UNION PIER

Focus: AIAS COTE Competition

Location: Seattle, WA

Function: Resilient Community Design

Size: 100,000 sf

Collaboration: Joseph Anaya

Union Pier recognizes water and the community’s role in healing patients suffering from substance abuse. As the site is 90% water and located on the East side of the lake, the design welcomes, shelters, and treats patients and water in an urban aquascape: a new urban waterfront typology: a place where healthcare and community come together. Sited just two miles north of downtown Seattle, the city is currently facing a drug addiction epidemic, with overdose death rates increasing 104% in King County, Washington, since 2014. Lake Union’s water & lakebed is heavily polluted due to past industrial uses, shipbuilding, and, more recently, stormwater runoff. Union Pier serves two primary functions: supporting patients suffering from substance abuse and purifying polluted lake water. Union Pier is placed with both pier foundations and floating structural systems, which correspond to the path of the rehabilitation process. New patients are firmly supported, while patients further along their journey to sobriety can be exposed to free-floating dwelling types. With a mild, wet climate that receives an average of 40” of rainfall throughout the year, Union Pier utilizes roof runoff catch basins, hydro pumps, and fog catchers integrated into the design for drinking water, greywater, and mechanical systems. Union Pier recognizes the opportunity to reclaim each patient’s life and that of water and reuse local materials. During each patient’s unique path to sobriety, five distinct housing typologies relate to the particular stage the patient is in. Patients also gain the freedom to have higher levels of responsibility around the site. Residents earn the opportunity for closer interaction with the public through community gardens, aquatic recreation, and professional outreach

Lake Union Site Context

Orientation

Privacy

Dwelling Typologies