Baby Boomerang

MultiFamily Executive Magazine invited DBA to envision and design the fourth annual Concept Community, a prototype study for housing for a particular demographic. Previous years created housing concepts for millennials and students: This year, it was the Boomers’ turn.

DBA’s approach to the Concept Community is based on the idea of a healthy community—not just a healthy building, but also a healthy neighborhood—that supports a high quality of life. The overarching principles include promoting physical activity, supporting bicycling, preserving access to fresh food, embracing nature, and fostering community.

We selected a site in Seattle’s University District. We chose the university setting because Boomers have a lot to contribute to a university community, and they can they can get a lot out of it as well—including taking classes and accessing the area’s concentrated amenities.

Site

The 2.5-acre site is in a very mixed-use context, with taller buildings, a hotel, new apartments, a grocery store, and other uses nearby. This site places the Boomer community right in the middle of things, within a block of the “main drag.” University Way is filled with shops and restaurants and has a transit line running along it, so everything this community needs is easily available.

We chose to use just half of the available site, adding a publicly accessible park at the center of the block and reserving space for future buildings to ensure the site remains a central and dynamic location. 

Design

The project’s 153 homes range from small studios to two-bedroom units. The studios can serve as guest quarters for visitors for residents who live there or allow someone to downsize into a smaller, more affordable unit without having to leave the community. The smaller units allow for independent living and are balanced by the prime location and generous common spaces.

The homes line one side of a sheltered corridor that features dramatic outward views on the other side. The single-loaded corridor “flips” back and forth, and wherever the changes in direction happen, there is a common hub for socializing or hosting activities.

Park

The park at the center of the site breaks the block into manageable pieces and creates a pedestrian scale. The building steps down from the high side of the site to the low side of the site. The roof deck features urban agriculture, and the park design is focused on active uses and fitness.

The amenities throughout the project are oriented toward health and wellness, such as yoga and meditation rooms, bicycle parking and repair facilities, and ways to support people having pets as part of the community—such as an on-site dog-wash.

Presentation

Principal Amit C. Price Patel led DBA’s Concept Community team and presented the final vision at the Multifamily Executive Conference in Las Vegas in October 2015. Watch the presentation.