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1. Convention+Hotel 3,500,000 SF2. Arena 20,000 Seats3. Housing 564 units4. Parking 500 spaces 5. Park 45 acres6. Cultural Center 50,835 SF* Buildings under development/construction are

rendered in a light grey.

Site Plan

Images from WSDOT, during the construction of I-5

Topographical InterventionsI-5 cut through the city in 1962, dividing the Seattle Neighborhoods.

“C.A.P. proposes to insert topography and public park space into the chasm created by Interstate 5”

EastlakeCapitol Hill

A narrow swath of land between Lake Washington and Elliott Bay is situated in the remote upper northwest corner of the United States – here sits the City of Seattle. Populated by Douglas fir and Red cedar trees until settlers started turning the isthmus into a fast growing metropolis just over 150 years ago. The first major industry in the city, logging, was successful in turning the tall forests into an urbanized landscape. As the growing city met topographical challenges, the topography was simply removed, relocated or filled-in to create a more suitable environment for euro-centric city building. This approach to city building was so successful that by the mid-1900’s the city of Detroit, MI had more trees and greenspace downtown than Seattle, WA. The boom and bust cycles of this west coast city have afforded grand opportunities to build parks and public space and positioned difficult obstacles to seeing those plans through. (Olmsted Seattle Parks system, Klondike Gold Rush, Boeing, Software, Dot-Com, Fastest growing city in the U.S.) During one boom cycle in the early 1990’s a proposal to create the Seattle Commons south of Lake Union was put forward. The Seattle Commons took an underutilized portion of the city within close proximity of the downtown core and turned it into a Central Park-esque feature in the middle of proposed development on the periphery. Despite generous support from Paul Allen to create the Seattle Commons as a public amenity to balance out the proposed development, the City of Seattle said no thank you to a 45 acre

Images from WSDOT, during the construction of I-5

Topographical InterventionsI-5 cut through the city in 1962, dividing the Seattle Neighborhoods.

Downtown Seattle

Capitol Hill

First Hill

downtown park. 25 years of impressive growth have built-out South Lake Union as well as many other neighborhoods around the city. The downtown core and Capitol Hill are experiencing unprecedented growth and development. As the urban core densifies opportunities for significant public green space downtown are becoming difficult to imagine.

Interstate 5 occupies an immense swath of land through downtown Seattle, slicing the isthmus in two pieces with the cut occurring along the edges between the International District/Downtown Core/South Lake Union to the west and First Hill and Capitol Hill to the east. This jarring separation of the urban fabric is experienced by all who pass within earshot of the non-stop roar of traffic that emanates from the man-made canyon and ledge that make-up the freeway structure. Minor attempts to connect the city with itself are tenuous at best.

The C.A.P. proposal solves multiple issues, our growing city can thrive from the complexity of the challenges facing its citizens. We can have a beautiful public park, a destination convention center, a downtown sports arena and affordable housing. Each of the neighborhoods have multiple opportunities to tie the city back together at large and small scales. Focus on the public amenities, public input and evolutionary process that the C.A.P. infrastructure supports will allow the development of the concept over time.

Project Goals

45 ACRE PARK Trails, Paths, Overlooks, Community Spaces

RECONNECT NEIGHBORHOODS AND THE URBAN FABRIC OF THE CITY

PUBLIC BENEFIT FOR DENSIFYING URBAN CORE

ENERGY GENERATION, NOISE REDUCTION, STORMWATER MITIGATION, EMISSIONS CONTROL

ARCHITECTURAL INFRASTRUCTURE AT A CITY SCALE IMPLEMENTS 45 Acre Park Convention Center Expansion Downtown Arena Downtown Housing Cultural and Activity Space Collective Views of the City, Water and Mountains