Integrating King Street and Waterfront Transportation with South Downtown Neighborhoods 18th Annual Design Charrette University of Washington 02-06 April 2003 1 Sponsors City of Seattle, DCLU 2003 City of Seattle, CityDesign 700 - 5th Avenue, Suite 2000 Seattle, WA 98104 For more information, contact: Robert Scully at (206) 233-3854. 2 Contents Background Charrette Overview............................6 Project Overview................................7 The Study Area The Neighborhoods...........................9 Transportation..................................10 Demographics..................................11 Housing............................................11 The Charrette Goals and Objectives............................12 Urban Design Challenges.....................15 Beginning Assumptions........................16 The Assignment....................................16 The Outcomes Urban Design Principles..................17 Urban Design Strategies..................18 Post-Charrette Follow-up Public Presentations........................41 Responses to Public Presentations.41 Appendices A: The Participants.........................43 B. Focus Group Data......................50 C. Demographic Data.....................52 D. Reference Materials...................53 3 A University/Community Partnership University of Washington (UW) Neighborhood Organizations Center for Environment Education and Design Downtown District Council Studies Historic Seattle Department of Architecture** Inter*Im Pioneer Square Community Association Seattle City Agencies South Downtown Foundation CityDesign/DCLU** Department of Neighborhoods Architects and Developers Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) Lorig Management Seattle Monorail/DCLU Nitze-Stagen Otak, Inc.** Transportation Agencies Vulcan Inc.** Greyhound Lines, Inc. Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership Metro Transit Division Seattle Monorail Project ** These organizations provided monetary SoundTransit** support. Washington State Ferries Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)** Charrette Convener Charrette Photographer Sharon E. Sutton, PhD, FAIA, Professor of John Stamets, Lecturer in Architecture, UW Architecture and Urban Design, Director of CEEDS, UW. Student Organizers UW Course Arch 576: Community Leadership Charrette Codirectors Practices John Rahaim, Executive Director of City of Seattle CityDesign Architecture Program Ron Sheck, PhD, WDOT Rail Division. Lisa Baker, Graduate Student Robert Scully, Urban Designer, City of Seattle Markus Eng, Graduate Student CityDesign. Brian Gruetzmacher, Graduate Student Justin Irons, Graduate Student Transportation Center Team Leaders Nonda Trimis, Graduate Student David Clinkston, Architectural Designer, Otak Community and Environmental Planning Inc. in Seattle. Program S. Etty Padmodipoetro, Senior Associate, Stull Lindsay Delecki, Undergraduate Student and Lee, Inc. in Boston. Don Miles, FAIA, Associate Partner, Director of Charrette Evaluator Urban Design, Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Lana Rae Lenz, Senior Consultant, Center for Partnership in Seattle. Instructional Development and Research, Mixed-use Housing Team Leaders UW. Jerry V. Finrow, FAIA, Dean Emeritus, Professor of Architecture, UW Charrette Report Graphics Franz Ziegler, Architect and Urban Designer, Markus Eng, City of Seattle CityDesign Intern. Rotterdam, The Netherlands. 4 List of Figures 1 Charrette Timeline 29 Building Section of Railroad Park Housing 2 NW Aerial View of the Study Area on the North Lot 3 The Charrette Study Area 30 Aerial View of Railroad Park Housing 4 Chinatown/International District 31 Aerial View of the New Transportation Center Neighborhood 32 New Transportation Center with North Lot 5 Pioneer Square Neighborhood Housing 6 King Street Station Relative to the Waterfront 33 New Transportation Center at Fourth Avenue 7 Charrette Schedule of Events 34 Programmatic Sketch of the New 8 King Street Station in 1906 Transportation Center 9 Newly Installed Viaducts 35 The “Mixing Box” at Weller Street 10 Current Aging Viaducts 36 Historic Building in Relation to New Center 11 Existing Street Pattern 37 Approach to Housing Affordability (3) 12 Monorail Station Bridging Jackson Street 38 Building Section of the New Transportation 13 Aerial View of the Living Room Center Housing on the North Lot 14 View to City Center from the Living Room 39 Aerial View of the New Transportation Center 15 King Street Station Steps Housing 16 Second Avenue Looking North from Main St 40 Monorail Running through the Transit Plaza 17 Housing at the Terminus of Second Avenue 41 Building Section of Underpass Connecting 18 Second Avenue Looking South from Main St East and West 19 Infill Housing on Fourth Avenue South 42 Monorail Station at Fourth Avenue 20 Approach to Housing Affordability (1) 43 Green Street, SE View on Second Avenue 21 Plan Diagram for Railroad Park Loop Extension 22 Train Track Cafe 44 Amphitheater Connecting to the Transit 23 Platform Extending over Tracks to Fourth Plaza and the North Lot Avenue 45 Restored Station Master’s Garden 24 Platforms Suspended above Tracks 46 East View of Waterfront Park 25 Monumental Columns Demarcating 47 Green Street, West View of Jackson Street the Plaza Reaching to the Waterfront 26 The Monorail at Railroad Park 48 Overview of Workspace in Gould Hall 27 SE Aerial View of the Transit Plaza 49 Charrette Visioning Session 28 Approach to Housing Affordability (2) 50 Charrette Visioning Session 5 Background Charrette Overview The University of Washington Center for The participants included three design teams Environment Education and Design Studies consisting of 46 graduate and undergraduate (CEEDS), Washington State Department of students in the College of Architecture and Transportation (WSDOT), and City of Seattle Urban Planning and six team leaders, three CityDesign cosponsored a week-long design Seattleites who have worked in this area, charrette in April 2003, with support from three from older cities with sophisticated OTAK, Inc., SoundTransit, and Vulcan Inc. public transit systems. This group of 52 Following an eighteen-year-old tradition, the persons contributed in excess of 2,500 hours charrette brought students, faculty, and between Wednesday afternoon, 02 April practitioners from various disciplines together 2003, and Sunday evening, 06 Apri 2003. with key stakeholders to develop long-term Design teams were joined by key proposals for a transportation community in stakeholders, who participated in biweekly the area surrounding King Street Station in meetings from January to March to plan the south Seattle. This area, which serves as a charrette, contributing approximately 1,000 transportation hub for the region and the hours to the effort. During this planning state, is already undergoing transit expansion period, students in a graduate seminar and construction (Sounder commuter rail, conducted focus groups with neighborhood LINK light rail, transit bus service, Amtrak constituents, including two with teenagers, Cascades, monorail, intercity bus service and and designed a visioning session that took Washington State Ferries terminal), and is place on the second evening of the charrette also experiencing commercial and residential (Figure 1 and Appendix A). Because of such development. By exploring a range of urban extensive participation, the charrette has design strategies, the charrette cosponsors been an important step in an ongoing hoped to foster a unified vision for a transit iterative process for the redevelopment of community that serves the needs of the this area. traveling public, the city, and the Chinatown/ International District and Pioneer Square neighborhoods. oct nov dec jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug Convener and Codirectors Key Stakeholders Seminar Students Stakeholder Participants Design Teams Figure 1. Charrette Timeline. 6 Project Overview Seattle’s South Downtown is evolving from a intercity trains, Sounder commuter trains, and small-scale, industrial and commercial char- Burlington Northern’s mainline freight tracks. acter to a densely populated urban district centering on transportation, sports venues, An upgrade of the historic station, with its office employment, and expanding com- landmark clock tower, will begin soon. In mercial and residential elements. Major future years, the station will be adapted as the elements of statewide, regional, and local core element of a transportation center where roadway and public transportation converge intercity and regional rail and bus services at this gateway to the city’s urban core, will be brought together with local transit to though in a disjointed manner. Another facilitate travel for residents and tourists. A gateway is emerging at the waterfront where parallel transportation development will occur new ferry and cruise ship terminals are a few blocks west where Washington State envisioned. WSDOT is the lead agency, Ferries and the Port of Seattle are exploring working with the City of Seattle and other new waterfront projects that include partners to rehabilitate King Street Station transportation elements and significant and establish links with waterfront transpor- commercial and residential development. tation. The station currently serves Amtrak Figure 2. NW Aerial View of the Study Area. 7 The Study Area King Street Station, located at Jackson Street and Fourth Avenue, is at the approximate center of South Downtown, which includes the Chinatown/International District and Pioneer Square neighborhoods, and the northern portion of the Duwamish