Located in Seattle, the Stack House Apartments make up approximately half of the Block 10 project in the South Lake Union District. Made up of two new seven-story residential buildings, the apartments are located in the same block as the historic Supply Laundry building, which underwent a renovation and adaptive reuse for retail, restaurant and office spaces. The Supply Laundry building is flanked by a large stack from its days as a manufacturing plant, giving the Stack House Apartments its name.
According to Melissa Wechsler, AIA, LEED AP, principal at Runberg Architecture Group, Seattle, the goal was to create an attractive and vibrant mixed-use community on the three quarters of the block surrounding the historic Supply Laundry building, which was the subject of an intense core rehabilitation project concurrent with the design and construction of the new buildings.
To break down the scale of the new construction buildings to fit into the neighborhood context and avoid overwhelming the two-story Supply Laundry building, Wechsler says the design was broken into distinct masses, each with its own cladding solution. “The ‘Object’ mass was clad in a vibrant
[Niederurnen, Switzerland-based] Swisspearl fiber cement [composite panels], intending to draw one’s eye across the block and suggest movement,” she explains. “The ‘Fabric’ elements featured full-height brick frames, harkening back to the industrial history of the neighborhood and referencing the restored brick on the Supply Laundry building. Within the brick frames, metal-clad bay windows protrude to give depth and interest to the façade. The third mass was referred to as the ‘Link,’ as it literally links the
‘Object’ and ‘Fabric’ volumes together. It was critical for the
‘Link’ to read as smooth and highly reflective. Ideally the cladding would have been all glass, but [metal composite material
(MCM)] panels were a more cost-effective and energy-efficient solution to achieve these goals.”
The 425,747-square-foot project features MCM panels from Citadel Architectural Products Inc., Indianapolis, and metal wall panels from West Sacramento, Calif.-based AEP Span. Citadel supplied 23,700 square feet of its Envelope 2000 panels in Clear Satin Anodized, while AEP Span supplied a combination of Box Rib metal wall panels in Dark Bronze for the bays and Prestige Series metal wall panels in Champagne for infill areas between the brick.
Wechsler notes that there were several challenges with the adaptive reuse design for the Supply Laundry building, most notably was accommodating the requirements of the Landmark Preservation Board without forfeiting code compliant energy performance. “Two aspects of the design that spoke to this challenge was the need to balance out the thickness and location of interior insulation along the masonry walls without completely covering up the tactile and historic value along the interior of the façade, as well as the need to preserve a series of original single-glazed, double-hung wood windows along the west façade,” she explains.
Additionally, Wechsler says that meeting the 2030 Energy Performance goals was the biggest challenge for the new construction portions. “To drive energy usage down, a reverse cycle chiller was employed to recoup heat from garage exhaust to heat the domestic hot water needs for the apartments above,” she adds. “Mini split-heat pumps provided improved energy performance and the option for air conditioning to the upper west and south-facing units.”
Located near some of Seattle’s most famous cafés, galleries and shops, Stack House offers a variety of floor plans, including studio, one-, two- and three-bedrooms homes, as well as lofts and townhouses. Apartments feature Energy Star-rated appliances and high-efficiency water fixtures, while the complex offers complimentary electric charging spaces, on-site Zip Cars, bike storage and a community garden.
In addition to meeting LEED Platinum certification, Stack House Apartments meets the targets of the AIA’s 2030 Challenge. It also meets the Seattle 2030 District challenge for water and energy savings, and was the first pilot project to make use of the City of Seattle’s outcome-based energy code with support from Seattle City Light, the Seattle Department of Planning and Development, and the Preservation Green Lab.
Stack House Apartments, Seattle
Award: Outstanding Multifamily Project for the 2013 LEED for Homes Awards from the U.S. Green Building Council
Owner: Vulcan Real Estate, Seattle
Architect: Runberg Architecture Group, Seattle
General contractor: Exxel Pacific, Seattle
Building envelope design services: JRS Engineering, Seattle
LEED consultant:
O’Brien & Co., Seattle
Mechanical/plumbing engineer/energy efficiency modeling/consulting: Ecotope, Seattle
Installer: AVA Siding, Covington, Wash.
Fiber cement composite panels: Swisspearl, Niederurnen, Switzerland
Metal wall panels: AEP Span, West Sacramento, Calif., www.aepspan.com, and Citadel Architectural
Products Inc., Indianapolis, www.citadelap.com