The Northwest District of the Design Review Program covers the area of the city north of NW/N 80th St and and west of Aurora Ave N.

There are also openings on the Southeast Design Review Board, the Southwest Design Review Board and the East (Capitol Hill/First Hill/Central District) Design Review Board.

According to a press release sent by the mayor’s office today (Monday, October 24, 2011), the Design Review Program was established in 1994 to provide an alternative to prescriptive zoning requirements and foster new development that better responds to the character of its surroundings. Boards evaluate the design of development projects based on citywide and neighborhood-specific design guidelines.  The boards review mixed-use developments, multifamily housing, and commercial projects above a certain size threshold.

The volunteer positions on the Design Review Board will be available Wednesday, April 4, 2012 when retiring board members’ terms expire. 

Applications [PDF] are due Friday, December 9, 2011.

Board members are appointed by the Mayor and City Council and serve two-year terms.  Members serve on one of seven boards that review projects in the city’s major geographic districts. Each board is composed of five members who represent:

• Design professions
• Development interests
• General community interests
• Local business interests
• Local residential interests

Applicants should have:

• Knowledge of, or interest in, architecture, urban design and the development process;
• The ability to evaluate projects based on the city’s design guidelines;
• The ability to listen and communicate effectively at public meetings;
• A passion for design and community development; and
• The ability to work well with others under pressure.
• Prior experience with community or neighborhood groups is a plus.

Board members must live in the city of Seattle. The local residential interests representative must act as an ambassador to at least one community group or association (e.g. a community council) that operates within the board district.

Acting as an ambassador may be easier for the board member if he or she lives or works within the district they are serving, but residency in a district is not a requirement to serve as a local representative.

Board members should expect to work 12-14 hours a month attending and preparing for board meetings, which are held twice a month in the evenings. Board members are expected to attend at least 90 percent of the meetings.

For more information, contact Shelley Bolser, Design Review Program Lead, at shelley.bolser [at] seattle.gov.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: architecture, local politics, volunteer

This week’s photo, by Curtis Cronn, was shot on Saturday, March 19, 2011 at Green Lake Park. It features the arch at the end of the Green Lake Shade Plaza, which is located on the east side of the Green Lake Community Center (7201 E Green Lake Dr N).

The historic arch was installed at Green Lake Park in the spring of 2009. Prior to being moved to Green Lake, the City of Seattle had been keeping it in storage.

The arch originally was located at the now-demolished Martha Washington School for Girls, which provided resident supervision for “delinquent girls” from 1900 to 1971.

Thank you, Curtis!

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: architecture, historical, parks and rec, photography

The building, which was completed in February 2008, is the newest addition to Bethany Community Church, located in north Green Lake at 1156 N 80th St.

Around 3,000 people attend the church every Sunday. While numbers like this could present a large impact to the neighborhood, the church worked with the community and with Daniel Bagley Elementary School, located across the street from the church, to prevent parking and traffic issues.

The church financed 60 new stalls of parking next to the school, to handle overflow on Sundays. It provides needed parking for the school on weekdays.

[ ... ] To further mitigate parking pressures, several shuttle buses pick up people from satellite blocks and drop them off alongside the church on Stone Way, which is blocked off on Sundays except to handicapped attendees. People circulate freely across the street and between the new church and the old one, filling the new concrete deck front in good weather.

[Daily Journal of Commerce]

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2010.

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Post tags: architecture, daniel bagley elementary, spiritual, traffic

Emory Baldwin

Local architect Emory Baldwin has won a national AARP Livable Communities Award for his home in the Green Lake area.

The award winners were announced today by AARP and the National Association of Homebuilders.

From the press release:

The 2009 AARP and NAHB Livable Communities Awards (www.aarp.org/homedesign) recognize forward-looking builders, developers, and architects for award winning designs that demonstrate energy efficient, convenient and comfortable residential living for people of all ages and abilities:

Architect – ZAI Inc. (for Green Lake Residence in Seattle, WA) The Architects of ZAI Inc. created a home designed to respond to the various changes people experience over the course of their lives, and to do so in an aesthetically pleasing way. The residence demonstrates that a multi-story structure on an urban lot can be accessible throughout a lifetime. In addition to user-friendly rooms, the home features three stacking closets that are framed, sized and wired for a future elevator so that the house can accommodate the resident’s changing needs. Energy-efficient radiant heating under the floor creates comfortable even temperatures and eliminates the need for ducts and vents.

“This house was designed and built to demonstrate that a home can enable a person to age-in-place at home, and that such a house need not look any different than other houses,” said ZAI architect Emory Baldwin. “Multigenerational design is at the core of what I do, and I have been focusing on that concept since writing my graduate thesis back in 1997.”

Congratulations, Emory, and thank you for bringing your amazing talent to the Green Lake neighborhood!

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2010.

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Post tags: architecture

The seminar is open to all homeowners interested in renovating their home into a calming, functional, sustainable retreat. Bring your questions and we will provide answers on everything from how to start the process, who to hire, permitting requirements, tips and tricks of the trade, sustainable practices, cost estimating, design functionality and aesthetics.

Copyright Homemakers Seattle | Used with permission

© for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2009.

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Post tags: architecture, ballard, bargain alert, library, local businesses, real estate

photo credit: Lara604

A major new exhibition brings to light exceptional work from the Arts and Crafts Movement in the Northwest during the early twentieth century. The exhibition showcases significant buildings and interiors, furniture, glass, metalwork, ceramics, textiles, fine arts, graphics and book arts, and photography with over one hundred objects drawn from public and private collections.

The exhibit is based on The Arts and Crafts Movement in the Pacific Northwest, by Kreisman and Mason (Timber Press, Portland, 2007).  The book explores the ideals of the Arts and Crafts movement within a theme of regional identity, which found fertile ground in Washington and Oregon.

A few other recommended reads:

… The Seattle Bungalow: People And Houses, 1900-1940by Janet Ore.

… Craftsman Bungalows: Designs from the Pacific Northwestedited by Yoho & Merritt.

… Classic Houses of Seattle: High Style to Vernacular, 1870-1950by Caroline T. Swope.

… West Coast Bungalows of the 1920s: With Photographs and Floor Plansby E. W. Stillwell & Co.

MOHAI mapped:

© for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2009.

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Post tags: architecture, arts and crafts, historical, photography, real estate