METROpolis 2030

NETWORKING/
OVERLAPPING

“What is true living? True living is a
heart living, heart living is networking
and networking is a human
activity.”
- Niilartey De Osu

This proposal identifies axes of movement through the
site and employs this movement in the creation of building
form. The main axis of movement runs north/south along
the western edge of the site in the form of the Sound
Transit light rail guideway and the KC Metro Transit
busway. As these routes will see tens of thousands
of boardings per day, this area is developed as a high
energy, mixed use transit hub in which transit, retail and
commercial office spaces are integrated and intertwined.

Additional axes of movement were identified as extending
from Northgate Mall to the north, the Thornton Place
commercial development to the east and the Thornton
Place residential development to the southeast. In
response, an extruded, mixed-use, multi-family building
form weaves along the site’s eastern edge to align
with and reinforce the existing axes of movement while
providing exterior public spaces at multiple scales along
the street and within the project interior. The transit
hub and multifamily development overlap at the hub’s
eastern edge along a narrow band of live/work housing
and commercial space. The live/work units open onto a
narrow urban alley, which provides a scale and experience
dramatically different from the transit hub and open
spaces adjacent to it.

The project asserts itself as an exciting urban newcomer
within the suburban environment through the use of bold
form, material and color. Narrow, transparent bands
of commercial office space bridge over the bus transit
hub while glazed balconies are suspended within large
circular openings in the screen walls of the residential
units. Circular openings in the screen wall at the light
rail station provide a dynamic, staccato experience of the
train’s departure and arrival. While visually engaging,
the generally narrow building sections also provide
opportunities for ample daylighting and natural ventilation