Wedgeview is a newly completed multi-family residential building located across the street from Tacoma’s historic Wedge neighborhood. Vacant for many years, the site now contains four new dwellings, eight new neighbors, two dogs and one cat.
This urban cabin concept is a fresh perspective on how to not only house people efficiently, but also retain and enrich the charm and character of a specific place, and to create homes, not just housing.
The Center for Urban Waters was envisioned by the City of Tacoma to be a beacon on the water and an example of using building and site sustainable strategies for all future projects in the City. The 51,000 sf, three-story building functions as a shared research facility for City of Tacoma and University of Washington Tacoma to receive and analyze water samples from the waterways of Tacoma and surrounding areas. The building program is comprised of laboratories, offices, conference rooms, a lunch room, an exhibit center, a customer service center at the lobby entrance, and related building services including a mooring facility on the Thea Foss Waterway. The building is sited to optimize views across the waterway toward the city and views toward Mt. Rainier, to maximize public open space, and to provide access to the shoreline esplanade and to on-site parking.
The Center for Urban Waters
Architects: Perkins+Will
Client: National Development Council and the City of Tacoma