Construction is underway on the Central City Concern (CCC) Blackburn Building at 122nd & Burnside. The project, designed by Ankrom Moisan Architects, was originally known as the Eastside Health Center, and is part of the “Housing is Health” initiative. The initiative is a partnership between CCC and six local hospitals and health organizations to provide supportive, affordable housing.
The Blackburn Building, named after former CCC President Ed Blackburn, will include affordable housing, health care facilities, a pharmacy and commercial retail space. The 6 story building will include 52 units of respite care transitional housing, 10 units of palliative care housing, 90 units of low-income single room occupancy housing and 34 studios of permanent housing. The integrated housing and clinical services will focus on recovery and mental health services, with some targeted primary care services. The clinic will serve about 3,000 patients annually. Support services at the building will include employment services, housing placement and coordination with other systems.
The Blackburn Building will be located on an approximately 30,000 sq ft site at 25 NE 122nd Ave, adjacent to the E 122nd Ave MAX blue line station. The site was formerly home to a small commercial building, which had much recently been occupied by Wolves Pizza Kitchen.
The Blackburn Building is arranged as series of stepped modules with gable roofs, intended to break the length of the building façade facing E Burnside Street. The building is stepped back at the corner of Burnside and 122nd, creating a small plaza in front of the retail space. No on site parking is proposed as part of the development. A one-way private drive at the rear of the site will allow for patient drop off.
Primary materials proposed include glass fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC) and metal panels at the base; metal shingles and Nichiha fiber cement board at the upper stories; and asphalt shingle and standing seam at the roof. Other materials include vinyl windows, metal sunshades and cable rail balconies.
The Blackburn Building was approved through a Type II Design Review in May 2017. In the conclusion to the decision the project was found to successfully transition between the auto-oriented uses and residential uses in the neighborhood:
The site is located in the 122nd Avenue Station area, within the East Corridor Plan District. Development in this area is envisioned to be transit oriented and create a pedestrian oriented urban node that supports transit patrons and pedestrians at the intersection of NE 122nd Avenue and E. Burnside Street. The proposed design responds to these guidelines through careful consideration of the massing and form, building orientation, street frontage and intersection design and high quality building materials. The modular design with a gable roof successfully transitions from the auto-oriented uses along 122nd Avenue on the east to the residential uses along Burnside Street on the west. A substantial linear outdoor plaza area has been provided fronting the intersection and the transit station, which is activated by building entrances, outdoor seating, bike parking, and landscaping.
Construction on the Blackburn building began in November 2017.
Drawings
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- Plan – Site
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- Plan – Level 1
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- Plan – Level 2
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- Plan – Level 3
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- Plan – Levels 4 to 5
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- Plan – Level 6
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- Plan – Roof
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- Elevations – West and East
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- Elevation – North
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- Elevation – South
I like the massing of this project a lot… at first I was a little skeptical of the pitched roof aesthetic, but I think it actually has a lot of charm if it is used in concert with quality materials. The wood siding and metal panels here do seem to really make that work.
And I also just appreciate the intentional density at a transit stop. A nice project overall.
The one thing that still bothers me about this building is the tiny windows. The proportion of windows to wall must be pretty small within those units. From the exterior, even with the two siding materials, it still says “prison” to me, because of the tiny windows. I assume this was a cost-saving step, both the cost of windows and energy efficiency. But I’d think the inhabitant would appreciate a bit more natural light!