Clawson Allan Residence

Seattle, WA 2006

An infill townhouse project on a tight lot in Seattle's Judkins Park neighborhood. The site overlooks a city greenbelt and enjoys a regional view of downtown and Beacon Hill. The view side of the lot is reserved for the owners townhouse unit, while the building area on the street side is used to create two small units for sale on the open market. A lid over the parking area features a landscaped green roof that provides a common courtyard open space for all of the units.

Due to an undersized lot, our basic layout and planning ideas were not achievable within the city's zoning constraints, so we volunteered for a a process called Design Review. Though somewhat time-consuming, this program allowed us to make certain departures from the zoning code. The final product is an unique townhouse project that that allowed the owners full utilization of their lot, was more compatible with the height and bulk of the surrounding buildings, and provided more meaningful open spaces for each townhouse.