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Meyer Memorial Trust Headquarters – ULI Americas Awards for Excellence Winner
Learn more about 2022 ULI Americas Awards for Excellence Finalist, Meyer Memorial Trust Headquarters (Portland, OR).
Photo By Meghan Montgomery / Built Work Photography
The largest multifamily Passive House project in Washington State, Solis is one of the healthiest buildings on the market. It achieves dramatic reductions in energy use, 50% less than the US multifamily median, and boasts exceptional indoor air quality with continuously filtered fresh air for each unit. Using simple design strategies and conventional materials in innovative ways these feats were were accomplished for a mere 5% construction cost premium.
Photo By Meghan Montgomery / Built Work Photography
The lushly planted roof deck offers opportunities for respite and gathering; a spectacular view of Mt. Rainier awaits residents on a clear day.
Location: Seattle, Washington, USA
Developer: SolTerra
Designers: Weber Thompson: Architecture, Landscape Architecture & Interior Design
Site Size: 0.2 Acres
Photo By Meghan Montgomery / Built Work Photography
At the building corner, the custom-fabricated decorative “jewelbox” screen pattern is a modern play on the historic brick patterns common to the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
The goals of Solis were to revitalize an underutilized urban site, provide much-needed urban housing, prioritize resident health and well-being, and last but not least, leave a light footprint on the planet.
Upon opening in the spring of 2020, Solis was the largest multifamily Passive House project in Washington State and one of the greenest and healthiest market-rate apartment buildings on the market. It achieves a low carbon footprint thanks to its primarily wood structure and dramatic reductions in operational energy use – less than 50% from the US multi-family median! The building boasts exceptional indoor air quality with continuously filtered fresh air for each unit. Using simple design strategies and conventional materials in innovative ways these feats were accomplished for a mere 5% construction cost premium. In this way, Solis is a premier example of the possibilities of healthy, sustainable, urban housing.
Photo By Meghan Montgomery / Built Work Photography
Lush landscaping extends into an open-air residential lobby and exterior feature stair, creating an indoor/outdoor experience and reducing heating/cooling loads.
A driving factor in design was connecting the architecture to the culture and identity of the neighborhood, the Pike/Pine corridor of Seattle’s Capitol Hill, a dense urban neighborhood known for its arts culture, restaurants, nightlife, and LGBTQ+ community. The 44,762 GSF building consists of one level of ground floor commercial spaces, five levels containing 45 apartments above and one level of resident parking below.
Photo By Meghan Montgomery / Built Work Photography
The east façade is set back to offer private resident terraces on level two. Rain leaders run vertically down the façade, bringing runoff from the rooftop to the residential terrace planters below. There, stormwater filtration planters scrub the water, lessening the burden to Seattle’s sewer system. These stormwater planters, in addition to providing lush planting for residents to enjoy, also support pollinator habits.
While it was a risky proposition to pursue the first passive house project of this size in the region, Solis achieves what no one thought possible and sets a new standard for what all new multifamily development can and should be.
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