Wadajir Market and Residences

Wadajir reimagines the supply chain to build smarter and more efficiently, yielding a reduction in materials, labor, time and waste through a component-driven approach to design.
One-, two- and three-bedroom residential units provide critically needed affordable housing for families, introducing cooperative ownership opportunities for the community.
Many Somali and East African refugee families depend on income from micro-enterprises—usually owned and operated by women—that sell foods, textiles, jewelry, perfumes and other goods in souq markets. The Wadajir Marketplace creates a permanent home for many locally displaced businesses across the street from the flourishing Abu Bakr mosque, forming a strong center for the community.
Named after the Somali word meaning “Bonded Together,” Wadajir introduces urban density to a suburban neighborhood with community amenities and design sensitivity.

Community Rises with Mass Timber

Wadajir Market and Residences

Tukwila, WA

Carbon-smart Mass Timber

Wadajir uses carbon-smart cross laminated timber (CLT) technology to create attainable family housing in a region of rapid population growth and escalating housing prices. The building’s innovative mass timber system incorporates CLT structural elements, utilizes sustainably harvested timber and helps generate jobs in rural Washington.

Expediting Attainable Housing

The project addresses gentrification and displacement at the center of a vibrant East African immigrant community feeling pressures from rapid redevelopment. At the street level, Wadajir features a souq market hall for small, community-based businesses. The upper floors offer an abundance of family-sized units available for cooperative ownership at attainable prices.

Well-being and Environmental Benefit

Low-carbon exposed timber within the building brings biophilic benefits to residents and market visitors. Healthy materials, energy and water efficiency, and a Salmon-Safe certified facility contribute to a community looking to the future.

Client

Forterra

Overview

Affordable housing and marketplace development for a growing community of Somali and East African immigrants, incorporating carbon-smart modular mass timber construction

Program

Family-sized 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom residential units, 18,000 sf marketplace, community gathering areas and courtyard

Size

170,000 sf; 1.7 acres

Sustainable Metrics

LEED Silver, Targeted; Salmon-Safe Certification, Targeted

Services

Architecture, Landscape Architecture

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Wadajir reimagines the supply chain to build smarter and more efficiently, yielding a reduction in materials, labor, time and waste through a component-driven approach to design.

One-, two- and three-bedroom residential units provide critically needed affordable housing for families, introducing cooperative ownership opportunities for the community.

Named after the Somali word meaning “Bonded Together,” Wadajir introduces urban density to a suburban neighborhood with community amenities and design sensitivity.

Community Rises with Mass Timber

Wadajir Market and Residences