middle’ Housing panel October 15th:

http://www.kenmorewa.gov/content/panel-discussion-housing

2. Residential Small Lot Zoning in West Seattle, October 16th, Sign up here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/residential-small-lot-zoning-and-what-it-means-for-west-seattle-neighborhoods-tickets-66933111739

3. ADU Fair! Come learn from architects, builders, planners, bankers, realtors about cottages, October 19th

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/adu-fair-resources-for-creating-accessory-dwelling-units-tickets-74488738823?aff=eemailordconf&utm_campaign=order_confirm&utm_medium=email&ref=eemailordconf&utm_source=eventbrite&utm_term=viewevent

4. I’m moderating a City Council Candidate Forum on Housing and Homelessness, October 21st:

https://aiaseattle.org/event/seattle-city-council-candidates-forum-on-housing-homelessness/

5/6. I’m presenting ‘How Greenzoning can fight Climate Change’ at the Northwest Ecobuilding Guild’s Slam AND again at the Summit, October 25 and 26th

https://www.northwestgreen.org/

7. I’ll be in Fremont at Infiniti Real Estate on Sunday, October 27th from 3:00 - 5:00pm, to answer questions about RSL. (Infiniti also has a nice window display featuring CAST’s D/ADUs and Backyard Cottages for “What’s Up with Upzones?”)

http://www.infinitired.com/zoning/whats-upzones-class-new-zoning-changes-mean-property/

8. Roundtable at the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Executive Speaker Series: Architecture and Design in a Growing City

https://www.seattlechamber.com/home/events/events-detail/2019/10/30/default-calendar/executive-speaker-series-october-2019

Matt’s session at Built Green 2019 will walk through the zoning regulations for “Residential Small Lot,” demonstrate its benefits, and provide examples of what can be built. Additionally, this session will address how Mandatory Housing Affordability applies to those zoning regulations and ultimately how our neighborhoods will evolve.

Built Green 2019

Matt will be at the Center for Architecture & Design from 9:00am - 12pm delivering an information-packed overview of the design and construction process including budget and schedule, tips for hiring the right team, and how you and your designer can work together to make the most of any project.

AIA | Ask An Architect Registration

Events, Residential Small Lot

In Seattle thousands of residential lots are now ‘Residential Small Lot’ (RSL) as part of the MHA zoning reform. The rules covering RSL have been rewritten, bringing questions about how RSL will affect Seattle neighborhoods.

First, what is RSL and what kinds of new development are we likely to see?

Second, how does RSL address displacement, affordability, density or sustainability?

If you live in one of the affected urban villages or are interested in innovative infill housing RSVP below to join Matt Hutchins, AIA for monthly informational talks in a neighborhood near you. All engagements are from 5:00 - 6:30pm.

September 25, 2019 Columbia City Library

October 16, 2019 West Seattle Library

November 12, 2019 Douglass-Truth Library (Central District)

December 11, 2019 CAST architecture (Fremont)

Download CAST's RSL Zoning Guide