Helen.To | ULI Hines Competition: MLK Place

ULI Hines Competition: MLK Place

The ULI Gerald D. Hines Student Design Competition is an multidisciplinary urban design competition for graduate-level students. Teams of five students have two weeks to devise a comprehensive design and development program for a large-scale site full of challenges and opportunities. The 2011 competition site was the Mount Baker Station Area in Seattle, Washington. The Mount Baker station is located three miles southeast of downtown Seattle and is in the heart of an economically and ethnically diverse neighborhood. The area around the station currently consists of commercial uses with large parking lots and single-family detached housing. The city and Sound Transit are hopeful that local residents and developers will realize a higher and better use that capitalizes on the new availability of mass transit.

Team

Cindy Ma
Helen To
James Hinkamp
Jessie Wilkie
Joanna Pong

Objectives

1. MULTICULTURAL/GENERATION
The community is a reflection of global diversity on a local level. MLK Place intends to celebrate unique lifestyles that are complemented by spaces conducive to dynamic, multicultural events.
2. TRANSIT HUB
Extensive transit, bicycle, and pedestrian improvements are allocated for increased modal balance that encourage healthier, mobile lifestyles.
3. INCLUSIVE SPACES
The community nomenclature bears a legacy of historical and cultural transformation that begets collaborative expression and promotion of a safe, comfortable ambiance.
4. SUSTAINABLE, INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY
Awareness of ecological sensitivities are inspired by Seattle’s shift to carbon neutrality and are implemented through technological advances and constituents’ environmental stewardship.
5. ECONOMIC CATALYST
Diverse ethnic and economic demographics indicate MLK Place contains incredible marketability. An entrepreneurial community may perpetuate future growth and encourage a robust local economy.