This mixed use neighborhood concept creates a dynamic live/work community geared toward the Bay Area’s tech workforce. A mix of apartment configurations are interspersed with activity nodes like the ‘think tank’ flexible work and collaboration space, diverse retail and fitness/lifestyle amenities. Indoor-outdoor spaces serve as a vital connector, drawing people to and through the site with a variety of richly textured, engaging and dynamic experiences. Image by @plo.mp for Mithun
Mithun is the first integrated design firm to achieve @SalmonSafe firm accreditation! This is a practice-wide commitment to apply Salmon-Safe principles across projects & to protect and enhance watershed health everywhere we work. https://t.co/hb6wFICTZD #DesignforPositiveChange https://t.co/pzoHAURETl
Indoor and outdoor gathering and study spaces abound at Nuevo East to serve the graduate student population. A variety of scales and range of character provide residents with choice and comfort to align with that moment’s activity and preferences. In addition to flexible seating nooks like this one overlooking the adjacent Porton building, options include visible and social lounge areas in the bustling Exchange building, laundry porches perfect for multitasking, gracious roof terraces with adjacent meeting spaces, and dispersed quiet spaces for focused work. 📷: @brucedamonte
The Exchange building at @UCSanDiego’s Nuevo East housing community defines a welcoming gateway and public plaza for casual moments and special events like farmers markets, concerts, lectures and art installations. Beyond, memorable landscape spaces and accessible pathways connect to five residential buildings that are home to more than 1,370 graduate students. 📷: @brucedamonte
At @UCSanDiego Nuevo East Graduate Student Housing, residential spaces are anchored by the Exchange, a flexible and dynamic space for student life and gathering at the gateway to East Mesa. At dusk, the building becomes a portal of light welcoming students and the greater community to the park-like setting and destinations at Nuevo East. Inside, the student resource center features multi-purpose amenity and gathering spaces, university offices and support programs to promote health and wellness. 📷: @brucedamonte
Lantern in the Forest. The renovation and addition at @KingCountyLibrary’s Federal Way Library expands capacity and strengthens connections with its forested site and growing community. New reading rooms for the library’s diverse collections are housed within a series of glass and steel pavilions that engage the forest. These sculptural pavilions are positioned to preserve mature evergreens, and open to views of trees, rain gardens and native plantings. Expanded seating, study areas and collections alleviate congestion in the library, one of the busiest branches in King County at the time it was built. 📷: Doug Scott
Immersive environments for reading are key to the success of K-12 school libraries like this one at Blakely Elementary School. Stacked timbers create a welcoming nest for shared stories and independent reading in the sunlight.
"Every square foot of our beautiful new library speaks volumes to those in it about how we as a community value books, reading and learning. It is as if the room says "come and read." And the children do... When we think of our school as inspired by the forest, the library is certainly at the top with a full view of learning going on all around us while we curl up in "The Nest" to share a story. It is a very natural place to listen, to use the imagination and to wonder." – Kathleen Pool, Bainbridge Island School District Library Media Specialist
📷: Benjamin Benschneider (image 01)
In honor of Black History Month, we’re sharing the @SeattlePublicLibrary Douglass-Truth Branch Library which was renovated and expanded by Schacht Aslani Architects in 2006 (now part of Mithun). The design preserves character-defining features of the cherished historic library while creating a modern expression and experience aligned to its contemporary community.
Moreover, the project provides expanded space and better access to the library’s significant African-American Collection—one of the largest on the West Coast—launched in 1965 with books donated by the local chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, a national organization of Black college women. The collection features more than 10,000 items including biographies, magazines, literature, music and films as well as pamphlets, fliers and posters on local leaders and issues. Among the library’s art on display are paintings of Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth by Eddie Ray Walker, 3D panels by Vivian Linder (visible through windows in this photo) and copper sculptures by Marita Dingus.
See link in bio to learn more and plan a visit (https://bit.ly/3L1LFii) 📷: Mike Jensen
The residential tower at Heartline features ground-floor detailing and art integration that animates the pedestrian experience and enriches placemaking. Defining the high-rise entry vestibule is a board-formed concrete wall that showcases original etched-glass art by Lead Pencil Studio housed within a monumental horizontal aperture. In the second image, elevated stoops in front of the townhouses along 12th Avenue NW provide privacy through art and vegetation while connecting to the urban fabric of the bustling Pearl neighborhood through glazed walls, canopies and simple materiality.
If you’re passionate about architecture that contributes to a vibrant public realm, reach out! We’re looking for talented team members to join our multifamily and mixed use high-rise practice in San Francisco and Seattle. Learn more at link in bio (https://mithun.com/people/careers/). 📷: @k7scott
