SEATTLE—July 12, 2006—Two of Seattle Housing Authority's neighborhoods were honored with awards over the last month.
Othello Station was recognized by the Pacific Coast Builders Conference at their annual trade show with a Gold Nugget Honor of Merit Award and the prestigious Grand Award for their Best Affordable Project (Under 30 units/acre) category. The American Institute of Architects awarded High Point one of eight Show You're Green Awards at their national convention and design expo.
Othello Station, developed by Seattle Housing Authority, built by Walsh Construction and designed by architect WRT Solomon E.T.C., was one of more than 600 entries to the Gold Nugget Awards competition.
The competition honors creative achievements in architectural design and land-use planning for residential, commercial and industrial projects. The awards ceremony is the premier event of this highly regarded trade show which brings together residential builders and architects from the Pacific Coast states and neighboring countries.
Othello Station is the third and final phase of the NewHolly redevelopment. It features 219 units of new rental housing, with 163 public housing units and 56 additional rental units serving those who earn between 30 and 60 percent of Seattle's median income.
It includes homes for sale built by private homebuilders Polygon Northwest and Bennett-Sherman Homes and a mixed-use building featuring rental housing, a retail store, offices and the Holly Park Medical Clinic. Othello Station also includes five acres of parks, capped by the 2.3 acre Central Park.
High Point, designed by architect Mithun, was recognized with the American Institute of Architects' Show You're Green Award for incorporating sustainability factors into the entire process, from recycling the previous development's old-growth lumber to a natural drainage system that mimics the drainage qualities of an open meadow.
“This award program aims to showcase the wide range of ways that architects have included green elements in aesthetically excellent, affordable designs," said Gita Dev, Show You’re Green Awards jury chair. "Such principles can be easily incorporated by developers to green their housing projects and will have a lasting, positive impact on the surrounding community.”
High Point is Seattle Housing's largest redevelopment site. By the end of the decade, High Point will have 1,600 new affordable and market-rate units across its 120 acres. All of the homes at High Point meet local Built Green three-star standards and 150 trees on the original site have been preserved throughout the redevelopment.
High Point's natural drainage system cleans, cools, and filters stormwater runoff to Longfellow Creek, which has the highest amount of Coho salmon in all of Seattle's creeks. Four miles of grassy and vegetated swales enhance the watershed, also preserving the area's water and ecosystem quality.