February 22, 2022

18-story mass timber project receives wood innovation grant

Rendering by Clark Barnes [enlarge]

When complete, AKARI House will be Seattle’s tallest mass timber building.

Clark Barnes, the architect for AKARI House, an 18-story mass-timber project set to rise at 1422 Seneca St., received a 2021 United States Forest Service Wood Innovations Grant of $250,000.

“This grant will support the team to explore and report back on the challenges and lessons learned from the unique construction and permit processes associated with designing, permitting, and building a high-rise mass timber structure,” Curt Pryde, founder of Pryde Development, developer of AKARI House, said.

The 75,000-square-foot project is currently winding its way through permitting. Design review is approved and the MUP has been issued. The building permit was submitted for review last summer and the project team is currently addressing permit corrections. Pryde said that “a general contractor is very close in being selected.”

The proposed AKARI House has 135 units including 68 small-efficiency dwelling units along with ground-floor, upper-floor, and rooftop amenity spaces. No parking or retail is included in the project. Dark metal and fiber cement cladding creates a bark-like skin for the tower which the architect designed to be reminiscent of a tall conifer tree. Glimpses of the mass timber structure will also be visible through windows that “will remind the passerby of the forests from which the structure came and what once existed on First Hill.”

AKARI House is sited on a small triangular site and a large triangular sidewalk abuts the project. The project plan would see the sidewalk transformed into a public plaza that includes trees, lighting, public benches, bike parking, lush plantings, and an area map. “The goal being to enhance the pedestrian experience, create connections to the evolving First Hill network of public spaces, and serve as the forecourt to AKARI House,” Pryde said.

The AKARI House team also includes Coughlin Porter Lundeen, structural engineer; Glumac, MEP engineer; Earth Solutions NW, geotechnical: KPFF Consulting Engineers, civil engineer; Weisman Design Group, landscape architect; Robin Chell Design, interiors; and Fish to Water, branding.