northwest studio
Menu
A timber street for the West Seattle Triangle, designed to welcome residents and visitors into a verdant environment, grounded in an architecture that reflects its hundred-year legacy as a lumberyard.
The design works with what is already there: The street is unusually wide. Rather than dividing the space into rigid lanes, the project softens those boundaries. Cars, bikes, and pedestrians occupy a shared field, moving at different speeds within a shared framework. Ground-floor uses open directly onto the timber public way, with entries, storefronts, and mid-block connections reinforcing a steady rhythm of activity. The result is less about directing traffic and more about supporting presence—people moving through, stopping, gathering, and returning.
Material and form do most of the work. Boardwalks, native plantings, and subtle changes in elevation create a sequence of places. Massive wooden platforms and benches mark key moments, giving shape to crossings and thresholds. Accessibility and durability are built into these moves through material choice and detailing. The intent is simple: to turn the right-of-way into a place that feels grounded, open, and useful—something that belongs to the neighborhood and grows with it.