Seattle’s South Lake Union has long been the site of evolution, growth and change, and that pace has only accelerated in recent years. Amazon Apollo, at 325 Ninth Avenue North, represents South Lake Union’s latest evolution, and the future of the neighborhood, balancing commercial opportunity with a contextual response. One of the first projects conceived and built under the South Lake Union Upzone, the project pairs twelve stories of office space with ground floor amenity space, retail and a south-facing public plaza.
While it is easy to get caught up in the freshness of current growth it is also true that buildings can serve as a reminder of the past, and of the tremendous changes that have brought us to our familiar, contemporary setting. In the early 20th century, Denny Hill was leveled, transforming the landscape - and those buildings that occupied it - for centuries to come.
The stacked forms of Apollo recall the elaborate cribbing supports that allowed for the lowering of buildings that did not yet want to disappear with the hill. The elevated office block sits above a layered, textural podium that elevates the form above while responding to the more intimate scale of the street. Like the cribbing to which it owes its inspiration, the podium is perforated and elevated, allowing space and activity to flow in and through the block.
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