The Woodland Park Apartments are a 180-unit multifamily complex in development by Carl Pollard, a seasoned local developer with a half dozen previously completed projects in Seattle. A first-time partnership with Ankrom Moisan, Pollard engaged the office for its expertise with the adaptive reuse of landmarked properties. Located in the popular Fremont neighborhood just off the burgeoning Stone Way corridor, the property is home to the Shannon and Wilson Building, a midcentury modern office building easily recognizable for its eye catching, undulating roof form and breeze block enclosure. Designed by the prolific structural engineer Jack Christensen whose other notable works include the Pacific Science Center and King Dome, the Shannon and Wilson Building is an impressive early example of the structural possibilities of thin shell concrete. Ankrom’s assignment was no small task: maximize the development potential of the site while celebrating the distinctive landmark structure.  

The design for the addition to the site has passed through multiple iterations, each becoming successively more sympathetic to the Shannon and Wilson Building. The first schemes presented to the Landmark’s Preservation Board explored demolishing the interior of the Shannon and Wilson or cantilevering out over the iconic roofline on a grid of piloti. The Board resoundingly rejected any major alterations to the landmark and directed all future development be confined to a footprint outside that of the historic structure. The resulting developable envelope takes on an Oklahomaesque massing consisting of a cubic primary volume to the south and an eight-story panhandle to the north that skirts the eastern edge of the landmark. Additionally, the Board mandated that any new development should be set back from the Shannon and Wilson Building, to retain the distinctive facade and roof forms, retain the existing breezeblock enclosure wherever possible, and that any new development should read as a  backdrop to the existing structure.

The massing scheme presented at Early Design Guidance consisted of an eight-story, roughly cubic, structure to the south of the site joined by a three-story trio of townhomes buffering the Shannon and Wilson from the adjacent property. The exterior design relied primarily on upright vertical banding, strongly juxtaposed field and accent colors, and a staggered balcony placement to animate the elevations. While complimentary of the composition, the Design Review Board felt the result was too eye catching and directed the design team to advance an architectural solution that was more deferential landmark.

The massing presented at the second Early Design Guidance meeting simplified the architectural expression, maintaining the tripartite arrangement of base, middle, and top, but focusing on a more limited palette of high-quality materials for a more muted expression. The updated design replaced the upright bands of color and surface plane changes that previously generated a feeling of verticality, with a more consistent color scheme and fenestration arrangement that emphasizes horizontality. The deep balconies previously organized in a dynamic, alternating pattern were traded for a field of shallow Juliette balconies arrayed in a more stayed grid arrangement.

While the Design Review Board approved the revised scheme, after Early Design Guidance, there was a feeling among the design team that the project still needed more of a sense of connection to the landmark. The solution was to incorporate a bay window motif for the long, deep units on the street facing elevations of the structure. The resulting pleated facade design is a subtle reference to, and playful interpretation of, the landmark’s distinctive roofline, with the bays along the street echoing that repetitive module of the landmark. This exterior design revision was accompanied by a significant rethinking of the Shannon and Wilson’s programing.

In an exciting development, the owner has decided to locate the majority of the new amenity functions for the residential building to within the landmark. Whereas previously, the scheme had sought to modernize the interior of the Shannon and Wilson Building to suit the needs of a contemporary commercial office tenant, now the landmark structure will house the primary building entry, lobby and leasing functions, a café and coworking space, as well as resident lounge and gym.

The project now on hold pending more favorable financing conditions, promises to be a tremendous addition to the north Freemont area and breathe new life into the remarkable landmark building.