Power Point Apartments

Tacoma, WA

The Power Point Apartments is a 25-unit residential building designed for one of three contiguous sites on the rapidly developing hillside adjacent to downtown Tacoma. Most developers would opt to combine the parcels and fill the entire site with one large building, but our client preferred to phase the development with several Missing Middle buildings over a period of time. The corner site presented more possibilities than Tacoma’s typical 50-foot wide mid-block infill lots, but topography and high-voltage transmission lines running overhead gave truth to the old adage “creativity loves constraints.”

The site slopes significantly over its long axis with the main building entrance located on I Street for residents and guests arriving by walking, transit, or ride share. The rear entrance adjacent to the vehicle and bike parking is two full levels below at the alley side. Stepping the foundation to follow the existing grade balances cut and fill, which minimizes the amount of excavated soil to be exported off site and limits the amount concrete needed for the structure. Designing the foundation this way reduces overall project cost and carbon emissions.

Safety clearances from the high voltage power lines required the upper floors of the building to step back from South 21st Street. The design team tested two possible resulting building shapes. Compared with a more conventional upper-story step-back scheme, a raked wall design resulted in over 2,000 additional square feet of leasable area, a 10% floor area increase. Using a conservative $2/sf/month rental rate, that equates to an additional revenue of $48,000 annually or $480,000 over 10 years!

Proof of concept was further supported by early engagement with our structural engineer. In fact, the raked wall design would be structurally simpler—and thus more cost effective—than the upper-story step-back design. While the upper-story step-back design would require transfer beams and special connections to create a load path between offset exterior walls, the raked wall design is constructed like a conventional gable roof, which has a single ridge beam and bears directly on the walls below at the eave. This allows virtually the entire structure to be constructed with economical, carbon-sequestering, and sustainably harvested wood framing members.

After establishing which building design concept would be most cost effective and maximize the leasable square footage, it was then time to “figure out how to make that building look good.” This is in quotes because one engineer we interviewed was dubious this could be done. Fortunately, WC STUDIO was up for the challenge.

Since the overall building shape blurs the boundaries between roof and wall, it made sense to use standing seam metal, a material that functions equally well as roofing and siding. Slate grey standing seam metal wraps the north side of the building, continues over the roof, and caps each end of the south elevation. Recessed balconies along the 21st Street elevation, punctuate the metal façade with pops of color and depth. Inset or “innie” dormers result where the decks intersect the steep side of the gable, meeting a zoning requirement for roofline modulation in an unconventional way. Four window types placed in an alternating sequence with the recessed balconies establish a pleasant rhythm rather than a rigid pattern along the primary building elevation facing 21st Street. The east and west elevations, which face the alley and I Street respectively, feature a fresh spin on window groupings using the same window types. Playful polygons connect the edges and vertices of windows of different sizes. Defined by contrasting paint colors and a projecting frame, the geometric shapes resemble brightly hued gemstones. Larger covered decks are carved out of the building corners to extend the living spaces of adjacent apartments and unify the distinct design elements featured on the long and short sides of the building.