Johnston Architects Designs for Urban Apartment Living
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kirin is located in queen anne’s uptown neighborhooD in seattle
At JA, our experience designing multi-family housing began more than two decades ago, and since then we have cemented relationships with repeat clients focusing on residential development across the Seattle area and beyond. Through the years the region’s housing needs have shifted along with demographics, industry, and infrastructure.
What began as designing enclaves of townhomes in Seattle’s mostly single-family communities, like the widely-published Fremont Lofts and Boulders at Green Lake, has evolved into designing multi-story, mixed-use apartment buildings in some of Seattle’s densest neighborhoods. With projects like Ballard Public, Stencil in Seattle’s Central District, Mercer Island Lofts, and several multi-family projects in design or construction in the Columbia City neighborhood, JA’s housing design expertise continues to diversify to meet the shifting needs of our region.
Kirin, a recently-completed mixed-use building in Seattle’s Uptown neighborhood – mere blocks from Seattle Center with the Space Needle and in a thriving arts district – is an exploration in designing for today’s urban residents. It is also a study in curating a residential environment for those who already live near the epicenter of amenities. With independent theaters, the ballet and opera houses, Climate Pledge Arena hosting sports and concert events, KEXP’s public gathering space, and restaurants and eateries within a short walk, what else could Kirin’s residents be looking for?
As the last two years have shown us, urban amenities are still not enough to support a healthy lifestyle during months of social distancing. As employees worked from home by the millions and the pandemic raged on, many of today’s efficient apartment designs started to show their limitations. Expansive amenity spaces touted by many multi-family buildings were closed to residents to stop the spread of COVID-19, restaurants and retail spaces were shuttered, and suddenly homebound urbanites found themselves feeling cramped and isolated.
Long before the pandemic, JA had been designing residences with flexible spaces, sensible storage solutions, nooks perfectly sized for a desk, balconies and decks whenever possible, and practical shared spaces that are not overly programmed or under-utilized. We applied all of these residential design best practices to our work on Kirin.
kirin’s amenity space serves as a great room for residents to use for private events or flexible ‘work from anywhere’ spaces
With just ninety-five residences, Kirin is small in comparison to many of Seattle’s mixed-use buildings, but JA designers integrated useful private and public spaces into its design. The first floor commercial spaces are ideal for cafes or restaurants, with a covered, landscaped veranda ready for outdoor seating. Rather than immense amenity spaces that sit vacant most of the time, Kirin’s amenity room feels like a welcoming residence of its own, with a kitchen, dining, and living space perfect for hosting a birthday dinner or a Seahawks watch party.
Kirin’s rooftop is laid out to allow for multiple groups to enjoy the space simultaneously. Set against the backdrop of Elliott Bay, a unique forest “path” meanders between evergreen trees and a firepit surrounded by comfortable deck chairs turns the space into a four-season hangout. But the building’s most unique space is on full display for residents and pedestrians alike. Utilizing thousands of programmable LEDs, the JA-design ceiling installation in the Kirin lobby appears to breathe as lighting patterns dance above, diffused by translucent fabric flags. A common table and comfortable seating make this transitional space useful for residents working from home, waiting for a Lyft or Uber, or grabbing a cup of coffee with a colleague.
kirin’s roof deck is designed with numerous gathering spaces
ja designed a one-of-a-kind dynamic lighting installation for the ceiling in the kirin lobby
Inside Kirin’s ninety-five apartment homes, JA designers accounted for a variety of furniture layouts and specified high-quality cabinetry and casework to ensure enough storage for residences. Even the 450 SF one bedroom includes a nook big enough for a WFH station, which will come in handy as more of Seattle’s biggest employers maintain remote or hybrid work plans for tens of thousands of employees.
an at-home workstation fits perfectly in this apartment floorplan
JA was founded by Mary and Ray Johnston 30 years ago. They began working together in their basement, remodeling their home and those of their neighbors before making a name for themselves with larger projects, and the Johnstons’ passion for designing inspiring living spaces – at every scale – imbues our firm’s work today.
Whether a 7,700 SF mountain retreat like Base Camp, the often-replicated 750 SF footprint of the Twisp Cabin, elegant four-story view townhomes on Queen Anne, or shipping container-inspired efficiency apartments like DXU, JA’s expertise in residential design stretches across project types, scales, geography, technology, and demographics. These diverse architectural experiences keep JA designers nimble and imbue our projects with the best elements of each housing typology. It just so happens that in Kirin we were able to integrate many of them into a unique mixed-use project that complements and celebrates its surrounding Arts District.