What would you like to see in the Rainier Playfield court renovation? Join Sat. 5/16 between 12:00-1:30pm to learn about the project, vote for court colors, and discuss other amenities.
With so many great projects lined up for the coming year, we have a couple openings, one for someone with project management experience and one for someone either right out of school or with a few years’ experience. For more information, you can review the postings on our website: /contact.
Presenting at this year’s WRPA Conference tomorrow, Vinita and Clayton will join Paige Reischl of the Eli’s Park Project to share how Pathways Park came to be Seattle Parks & Recreation’s first inclusive park space. Grounded in the conviction that inclusive design is only possible through an inclusive process, Pathways Park is a testament to the power of community-led design to bring people together to create a place that is holistically inclusive, nature-based, and welcoming for all.
Calling all students! @garfieldsuperblock has a really exciting opportunity for you!! Email us for more info!! #garfieldsuperblock #garfieldsuperblockcoalition
Of the thousands of people who live and work around the 4 ½-block urban botanical garden that is Rufus 2.0, nobody seemed to notice the spring display this morning. Apparently, even the sight of Rhodoleia parvipetala in full bloom—in the middle of downtown Seattle, mind you—can become old hat. We tried; we sincerely did.
Big thanks to @danieljhinkley who collected, propagated, and supplied so many of the plants. As he does, and has done for so many for so long.
1-3: Rhodoleia parvipetala DJHV 8184
4-6: Neolitsea sericea (provenance unknown, but purchased from @forestfarm_nursery )
7: Disporum sp. aff. cantoniense - Myanmar DJHM 13005
8: Disanthus ovatifolius DJHV 8084
9-10: Illicium simonsii DJHS 0500
11: Osmanthus suavis HWJCM 129
12: Litsea populifolia (collection data isn’t handy, but they’re from Dan)
13: Emmenopterys henryi DJHH 14145 (in a race to see where it will bloom first in the PNW)
14: Quercus sp. DJHG 11160 (mystery oak collected by Dan in China)
15: Metapanax davidii
16: Liriodendron chinense
17-18: Trochodendron aralioides (from Dan via Monrovia)
We’ve had a few special park openings recently, so it’s probably time to blow the cobwebs off the IG account and share some photos. Urban Triangle Park in the Denny Regrade neighborhood opened in 2019, but it’s taken a while to get the play structure installed (there was a pandemic, of course, but hey some things just take time). The structure was a collaboration with @earthscapeplay that celebrates what is very local history, when the hilly topography was regraded with hydraulic hoses, washing millions of cubic meters of earth into Elliott Bay. Ending in 1930, the project took three decades to complete. At different points, isolated buttes were left standing where property owners didn’t give permission to have their plots regraded. These became known as “spite mounds”—monuments of protest against an insane engineering project that transformed the geology and ecology of Seattle. David Williams’ “Too High and Too Steep” offers a more nuanced history, but we’ll let this little house memorialize the power of “no.”
First and fourth photos by: @stuartisettphotography
We are proud to be part of the collective effort that has made this project a reality. Shout out to #elisparkproject for your vision and determination!
The Lava Lounge palm gets a new lease on life at @mspgroupllc soon-to-be-completed Siteline project at 223 Taylor near the Space Needle.
#trachycarpusfortunei
The “prow” of the pedestrian ramp is taking shape with the new tower and pavilion building in background at our 555 108th Ave project. Shout out to @turner_seattle for pulling off some tricky formwork!
We were also excited to have the University of Washington Hans Rosling Center for Population Health honored with a Merit Award. With an immersive, nature-rich landscape that creates a new pedestrian-focused gateway to the central campus, this was a really special project with an amazing design-build team.
Owner: University of Washington
Architect and Interior Design: The Miller Hull Partnership, LLP
Design-Builder: Lease Crutcher Lewis
Landscape Architect: Site Workshop
Civil & Structural Engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers
Mechanical & Plumbing Engineer: PAE
Mechanical & Plumbing Subcontractor: Hermanson Company, LLP
Electrical Engineer: Affiliated Engineers, Inc.
Electrical Subcontractor: Veca Electric & Technologies
Lighting Design: Blanca Lighting Design
Acoustical Consultant: A3 Acoustics
Environmental Graphics: Mayer Reed
Facade Consultants: Front and 4EA Building Science
Art Curator: Lisa Freiman and Mike Sweney
Photos: Stuart Isett
@stuartisettphotography@washingtonasla
Thanks very much to all the volunteers at the ASLA Washington Chapter, who organized a fun awards celebration at the Washington Park Arboretum last week. We were thrilled to have two projects recognized among so many truly impressive entries. We’re lucky to be part of such a lively and engaged design community here in the Pacific Northwest!
Owen Beach received an Award of Honor for sensitively rebuilding the historic park to address sea level rise.
Owner: Metro Parks Tacoma
Architect: SHKS Architects
Civil Engineer: Reid Middleton
Electrical Engineer: Cross Engineers
General Contractor: Colvos Construction
Landscape Contractor: Macmor Inc
Photo: Stuart Isett @stuartisettphotography@washingtonasla
One thing a city can do remarkably well is support biodiversity. But only if we value nature—actually take it seriously—and find meaningful ways to integrate floristic diversity and structural complexity into the built environment. A prairie roof is good place to start, like this community of Cascadia grassland species on levels 9 and 10 of Amazon’s Nitro South building. After a green winter, the prairie is getting ready to burst into color, attracting a surprising range of native pollinators in a dense, urban neighborhood. Imagine what would be possible if neighboring properties converted their roofs to prairie?
What really makes this roof special, though, is the owner’s commitment to stewardship. Care is supervised by their excellent in-house horticulture team, with regular monitoring from a prairie specialist and an entomologist, who help ensure that the prairie continues to provide high-quality habitat as it evolves over time.
Design won’t save us, but stewardship might. Creating a prairie is cheap. Put that savings into the best stewards you can find.
📷 @stuartisettphotography
#urbanbiodiversity
