Mini Mart City Park is a new community-focused cultural center and park designed by GO’C and initiated by the artist collaborative SuttonBeresCuller. The project has transformed a former gas station site into a Seattle hub for art events and community gatherings.
The design work began by exploring options to preserve the existing remnants of the 1930s-era, 450-square-foot filling station. It quickly became evident that in addition to being too small of a venue to host the desired community meetings and gatherings, the structure was too compromised to save. Plans were developed for a new, 1,500-square-foot building and 3,000-square-foot park which would satisfy the desired program and make better use of the site, resulting in more public green space. By dividing the program functions into two primary spaces, a gallery/community center at the front of the building, and a storage/utility box at the back of the building, an open-air courtyard was created in the middle. The courtyard enables the park and building to work together, merging built space and the park areas in between. The courtyard also serves as a multi-functional exterior space for large-scale art installations, movie night gatherings, and loading access for the main gallery. A 1,000-square-foot rooftop level provides an elevated space for small gatherings surrounded by areas of green roof planted with drought tolerant sedums and grasses and solar panels.
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