Townhouses

Townhomes should be anything but ordinary. With a balance of form and function, we offer a sophisticated alternative to the standard developments found in many low-rise zones.

From four-packs of townhouses on redeveloped infill lots to newly-developed communities with over 100 units, we invest the same care and design into townhome or rowhome housing, no matter the size or scope. More than the size of a project, it’s important to us to work with a team committed to building livable, long-lasting, conscientious communities.

Our teams work regularly with property owners who are new to the process, as well as with developers who are experienced homebuilders, both locally and nationwide.

Townhouse developments should not be designed in isolation, but with consideration for their context. We put a premium on knowing what makes vibrant neighborhoods tick, and our interdisciplinary approach allows us to respond to the unique nuances of your site while activating and supporting the surrounding community with safe, pedestrian-friendly, human-scale design.

This holistic lens creates inviting communities that are thoughtful and sensitive to their frequent role as transitional elements between busier commercial districts and less dense residential zones. Rather than a uniform distribution of townhome units across a site, we design sites to contextually respond to the neighborhood around them — we believe new projects should be good neighbors.

Often located to provide easy access to mass transit, developments must also accommodate the needs of a residential population commuting via car. Carefully considered site and building design can create solutions to please both these populations. Protected, car-free environments for pedestrians can form beautiful street walls for the community; meanwhile, designated space for parking can be situated where it makes sense for access, safety, and aesthetics.

Collaboration with landscape architecture and site design is a crucial piece of the puzzle for townhouse developments — offering the service in-house means we are able to collaborate early on the layout of a property, leading to more holistic design solutions integrating indoor and outdoor spaces.

In areas of dense housing, connection and access to the outdoors is essential for the health and happiness of residents. Not to mention, desirable outdoor rooms and spaces are so attractive to urban dwellers, they can be the deciding factor in choosing a place to live.

The engagement of a site design team is essential for the efficient development of larger communities, and eases the process even for small infill developments, which still must comply with zoning, greenspace, and drainage requirements.

Our interior design team has extensive experience with multifamily developments, and can not only lend their knowledge to specifying interior finish packages, but can also help select fixtures and finishes for outdoor amenity spaces. We also offer services to select furnishings and accessories to stage a model unit that can speak to the imagination of potential tenants or buyers.

Of course, all our teams — architecture, landscape architecture, and interior design — also work with outside firms, and we are happy to be a part of your project team in the way that works best for you.

Collaboration is second nature to us, and years of working so closely with cross-disciplinary teams means we know which shared issues are key to resolve when, and how.

Townhomes are an important component of the urban fabric. Healthy cities support the needs of diverse communities: young families, elders, multigenerational households — those living alone, and those living with others. Neighborhoods and housing should allow residents to choose how they engage with the world, providing options for both sanctuary and community-building.

Greenspaces and walkable communities shouldn’t be a novelty. It’s possible to support the needs of pedestrians and mass-transit users and those that rely on personal vehicles; it’s not binary, but it does take a creative, knowledgeable design team.

With experience in designing and permitting complex townhouse and hybrid townhome/apartment communities not only in the Seattle area, but across the state of Washington, we can be that team for you. We’re excited to hear how we can help.